"Power!" This word conjures up many images in one's mind. It is a word much loved by advertisers: they like to use it to portray how doors will open automatically if one just has the power of money or to picture the energy unleashed by a supposedly superior washing powder.

But "religion and power?" Do they go together? Yes, they do. But, unless the relationship between religion and power is clearly understood, religion may acquire a bad name.

The use of power is a necessity for survival in any society: without the use of at least a kind of directive power a state of anarchy would result. A community of believers is a form of society, therefore there is a need for the exercise of power in these communities. However, history, both past and present, is replete with examples of serious abuses of power by religious leaders. How do such abuses come about?

There are many reasons but among the most obvious is a wrong understanding of the purpose of power. The citation above (based on the parable of the Good Shepherd - Luke 15) mentions some of the theories that people may have of the purpose of power. Naturally, religious people would never admit that they subscribe either to the robber or to the hireling theory, but we humans have a great capacity for deceiving ourselves.

Abuse of religious power may happen especially in periods of turmoil and rapid change. As someone has said, writing about the difficulty some religious leaders have with the changes brought about by the desire of women to have a greater say in religious matters:

"Religious structures tend to be particularly resistant to change. In any society, it is a small step from saying 'this is the way things are' to saying 'this is how things are meant to be' or even 'this is how God made things.'²

In this issue of Wajibu, we have asked people belonging to different religious communities to write on the relationship between religion and power. From what they have written, it is obvious that(as one of them has said("the real power in a religion is the power of its soul to elevate human beings to become more human and less beastly." Therefore, whenever religious power is used to put people down, to exclude them, to mistreat or to persecute them because they are "unorthodox", religion becomes an aberration. And wherever religious leaders look for favours from government authorities in order to enhance their own powers, they have missed the real purpose of religion.

According to the major religions, whatever power people may have is a delegated power since real power belongs to God only. Therefore the exercise of power by human beings must never go counter to the purposes of God for his creatures.

There is a lesson to be learned from African tradition with respect to the abuse of power in religion. This lesson is the need for listening. As one of our contributors, writing on this topic, says: "The most important quality of the leader in African tradition was ... the "big ear." This metaphor implies that for the leader to execute leadership in a proper way, he or she needs to listen. What are the hopes of the people? What are their anxieties and fears? In other words, what kind of relationships exist in this particular world and where and how should they be adjusted? The true leader, the leader who commands authority, must attend to these questions, and he or she can only do so comprehensively through the words of the community heard directly or through its representatives. In listening and acting according to advice the leader shares power, but gains authority."

Service, and love of our fellow human beings, is the real test of true religion. For as one Biblical writer has so well said: "Whoever does not love the brother whom he can see, cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 5:20). Therefore, all power in religion is power for service.

1. Vincent McNabb. 2. Gillian Patterson. Still flowing: women, God and church.

Essyay Competition Fror Young People

What is your vision for the Kenyan society in the 21st century?
What needs to change in this country to realise this vision?
What will you personally do to realise this vision?

ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Laurenti Magesa is a Roman Catholic priest and theologian doing parish work in Musoma, Tanzania. He is on the faculty of the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies, Nairobi, and publishes in the areas of liberation theology, inculturation and African religion. His address is Box 237, Tarime, Tanzania.

Dr. Moses M. M'Ithinji has been a Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Kenyatta University since 1987. He is also an Associate Minister of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, stationed at Kahawa Outreach in Nairobi.

Philomena Njeri Mwaura is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at Kenyatta University, where she teaches courses in African Christian Theology, Gender and Religion and New Religious Movements. She is currently a Ph. D. candidate. She has published several articles in journals and books.

A.E. Purushothama Rao has a post-graduate degree in Mathematics. He worked as the Head of the Department of Mathematics in a degree college in India before he came to Kenya in 1974 as an expatriate teacher. Since 1994 he is leading a retired life, devoting his time to the study of the Hindu scriptures and to the propagation of Sanskrit learning as a free service to society.

Grace N. Wamua teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Kenyatta University. She just completed her doctorate.