NCCR-Mageuzi acting secretary-general Mosena Nyambabe speaks to
reporters on the Draft Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania
in Dar es Salaam in September this year. PHOTO | NCCR-MAGEUZI WEBSITE
In Summary
Tanzania might have a few individuals, who can claim
that they do not believe in God (atheists), but such presumptions
cannot rightly justify the silence of our Draft Constitution on
expressly acknowledging the existence and supremacy of Almighty God.
Dar es Salaam. Many written
Constitutions in the world do acknowledge the existence and supremacy of
Almighty God right in the preamble. Ironically, our Draft Constitution
is silent on that matter although most Tanzanians still adhere to
various faiths strongly directed to Almighty God.
Tanzania might have a few individuals, who can
claim that they do not believe in God (atheists), but such presumptions
cannot rightly justify the silence of our Draft Constitution on
expressly acknowledging the existence and supremacy of Almighty God.
However, I am aware that our nation had since
independence declared itself as a secular state, whose people are free
to exercise their right to believe in any religion of their choice. That
by itself does not mean that Tanzanians do not recognise God’s
supremacy. Religion is part of our people’s culture, and thus must be
given the respect it deserves through acknowledging Almighty God, who
many Tanzanians still revere and worship.
By raising this argument, I do not mean that
religion is Christianity or Islam because these two command the majority
of adherents, rather I include all people of whatever faith who do
acknowledge, that beyond their intellect exists a supernatural being
called God Almighty.
Religious beliefs were practised even by highly
respected philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, St Augustine and many
others. For instance, Plato one of the famous philosophers of ancient
Greece, once said: “we ought to fly away from
earth to heaven as quickly as we can and to fly away is to become like
God, as far as this is possible, and to become like Him is to become
holy, just and wise”. Religion has a role to play in a person’s life.
Immorality, injustice and corruption originate from denying God’s
existence.
People who feel they are gods themselves and no
one had created them cannot help much in this world. As Emperor Marcus
Aurelius believed, religion has a role to maintain people’s moral life
that leads to peace and tranquillity.
American theologian and civil activist Martin
Luther King Junior, expounded social aspects of religion with these
words: “a religion true to its natures must also be concerned about
man’s social conditions. Religion deals with both earth and heaven, both
time and eternity.
Religion operates on the vertical plane but also
on the horizontal. It seeks not only to integrate men with God but to
integrate men with men and each man with himself”. For those who are
gender sensitive, the word man here used to refer to a human being or
mankind not a male person.
Silence about God’s existence
For our Draft Constitution to remain silent about
the existence of God, it makes all of us hypocrites because in our daily
life we do acknowledge God. Both our political and government leaders
do take their oaths holding religious books like the Bible and Qur’an.
Nevertheless, I do understand that even our current Constitution does
not expressly acknowledge the existence of God.
That is fine. But we should remember our Draft
Constitution’s structure and content is very different from the present
Constitution. Our 1977 Constitution was not enacted by the majority of
Tanzanians and that is why it lacks important features which are subject
of this process of making it a new one.
No comments :
Post a Comment