Takudzwa Mazwienduna on the Christian Religion in Zimbabwe
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/08/09
Takudzwa Mazwienduna is a member of Young Humanists Zimbabwe. Here he talks about Young Humanists Zimbabwe.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we will talk about religious demographics in Zimbabwe. One thing, I note. Zimbabwe is super religious. But it is not as religious as I thought. Canada, not known for being a very religious country, I think; however, it used to have this status, and even more than Zimbabwe. In the 1970s, it sat around 90% Christian. You read that right. In the early 2000s, it was about ¾ Christian. By 2021, it was about 54% and continuing even lower, to about 50%, probably, or a little less, this year. That’s unprecedented. Zim looks like late 1980s and early 1990s Canada. That’s promising! Any preliminary thoughts?
Takudzwa Mazwienduna: That is very hopeful, but then again, unlike Canada, Zimbabwe’s education system is not so different from colonial times. Some secularists like Shingai Rukwata Ndoro have worked with the government to make education progressive, but mission schools still dominate. There is still a lot of proselytization in schools despite the government discouraging it.
Jacobsen: How did the religious demographics in Zimbabwe look in prior decades?
Mazwienduna: The London Missionary Society made sure that model citizens of the colony had to be Christian. Couple that with Missionary Education that tied intellectualism with Christianity and it made the religion default for natives. It is mostly Pan African activists that speak against Christianity today, shunning it as a colonial legacy. They do not advocate for secularism however, but a return to native animist religions. They are however open to secularist ideas since their religion is not monotheistic, and the Zimbabwean Atheists have conversed with them on an interfaith radio show we all participated in back in 2017. They seemed like plausible allies. Nevertheless, Christianity is the dominant religion, although at times it can be mixed with the traditional religion. The pentecostal Christian denominations however shun traditional beliefs and label them as demonic.
Jacobsen: When was the Christian religion truly ascendant there?
Mazwienduna: The colonial era is when Christianity took over. It also explains why its main rival, the traditional religion is a common target for demonization by various Christian denominations today.
Jacobsen: How is the Christian religion a political force in the 2020s?
Mazwienduna: There are certain Christian denominations that are very influential in politics. One of the richest prophets called Ubert Angel was made the Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United States to America, he later on stepped down after an Al Jazeera documentary exposed him smuggling tonnes of looted gold in cohorts with government officials. One of the biggest pentecostal churches; Zimbabwe Assemblies Of God Africa (ZAOGA), mandates its devout followers to vote for the ruling party ZANU PF. The indigenous Christian churches that dominate in the rural areas popularly known as the “mapostori” or Apostolic churches promise their followers that God will add 1 or 2 decades to their lives if they vote for the ruling party. They are a big asset for the ruling party during elections so much so that they were exempted from COVID lockdowns in 2020 and they carried on with their church conferences.
Jacobsen: What are the major concerns regarding the Christian religion in Zimbabwe now?
Mazwienduna: Its grip on education and politics is getting stronger and while Zimbabwe is still secular on paper, something has to be done about Christianity’s influence.
Jacobsen: We all know the regressive Ugandan and Ghanaian anti-LGBTI–using UN LGBTI Core Group language–bills attempted to be put into law, which are the most regressive in the world. Has anything like that been attempted there?
Mazwienduna: While Zimbabwe definitely isn’t LGBTQI friendly, homosexuality was decriminalized in 2013. The old colonial laws of sodomy were done away with, but there are instances of customary laws in rural areas where Christian Apostolic faiths dominate that still punish people for homosexuality at the chief’s court. Most LGBTQI Zimbabweans seek refuge in Botswana and South Africa. Mozambique is also LGBTQI friendly since the African Traditional Religion dominates, but the wars and ISIS terrorism going on there discourages Zimbabweans to seek refuge there
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, my friend.
Mazwienduna: Always a pleasure Scott!
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