Religiously Erasing Our Existence

What a time to be alive! Let’s just say I barely survived; my soul was like a Ford Kuga 1.6 EcoSport; combusting at the edges from holding my breath because Yahya Jammeh is the god of coup d'etats. 

My soul was drowning in the January 21 sad sea of worldwide protests calling for the recognition and respect of women’s and human rights. Or was it my own sins showing me flames when the announcement that starting this week, Swaziland’s schools would have to teach no other religion but Christianity? It was surely tough dealing with all these stratagems that point towards a religious erasure of our human existence.

Fundamental rights and Freedoms

The common thread in the above scenarios is the complete disregard for the Constitution of each country. A country’s Constitution is the voice of the people; at least it should be upheld as such since it is ordinarily crafted by the people and for themselves towards self-determination. 

In the 2005 Swaziland Constitution for instance, the people agreed to a set of fundamental rights and freedoms and importantly EQUALITY before the law. Parts of Chapter 3, Section 23 state:

(1) A person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion.

(2) Except with the free consent of that person, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, and for the purposes of this section freedom of conscience includes freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change religion or belief, and freedom of worship either alone or in community with others.

There are many elements that disturb me about the blatant contempt of the above by this new pro-Christian only school syllabus including evident indoctrination of the masses. 

What worries me most though is the apparent restriction to basic knowledge, which the Constitution also promises to protect and guarantee as a basic and fundamental right of each Swazi citizen. This includes knowledge about our history as a people and without knowledge of our past, we have restricted ability to determine and make sense of our present and future.

It is an acknowledged fact that Africans had their own religious practices before Christianity was imported into the continent by colonialists. History tells us that our Swazi religion, before Christianity, and which many people still practice today through individual and national events, is worshipping Emadloti (ancestors). 

Through the annual national Incwala event, we still thank the ancestors – who are connected to Mvelincanti (Supreme Being who was there from the beginning) - for good harvests and ask further our ancestors to bless us with good rain in the coming year.

Navigating Existence through History

If we suddenly stop exposing Swazi children to this rich history then what are we saying about our existence? I mean, how does a person exercise their right to develop a conscience (defined as the inner voice that distinguishes right from wrong) without first being conscious (being alert and aware)? 

In defence of this new policy Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education Pat Muir is quoted as saying the move is necessary to enforce the ability for school children to differentiate between morality and immorality and to ensure that children are not confused. Confused? 

Suddenly opening your mind to a wealth of knowledge on a certain topic is confusing? Also, how are these children expected to grow into adults who will be able to exercise their right and freedom to thought and expression without a level of consciousness to options available for them to express their freedom of religion for instance? How do they develop a conscience on morality and immorality based on a one dimensional perspective?

What are we also saying about the promise of our Constitution? Are we stressing what many an observer has said; that it was crafted and signed into law only as a cosmetic procedure to appease those whom Swazi authorities consider to be ‘the powers that be’?

While other countries in the world are adding Humanism to the Religious Education syllabus in order to widen the scope of human appreciation, we seem to be regressing. Humanism makes more sense to me. 

A simple definition; “Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and affirms their ability to improve their lives through the use of reason and ingenuity as opposed to submitting blindly to tradition and authority or sinking into cruelty and brutality”. Surely this also easily speaks to equality and justice.

Equality before the law

This is why I’m also deeply distressed because our Constitution guarantees equality before the law. It also guarantees that none will be discriminated against even based on religion as stated in Chapter 3, Section 20.

(1) All persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life and in every other respect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law.

(2) For the avoidance of any doubt, a person shall not be discriminated against on the grounds of gender, race, color, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, or social or economic standing, political opinion, age or disability.

How is the current move not discriminatory against other religions? I know many people have been vocal in their individual spaces about this ban of other religions in school. Sadly it will amount to nothing but scattered individual dissenting voices. I don’t blame them; after all how can one be sure that their legally guaranteed right to express a different view, as promised by the Constitution, will be protected? 

At the same time though, how long will we find comfort and progress in speaking in isolated spaces instead of uniting to deliver our concerns as a collective when we feel strongly about an issue? Are we okay with our existence being systematically erased right before our eyes? What is self-determination?