I’m going to get hated for this but like many of my unpopular opinions, if I don’t say it nobody will.
I’ll uncharacteristically begin this post with the less controversial part, because if history has taught me anything, it’s that people lose interest in shit as soon as they realize they don’t agree with it. My view, as an atheist, on the actual idea of organizing a day of prayer is this: Go ahead and pray. Because it might actually have a mitigating effect on the violence. There’s a chance that at some pivotal point in the future, a potential spouse murderer might remember this day in a moment of indiscretion, and it might save the life of the woman he loves. A major national intervention such as this is a good idea and until we have a better way to address social issues like this, prayer will have to suffice. I will not pray to any god because I do not believe in any. What I will do instead is continue to implore, in whatever way I can, the nation and the world to respect its women. I’m also going to join the parade of men walking a mile in a woman’s shoes, because why the fuck not. And I’ll continue not killing anyone. Especially women.
Now on to the part that I will get hated for. I’ll steer clear of comments about prayer per se and discussions of religion, because that is not the purpose of this post.
This is today’s cover page of the Namibian Sun. President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is the president, announced in his presidential capacity that his solution to Namibia’s epidemic of husbands brutally murdering their wives and other family members, after which some have taken their own lives, is to get the entire nation to pray the crimes away on a single day.
The Namibian’s editorial touches on some of the reasons why this proposed solution is a bad omen for the future of our country. I’ll add my own two cents because there’s still quite a lot to say on the subject.
1. It’s pathetic. What the president is doing is simply referring the matter upward, like a befuddled tech store employee saying “I’m not sure about the difference between LCD and LED screens (read: I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about), but let me refer this to my manager and I’ll get back to you.” Mr. President, YOU ARE the fucking manager. This is the responsibility you undertook when you campaigned, ran and got elected for this position. Yes there are other policies being put in place but let’s get one thing straight, you do NOT have the option to refer the problem upward because as far as you’re concerned, there is no upward. Which brings me to my next point:
2. It’s unconstitutional. The Namibian’s editorial (which you should read if you haven’t already) merely alluded to this very important point, but I’m going to hammer it home because unlike national newspapers I don’t have to care whether my readers approve of what I say. I would never claim that the Constitution isn’t at least potentially fallible, but once again it’s hard to ignore the fact that our own president, a member of the party that gave Namibia its independence, is so blatantly doing the exact opposite of the laws that define the country, as agreed at the time of independence. For reference’s sake, Point 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 1 (must be pretty important if it’s mentioned so early) states:
“The Republic of Namibia is hereby established as a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary State founded upon the principles of democracy, the rule of law and justice for all.”
Here‘s the whole thing if you’re interested. Separation of church and state is not just a pet peeve of mine. This is a secular country. This means that the government may not invoke or give preference to any religious denomination, nor to religion itself. Apart from being unconstitutional, it’s simply wrong; not everybody is religious, not all religions have prayer, and some consider it to be blasphemous. So, a president calling for a national day of prayer means to publicly and officially ostracize every non-praying person in this country. Now, to be fair, we’ve all gotten used to it by now as this is hardly the first time anyone, politicians included, have ignorantly or knowingly shunned the non- and differently-religious minorities in such a way. But perhaps it’s time we stop taking it lying down. Freedom of religion cannot exist without freedom from religion. The mixing of governmental and religious institutions corrupts them both.
3. It’s bad for the future. If this becomes an acceptable response to national crises, if people start to believe that it actually worked, what’s to stop the government from throwing up their hands at the next flood, drought, disease breakout or financial crisis?
All would have been well if a religious leader had made this announcement, and the entire parliament could have simply taken part in the prayers. But of course, this would not have had a great impact on the issue because churches have only jurisdiction to their congregations, not to the entire nation like the president, and as time goes by more churches and denominations pop up and society becomes more and more segregated.
Perhaps it’s necessary to invent a unifying body of morality that isn’t as divisive as religion or as disregarded as the law… Or maybe we all just need to start being a little more fucking nice to each other.
musingsofmadjarov 