AK-47 in one hand and a Bible in the other, Amen

BY OYUNGA PALA

For 12 years, the machine gun preacher has been on the battle field rescuing children whose lives were disrupted by the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army( LRA).

The former drug dealing, outlaw biker turned preacher is now putting his life and resources on the line to rescue children caught in conflict zones in South Sudan. It may sound like the trailer from a Hollywood bravado flick but I gleaned that passage from a review of a captivating memoir ‘Another Man’s War: The True Story of One Man‘s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan’. Rev. Sam Childers is an American leading armed rescue missions to save children caught in the LRA conflict.

Cliches

The former drug dealing bikers’ sensational foray into South Sudan and Northern Uganda was subject of a movie titled the Machine Gun Preacher. This is the story of a bad guy, who found Jesus, had a vision and came to Africa to make a difference. Childers’ tales comes packed with enough ‘We must save Africa’ clichés to make you cringe.

The idea of preachers and pastors clinging to guns and religion was conversation that was mostly limited to the American way of life. Times have changed though, a pistol packing pastor, with a gun in one hand and a bible in the other is a notion that is been entertained in some pockets of the country.

Snapped

Only recently, a group of pastors in Mombasa appealed to the government to arm them with AK47s for their own protection, following the violent death of two pastors shot in cold blood. The machine gun preacher man jumped to mind especially after a TV station snapped up the opportunity to pose a news poll question on whether pastors should be allowed to bear arms. There was a national outcry of disbelief.

The responses were comical, with most respondents more concerned about having to substantially increase their offerings at gun point. The bottom line is, giving a pastor an AK is bit like going after a mosquito with a hammer.

 For decades, religious leaders were generally spared the acts of violence and their institutions were largely considered scared. But ever since thieves started targeting churches for easy spoils that escalated into full blown terrorist acts, religious places have become as vulnerable to criminality as everywhere else.

 The underlying storyline is about real religious tension in the country degenerating into a cold war of mistrust between Christians and Muslims. On hand Muslim leaders blame the government for having a hand in the killing of their leaders under the guise of fighting terrorism versus a growing chorus from Christians who believe they are targets of religious persecution. So on both sides, everyone wants to trust in God but take their security matters into their own hands.

Criminality

This is the consequence of giving violence and criminality a religious spin as it becomes accepted in the exercise of self-defense. When violence is committed under the name of religion, it becomes righteous.

Religious leaders’ seemingly endorsing or supporting violence are articulating the fears and frustrations of their followers.

There is a general feeling that government is unable to respond to the security needs of its citizens. Since nobody wants to be a sitting duck and given no option, people will do all that is their power to protect themselves and their loved ones from real or perceived dangers.