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If the intensity of prayer is what develops countries, Kenya could by now be a global economy. What with our praying without ceasing mantra, even when we should be out in the fields putting in the work for a rainy day!

We have taken terms like “economic miracle” literally. We admire and yearn for such “miracles” found in the so-called Asian tigers, but are ignorant of the fact that religion played a secondary role in the development of the economies. It is basically a factor of visionary leadership.

Our Christian fatality is aptly captured in a post where Kenyans are shown praying to the God of the Israelites for a bumper harvest while, the Israelis, the supposed cradle of Christianity, are in the farms implementing agricultural innovations. Now, Israel is a desert that produces excess agricultural and horticultural produce for export, while we are perennial beggars of food as we sit on vast arable land with ample rain. 

Our penchant for using, nay, abusing and invoking the name of God has reached bizarre levels. We have disempowered ourselves to the extent that we now attribute common sense to God’s will or power. But God has given us the faculties we need to reason like sane human beings who can discern the consequences of our actions or choices.

I started drafting this opinion before the horror of cult leader Paul Mackenzie in Shakahola village, Kilifi blew up in our faces. May be that is just a fraction of the atrocities happening in this country in the name of God. It is a testament to the shawl of secrecy that pervades religion which few dare to question not to be branded as anti-Christ. Worse, how our National Intelligence Service and the whole state security apparatus failed to pick this out is totally absurd. May be we are all high with the opium of the masses.

From the corrupt to the unfaithful, we have found refuge in the church. The word of God is a convenient cover up for our diabolical penchants. Has it ever occurred that we are mocking God when we declare ourselves a God fearing nation on one hand, and on the other perennially rank among the most corrupt countries in the world?

We have turned God into an automated teller machine. Waiting upon God for success has become a national pastime, with thousands of Christians spending inordinately long hours in churches praying for undeserved “breakthroughs”. The so called giving in churches has become an investment for material success.

I have no problem with tithing and offering money to the church. However, it is a man-made gospel to sustain the custodians of spiritual faith in opulence. But you cannot impress or bribe God with cash offerings. He is the one who gives in the first place. God is the creator and owner of all wealth and, apparently, doles it out at whim. Your best offering to him is to help your starving and sick neighbours, rather than returning your wealth to sender, which often is used for carnal pleasures by the recipients.  

The pontifical and self-righteous will obviously accuse me of sacrilege. Far from it. I believe there is a power out there that surpasses any human understanding. Even amid our mind blowing science and technological advancement, we cannot start to fathom or even scratch the power and mystery of God. Our artificial intelligence and all the other complex technologies we think are extra-terrestrial are simply God’s arithmetic.

That is why one commandment warns us not to mention the name of God in vain. He is the very essence of the universe. Whatever we claim to discover was already created or preconceived by this invisible and invincible power. All we need to do is to worship him in total humility and honesty.

—  The writer is PhD student in International Relations