By Kellys Kaunda
IMPASSE OVER THE BURIAL OF ECL – A CHRISTIAN NATION THAT CANT PRACTICE BIBLICAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION
President Hakainde Hichilema must know what the Bible teaches about disputes.
Ephesians 4:26-27, says, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”
If Hichilema had turned this Biblical concept into public policy, his predecessor would have been long buried.
That very day the Lungu family questioned the burial program complaining that it was contrary to what had been agreed, the impasse would have been resolved.
Some of us keep holding Hichilema responsible because the buck stops at him.
What is so difficult about turning the Biblical concept regarding dispute resolution into public policy when we are a Christian nation?
Nelson Mandela, even without formally declaring South Africa a Christian nation, turned forgiveness, a Biblical concept, into public policy.
And look at how the whole nation chose not to avenge their years of oppression!
They embraced their former tormentors and resolved to work together to heal the nation.
If there was an opportunity when the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation should have been on full display, it was immediately following the death of Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
The whole nation knows the beef that stood between Hichilema and Lungu.
The dispute over his burial is a continuation of the toxic relations between the two men.
However, Christian principles would have demanded a different outcome – immediate resolution of any differences.
Unfortunately, the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation has been rendered of no effect.
It remains a form that has no substance. We are a nation who confesses Christ by our mouth but reject His Lordship over our lives and our land.
By this, we make a mockery of His ministry and His death on the cross.
Tragically, there’s growing evidence that collectively, our conscience as a nation has become so seared, the voice of reason no longer holds sway over our politically peppered positions on this matter.
When the devil looks up to heaven, he must be having a very hearty laugh teasing Christ and mocking the alleged ineffectiveness of His dispute resolution teaching over the Hichilema/Lungu burial impasse.
Remember it’s lead by a stonehard hearted lawyer from a hard hearted family of unalivers
One good word for you, Nonsense!
This whole christian nation charade was meant for political mileage and so was the day of prayer, fasting, reconciliation, repentance et al. The one who introduced the day of prayer, reconciliation et al, is also said by family members to have left instructions that his political rival must never come anywhere near his dead body.
God cannot be mocked. As a nation we have been tested and found wanting. The christian nation in the Constitutional preamble is a purely political gimmick meant to woodwink the population that our politicians are Christians while they loot the national treasury dry and commit murder and all kinds of abuse.
In this burial impasse, both sides are to blame. The Lungu family would have let go of the vendetta with HH if they had chosen to forgive and reconcile. Instead they chose to dig in by saying the late former president had insisted on HH staying away from his body (imagine that! All a dying man could think about was having a last shot at his rival).
The government would have also let go of the state funeral and allowed the Lungu family to bury in South Africa on the premise that there is nothing like a reburial at a later stage. If Mr. Lungu is interred in South Africa, he should remain there until the resurrection. It doesnot make sense to bury in Zambia and order the incumbent president away from proceedings. The head of state is the physical representation of the State and can therefore not be absent from a state programme.