Commentary: Global Politics and Religion (Conclusion)

<Continued>
The Third World
Surveys indicate that most people in nearly all Third World countries are religious believers (Duke and Johnson 1989). Some argue that there is widespread growth of   religious movements with political goals in the Third World which emerged in the 1980s (Thomas 1995; Casanova 1994). Many are grassroots movements led or coordinated by middle- or low-ranking religious professionals. Sometimes, as in Guatemala, the perceived secularization of the Catholic Church ‘seems to bear a direct and inverse correlation to the strength of popular religious movements and organizations, especially in indigenous sectors’ (Garrard-Burnett 1996 98).

Why should there be an increase in numbers of Third World religious groups with political goals?  Sahliyeh (1990 15) maintains that   social upheaval and economic dislocation connected to the processes of modernization have sent people back to religion in the Third World.  Miles (1996 525) argues that in the 1990s, a period of social, economic and political transition in many countries, ‘populations throughout the developing world … are rediscovering the religious dimension to group identity and statistic politics’ (emphasis added in both).  Sahliyeh and Miles are claiming  that there has been a  ‘return’  to religion  in the Third World, the consequence of   inconclusive or unsatisfactory modernization,  disillusionment  with secular nationalism, problems of state legitimacy, political oppression and incomplete national identity, widespread socioeconomic grievances, and the perceived erosion of traditional morality and values. The simultaneity of these crises is said to provide a fertile milieu for the growth of political religion.

I do not doubt that such factors provide an enabling environment   for religion’s political prominence in the Third World. I am equally sure that unwelcome developments prod many people to look to religion to provide   answers to existential angst. But religion has always fulfilled such a role; it is highly unlikely that there is ‘more’   religion now than in the past in the Third World. Why then do religious groups with political goals seem more common? It is possible  that they  are  simply  more visible due  to the global communications revolution; there are not more of them, just that we can see them - and their consequences - more easily.  Smith (1990 34) claims that ‘what has changed in the present situation… is mainly the growing awareness of’ manifestations of political religion in the Third World ‘by the Western world, and the perception that they might be related to our interests’. 

It is important to understand   there are numerous historical examples of political religion in the Third World, especially during   Western colonization and after it.  In the colonial era, Western powers sought to introduce secularism in many cases resulting in a religious backlash.  ‘Non-western’ religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam had periods of intense political activity (Smith 1990 34; Haynes 1993, 1995, 1996). In the years immediately after  World War I,  religion was widely employed in the service of  anti-colonial nationalism  in Africa, Asia and the Middle East (Engels & Marks 1994; Furedi 1994; Haynes 1993, 1995, 1996). After World War II, in 1947, Pakistan was founded as a Muslim   state, religiously and culturally distinct from Hindu-dominated India, while Buddhism was of great political importance in Burma and Vietnam in the struggle for liberation from colonial rule. During the 1960s in Latin America,   Christian democracy and liberation theology were of widespread political significance. In the 1970s and 1980s, political religion was of great importance in the varying contexts of Iran and Nicaragua. What this all points to is that political religion in the Third World has a long history of opposition to unacceptably secular regimes; it is not ab initio in the contemporary period,   but rather  should be see as a series of historical responses to  attempts by the state to reduce religion’s political influence.

In the immediate aftermath of independence after World War II, Third World modernizing politicians, influenced by  Western ideologies, often Western-educated, and impressed by  Western countries’ order and progress,  filled the void left by colonial administrators. However, the secularization  process promoted by  nationalist leaders  did not, for the most part, bring development. Instead, secularization resulted in the attempted  transplantation of alien Western institutions, laws, and procedures which aimed to erode, undermine and eventually displace  traditional and holistic religio-political systems. The putative modernizers   saw their  countries as politically, socially and economically  backward what was needed was to  emulate the secular model  of progress pursued so successfully by  Western countries. Consequently, political modernizers sought to enforce policies and programmers of modernization - which also, to them, meant secularization. However, within a few  years,  the  credibility and legitimacy of ‘secular socialism, secular capitalism, or a mixture of both’ (Husain 1995 161) was often  seriously undermined, as they widely failed  to deliver on  promises of economic development and national integration. 

Poorly implemented modernization programmers also proved incompatible with traditional religious practices, as growing numbers of people left the rural areas for urban locales because of land and employment shortages. While the social, political and economic  impact  of  displacement and urban migration is extensive and complex, it seems highly likely that  dislocations of large numbers of people  from local communities, and the reforging of personal relations in urban areas, ‘opened the way to renegotiation of allegiances to traditional institutions’ (Garrard-Burnett 1996 102). Where modernization was particularly aggressively pursued - in, for example, India, Thailand, Egypt, Algeria, Brazil - religious backlashes occurred, in protest at unpopular state policies.

In summary, post-colonial governments in the Third World often followed policies of nation-building and expansion of state power, equating secularization with modernization.  However, by undermining traditional value systems, often allocating opportunities in highly unequal ways, modernization  produced in many ordinary people a deep sense of alienation, stimulating a search for an identity that would give life some purpose and meaning. Many  believed they might deal with the unwelcome  effects of modernization if they presented their claims for more of the ‘national cake’  as part of  a group. Often the sense of collectivity was rooted in the epitome of traditional community religion.  The result was a focus on religiosity, with far-reaching implications for social integration and political stability. This is not a ‘return’ to religion, but the utilization of religious belief to help pursue the pursuit of social, political and economic goals. 

Clearly,  for  religion to  be useful as a defence against secularization, it must  be able  to focus and coordinate popular  dissatisfaction. There must be what  Bellah (1965 194) calls a ‘creative tension between religious ideals and the world’  where ‘transcendent ideals, in tension with empirical reality, have a central place in the religious symbol system, while empirical reality itself is taken very seriously as at least potentially meaningful, valuable, and a valid sphere for religious action’.  This is a way of saying that when the secular world seeks to impose on religion’s space, at a certain somewhat variable stage it will  fight back, aiming  to reduce secular influence and to regain  its autonomy. 
 
Fighting back against encroaching secularization   explains the strong profile of political religion in the Third World. For example,  the radicalism of Catholic priests and liberation theology in Latin America, the growth of Islamism in the Middle East and  of Sikh separatism in India, are all explicable in this way.  Smith (1990 33) claims that overt links between such phenomena  are  ‘weak or nonexistent. Liberation theologians and revolutionary ayatollahs may be aware of each other’s existence but have not influenced each other very much’.  What he means by this, I take it, is that empirical evidence of direct, personal relationships are absent. But this is not the point  virtually all post-colonial Third World countries share  the historical desire of  political elites to  secularize, to  modernize, to ‘improve’ their ‘backward’ societies. In my view, we do not need to look further for   ‘causes’ of  political religion in the Third World it is a common response from those who  value their religious milieu and who do not wish to see it undermined by the advance of secularized ‘progress’. If people of different religious backgrounds employ broadly similar tactics it does not mean they have had to learn from each other, only that they collectively respond in similar  ways.

Third World states seek to prevent, or at the least make it very difficult for, political religion to organize. In most Muslim countries, for example, Islamist parties are either proscribed or, at least,   infiltrated by state security services. Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), the Islamic Tendency Movement of Tunisia, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine, the Islamic Party of Kenya, and Tanzania’s Balukta  were all banned  in the early 1990s. Others - including  the Partai Persatuan Pembangunan of Indonesia, the Parti Islam  Se Malaysia and Egypt’s Muslim Brothers - are  controlled or infiltrated by the state . On the rare occasions when Islamist parties are allowed openly  to  seek electoral support they are often   successful. Examples include the  FIS electoral victories in 1990/1 and   that of   Turkey’s  Welfare Party (Refah Partisi). The latter   won the largest share of the vote  (21 per cent) of any party in the 1995 election. Later, in 1996, Refah achieved power in coalition with a right-wing secular party, the True Path.  Parties like the FIS and Refah are electorally popular   because  offer the disaffected, the alienated and the poverty-stricken a vehicle to pursue beneficial change.

On the other hand, in India,  there is   strong electoral  support for  Hindu nationalist parties - and not only from  the poor and marginalized.  Shiv Sena jointly rules Bombay and Maharashtra state with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nationally, the BJP has emerged as the largest political party in India, eclipsing the country’s traditionally dominant Congress (I) Party. In Buddhist Thailand, on the other hand, a Buddhist reformist party, Santi Asoke, had some electoral success in the early 1990s. The point is that parties like Shiv Sena, the BJP and Santi Asoke all have  a wide appeal  as  viable alternatives to ruling parties  often characterized as both corrupt and inefficient. In sum, when Third World people lose   faith in the transform Tory abilities of secular politicians, religion often appears a viable alternative for the pursuit of beneficial change. It has widely reemerged into  the public arena as a mobilizing   normative force.

CONCLUSION

My main argument is that the political impact of religion will fall into two main - not necessarily mutually exclusive - categories. First, if the mass of people are not especially religious organized religion will often seek a public role as a result of the belief that society has taken a wrong turn - and needs an injection of religious values to put it back on the straight and narrow. Religion will try to derivative itself, so that it has a voice in contemporary debates about social and political direction. The aim is to be a significant factor in political deliberations so that religion’s voice is taken into account. Religious leaders  seeks   support from ordinary people by   addressing certain crucial   issues, including not only the perceived decline in public and private morality but also the  insecurities of life in an undependable market where ‘greed and luck appear as effective as work and rational choice’  (Comaroff 1994 310). In sum, in the West religion’s return to the public sphere is molded by a range of factors, including the proportion of religious believers in society and the extent to which religious organizations perceive a decline in public standards of morality and compassion.

In   Third World societies, on the other hand, most people are already religious believers. Following widespread   disappointment at the outcomes of modernizing policies, however, religion  often focuses and coordinates opposition, especially  - but not exclusively  -   the poor and ethnic minorities.  Attempts by political leaders to pursue modernization lead   religious traditions to respond.  What this amounts to is that in the  Third World  in particular religion is often well placed to benefit from any strong societal backlash against  the perceived malign effects of modernization.

Raila’s only Option

Raila has emerged to be the next pan- Africanist after Nelson Mandela. In fact most people believe that Barack Obama learnt his politics from Raila’s School of political studies.

With the current situation in Kenya, Raila must learn to be moderate if not then to fully support the interest of his Country and supporters. He must understand that, Kibaki is using him to destroy him politically. Issues like Mau forest and Waki report are too heavy to be carried by a single man. If everybody is against the report, then Raila absolutely has no right to support it. Raila, Support your fellow MPS since you will need them in the near future.

Raila must understand that Waki report was doctored to destroy Rift valley Politicians mainly Ruto, the Eldoret MP. While every body understand that Kibaki and Kivuitu were responsible for post election Violence, it’s sad that their names were not on the secret list given to Kofi- Annan. This shows how the Kenyan system of justice is corrupt. It is also surprising that the Mongiki mayhem in Naivasha was organized in state house in presence of Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta, Muchuki while Mrs. Kibaki Was busy making meals for those thugs.

Before discussing the Hogue issues and the Waki Report, Kibaki and Kivuitu must be locked at Kamiti Maximum prison and as long as they are still free, everybody must carry Panagas and Rungus and continue the fight!

What Next For OBAMA?

 
After kicking McCain to the ocean infested with sharks, the next question is, what will be the legacy of this Kenyan-American superman?
 
Being the first Black president of the most powerful Country on Earth, Obama’s performance will shape the future politics of African Americans. African Americans have only been known for holding local political offices and should Obama perform extra-ordinarily as predicted, after completing his two terms, no one should be surprised if another African American ascends to presidency.
 
While the expectations from Obama are high around the World, we must recognize that Obama is not Messiah or God who can miraculously solve problems. He will need time to put his political apparatus in place and start tackling the problems head on as he said in his first post election press briefing.
 
Surprisingly, only Russia has refused to congratulate President-elect for his marvelous achievement. Mugabe, Amhadinejad and other rogue presidents have congratulated Obama. This means they are trying to renew their lost relationship with US. Noticeably, most people were happy to see Fidel Castro of Cuba and Syrian president drink beer in celebration of Obama’s victory.
 
With all these issues going on, President Obama must be very careful not to ruin his chances of re-election by being too soft on these guys. He must also tread carefully not to dash the hopes of Countries that have longed to resurrect their relationship with US.
Good Luck Obama wuod Kenya.

Savior will to be born on Nov 4th.

As the world waits for the American presidential election, many people believe the game is over for McCain and he should go home. Is the game really over? This is the question that everyone asks and the answer is very simple, YES.
This is because the intensity of Obama Tsunami is terrifying that the entire GOP is in a mess. Most of their supporters are frustrated, confused and have lost hope.
 
For Obama supporters the deal is simple, buy your beer and start drinking on Tuesday night. If possible, take off work on Wednesday and enjoy the opportunity that was once unimaginable in the most . Everybody should enjoy the best way they can, if hunting is your favorite game, go a head and hunt the whole night. Obama must win whether they like it or not.
 
For few Kenyans that still have some doubt about this race, they should understand that Kivuitu is not in America and nobody will withhold election results from Texas, which is a republican state as they did for central province. Nobody can afford to play with people’s life here as they did in Kenya.
 
For all Kenyans and all democrats, let’s buy beer and get ready to drink on Tuesday night.
See you guys at the drinking bazaaaaaaaaaar

Priorities gone Wrong: New Offices for Raila and Kibaki

Housing PS Tirop Kosgey confirmed that the government will build new offices for President Kibaki and PM Raila Odinga. Question is, is this another case of government priorities gone wrong or this is another scenario of the same old politics of rewarding officials with unjustifiable “resources” at the expense of those languishing in poverty not to mention the fact that we still have Kenyans in displacement from the December post election madness!

Are we to believe that the government cannot acquire some offices in the Central Business District to conduct it business except to build new officess? Truth be known, these ministries are somehow functioning where they physically exist and so does the PM and president’s office.

Let me be the first to condemn this move especially at a time where political correctness is a matter of debate in the public eye. I hope some meaning comes out of this horendous expenditure at a time where we need to justify every penny thats is obtained from the public funds! Please let yout thoughts be known; Housing PS, Tirop Kosgey please enlighten me?

Obama’s Victory sealed!!

With just less than three weeks left to the US presidential election, Senator Barack Obama Wuod Alego is in a commanding lead. He has surprised Republicans and left McCain pondering what to do and his future in politics.
 
Today’s endorsement by respected former secretary of state Collin Powell has finished the game. Obama has passed every presidential test with honors and nobody doubts his presidential credibility.
 
Kenyans are happy with the happenings in the US and everybody is inspired by the Obama’s surge. Those in denial like Fox news still insist that McCain is poised to win this election. CNN already has predicted Obama’s landslide victory and all major newspapers have endorsed Senator Obama.
 
For those supporting McCain, there are only two ways for McCain to win presidency that is, to replace US election Commissioner with Samwel Kivuitu and Bush with Mwai Kibaki. This will give them time in the state house to organize on how to steal election in favor of McCain and swear him in within five minutes as witnessed in Kenya.
 
But guess what, America is not Kenya and Obama’s victory is unavoidable.
See you Obama in white house.

Kenya’s US Ambassador in Great Dilemma!!

 
Mr. Oginga Ogego, the radical Kenya’s US ambassador is in great dilemma of his future in the US following his provocative uncalled for criticism of the Next US president Barack Obama. He is among the few Kenyans in the US who are silently leading anti Obama campaign despite the fact that Obama’s political tsunami of change is unbwogable.
 
Few years ago, when the Illinois senator went to Kenya and criticized corruption and broken government system, Mr. Ogego  rushed and angrily  criticize Mr. Obama even before presenting his credentials to US president Mr. Bush. He exposed his lunatic character that disqualifies him from being a diplomat as he purports to.
For a man who was briefly in Canada as diplomat and kicked out for misconduct, he should have known better what is required of him when he was lucky to find himself in the US. His criticism could be partly due to luck of knowledge about senator Obama’s prominence in the US at the time.
 
Now that Mr. Ogego has never apologized to Obama since then, all eyes are on him as he ponders his next move next year when Obama assumes highest office on Earth. It’s obvious that he is guilty and will need some courage to discharge his duties without fear; he also needs to understand that Obama will have very important issues to tackle and may not even think of mere Ogego’s outburst.
 
For the sake of Kenya’s interest in the US and to avoid embarrassment, Mr. Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki must make a swift change and move Ogego out of US before Obama assumes office.
 
The next Kenya’s ambassador to US must be careful and try to mend fences with Obama.
He / she will have to learn from the mistakes of Ogego and avoid lunatic outburst that is yet to cause Ogego his job.

Luo Circumcision Must not be politicized,

The recent politics on rush for circumcision in luo community must not go unchallenged. Politicians and civil societies must desist from making reckless comments that may deceive the young men that circumcision is a cure for AIDS and other STDs. The recent comment by a young man on standard newspaper that he went for circumcision because it prevents AIDS and syphilis is regrettable and shows how little the government cares for the luo community. A lot has to be done and the luos must understand that circumcision is not a cure for AIDS neither does it prevent HIV infection.
 
Before talking about circumcision, we must understand and learn to appreciate the cultures of every society. Initiation rights in every culture are performed as aright of passage from one life stage to another. While many believed that circumcision is an initiation to join adulthood because of reason they understand better, The luos believed that removal of six lower teeth was a right of passage to adulthood. This was initially designed to enable a dying person be able to be given oral medicine through the gap left after removal of those teeth. Remember injections had not been invented by then.
 
Now, with the invention of injections and other ways of administering drugs, the culture of removing six lower teeth faded away but the luos still understand reasons why they did so in the past. The scientific research has indicated that circumcision slightly reduces the chance of contracting HIV infection. We must note that, it SLIGHTLY reduces the chance and this must not be confused. Because other old cultural practices among the Luo community has been known to increase HIV infections, the government has lost focus and everybody is preaching circumcision blindly with no facts or figures at hand.
 
The politicians must encourage the luo community to stop the practice of wife inheritance since this is the major reason for high prevalence rates of HIV infection in Luo community. While this practice is almost eradicated, illiterate people with no knowledge of current events still silently practice it in some villages. The government must take a drastic action including legislation against wife inheritance to curb this problem.
 
For the circumcision, the effect is negligible and the emphasis should be on abstinence, mandatory HIV screening before marriage and one-man one wife philosophy. People should be encouraged to go for circumcision because it only slightly reduces the chances of HIV infection incase of unprotected sex. Because of scanty information peddled by politicians about circumcision, the HIV prevalence rate is likely to rise within the next couple of years because most circumcised men believe that they are now immune to this deadly virus.
 
The government and NGOs making heavy harvest on this issues must first educate these guys and tell them clearly that Circumcision only reduces the infection rate by a slight percentage. Should we see a rise in HIV infections in Luo community, Kibaki and his people must be held accountable for misleading the luo community.

Wetangula and Kalonzo Musioka need discipline.

 
Kenyan foreign affairs minister Moses wetangula must take off the PNU coat and wear a grand coalition coat and serve the Kenyan people equally. He must realize that, he is no better than Kimunya who once thought that he was next to Jesus and could not be kicked out of milk and honey. Now Kimunya is like a lost sheep in Sahara desert.
 
The recent reckless statement by Kimunya about foreign Mission on Kivuitu and his team only shows arrogance, and how out of touch with reality Wetangula is.  Wetengula must realize that he is lucky to be alive now after Kivuitu sacrificed many lives and property to save power for Kibaki and his crooks including Wetangula.
 
Without these foreign mission, Kenya would be no more after December 30th. USA, UK and other foreign missions stepped in at a critical time to save Kenya. They forced Kibaki to share power and started pumping in millions of dollars to sustain bloated government formed by Kibaki. If everybody understands that Kivuitu and his team engineered the murder of more than 1,500 lives, anybody defending him must be buried alive with him. Kenyans wasted millions of money for kriegler commission that recommended immediate overhaul of electoral system. The commission was recommended and instituted by the world and not only by government. Their recommendation must be implemented immediately.
 
Since Kalonzo Musioka and Wetangula are some of the people who put pressure on Kivuitu to manipulate election results in favor of KIbaki, if they continue protecting the murderers like Kivuitu, the public should go for their blood. As long as Kivuitu and his crooks still waste public’s money, no peace will be realized.
 
The rightfully elected government, the ODM in conjunction with sound minded people must force Kivuitu to resign immediately. Keep the Good fight the PM and your troops. Reward awaits you in heaven for all your sacrifices on Earth for the people. Don’t rest until Kivuitu and his team resign and go to jail. The lasting punishment awaits them in hell.

Mama Ngilu, still the woman to beat in Kenyan Politics

Despite the recent extra-ordinary surge of women in Kenyan Political arena, there is no doubt that Mrs. Ngilu is still the woman to watch.At the time when Ukambani was totally polarized by Kalonzo’s political Miracle euphoria of ODM - Kenya, Every body in Ukambani believed that promoting any other party other than ODM-K was worse than digging political grave. For Mrs. Ngilu, Most myopic politicians predicted her political death. Little did they know that Mrs Ngilu is the current political professor of Ukambani.

 With her usual calculated political risks, Mrs. Ngilu promoted Narc in Ukambani and netted three constituencies to parliament. This made Kalonzo very confused and he rushed to form an alliance with Kibaki hopping to gain some support from central province.

It’s worth noting that just like Raila, Mrs Ngilu has never lost any political battle. She takes only calculated Risks that finally benefits her when the dust settles. Right now, the likes of Martha Karua are screaming at the top of their Voices promoting their candidature for 2012 elections while Women ’s political professor is taking a low profile.

Mrs. Ngilu seems to have realized that 2012 presidency is reserved for ODM and every move she makes is in the interest of ODM. Some ODM politicians have called on her to dissolve her party and join ODM. Others have asked ODM leadership to Give her the position of deputy party leader. While only few people see the foresight of Mrs. Ngilu, many believe that her popularity is waning. Despite all that one may think about women and politics in Kenya, Mrs. Ngilu remains the most powerful women and the lady to watch in Kenyan Politics. GO MAMA RAINBOW——–, MAMA ODM———-, and MAMA KENYA—

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