Fr. I beg you to avoid politics

“Pls, I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, Don’t put your hand in anything concerning politics.”

The above was what a dear friend frankly told me seeing how interested I am in politics.

This also represents the unstated thoughts and assumptions of many. Precisely, whenever we talk about politics, some of us Christians always associate it with evil, and so you want to shy away from it as much as possible. You also want your priests or pastors to keep the wild animal at alms length because politics corrupts the mind and so the person, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks and evil actions proceed. So, it’s understandable why you want your minsiters to be unsullied.

However, your intentions are true but you have given something that was meant to uphold the society a bad identity as if politics is a human being. Hence, your words are bathed in negative metaphors whenever you speak of politics.

Also Sometimes, these your right intentions are impoverished and negated by ignorance. Yes, ignorance because you don’t understand that politics is generally all about how the society should be; the activities associated with running a government. Party politics is only a little branch of the tree of politics because there are more to politics than party politics. So, it’s about politics and not party because after election comes the main governance. Here, politics is about the governance of your country.

Truly, Bertolt puts it correctly, “the worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he hears nothing and sees nothing and takes part in no political life. He doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicine, all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn’t know the imbec*le, that from his political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber and worst of all, corrupt officials, the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations.”

Yes and yet, you are a Christian and you hate politics. Nevertheless, daily and/or on Sundays, you go to church and ask God either for daily bread, protection and/or for good leadership in your country. Is that not ironical? Conversely, when your Lord Jesus Christ was asked whether it is permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not( Mark 12:14), he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar…”(Mark 12:17). The immediate impact of the statement is that money comes from the system the government has set up and so we should pay the tribute that government then demands. If you allow a bad government to spring up, you will reap bad results, and vice versa. That is politics.

Therefore, If your ministers (priests, pastors, etc) take the lordship of Christ in our lives seriously, then they should seek to apply that lordship to our participation in politics. With this, we could make a great and better society that doesn’t abhor truth but evil.

©Fr. Henrycharles Umelechi

Truth Series.

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