role of religious institutions

Human Rights. Thus, Cardinal Njue, the Kenyan archbishop and former Nyeri bishop opposed the majimbo (decentralization) system, which was the cornerstone of the oppositions campaign agenda. This was on the suspicion that they were possibly Mungiki adherents. MAUPEU, H. (2003). Religious traditions have always played a central role in supporting those experiencing poverty, through service delivery as well as the provision of spiritual resources that provide . At the time, politicians had effectively contained politicization of the movement. State leadership wished to procrastinate and prolong the discussions for as long as possible while Western powers resorted to pressure and threats to force negotiators to reach a compromise. In good faith: the role of religious institutions in US higher In towns situated in Kikuyuland and Kikuyu-dominated towns in the Rift Valley (Nakuru, Naivasha, Nyahururu), Mungiki cells were reactivated. Ritual, community, and conflict: reflections on the science of the Anderson, M., and Woodrow, P. (1989). It was found that what is remarkable about disasters in southern Italy is that a wide range of religiously-based responses has persisted and continues to involve a large number of people. (Chester et al., 2008, 211). 5677. USAID (2012). Sagar, K. (2017). 2020: 310). The role of religious institutions in preventing, eradicating, and How religions and religious leaders can help to combat the They supported all negotiations without trying to interfere. 43In the end, religious actors were only very secondary actors in the 2007 election campaigns and the crisis that followed the polls. Johnson, R.M., Edwards, E., Gardner, J.S., Diduck, A.P. American Views of Religious Institutions | Pew Research Center Members of the NCCK embarked on a repentance exercise (the journey of repentance led by the organization Secretary-General, Rev. They particularly alluded to what they called the Mulungunipa Forest Group14, a militia group linked to a minister, which the police came across undergoing training (in June2007). This collaboration became more intimate than before because churches tended to initially legitimize the new government they had endorsed, and in which they had big hopes. But their move came too late. Washington, DC: USAID. Disaster Psychiatry in Taiwan: A Comprehensive Review, Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, 4: 77-81. Thus, sociologists commissioned to study Mungiki took interest in the sects background. This was clearly in support of a democratic opposition, committed to defending human rights18 and which offered an alternative to the Moi regime. Columbia University Press: New York, NY. Mutava Musyimi (Gachoka MP), who was the NCCK (National Council of Churches of Kenya) secretary-general. 37These efforts were hardly convincing because the Kibaki government had a policy that was radically hostile to Mau Mau ideals whereas Mungiki seemed to be a legacy (or offshoots) of the movement of the 1950s (even though former freedom fighters associations contested this). On balance, U.S. adults have a favorable view about the role religious institutions play in American life more broadly - beyond politics. Thus, Kibaki considers Laikipia as part of his Nyeri stronghold. The temple also ran a regular Khmer newsletter, radio program and Facebook page, which could be used for announcements and communication about disasters. It therefore advocated for reduced powers of a Government that was increasingly absent. Their ties with the elite are a lot harder to pinpoint. Close to a quarter of the Kenyan populace is Catholic, making the church the largest religious organization in the country. ), which are only partly homogenized by the Swahili culture. 17.3 Sociological Perspectives on Religion - Sociology So potent are the words that, until the 1960s, the Roman church instructed its priests to whisper the prayer: ".may we come to share in the divinity Role of religious social support in longitudinal relationships between They sometimes aligned themselves with Musyoka, who often presented himself as saved. After the vote, churches avoided partisan rhetoric with the exception of some Methodist and Presbyterian leaders who endorsed the head of states re-election without consulting others. For example, many primary and secondary schools, hospitals, aged-care facilities and charity organisations are owned and funded by religious organisations. Religion has a role here in persuading people that preventing the loss . 13 Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), Kenya: Armed and dangerous. 22 February 2008. Thus, the Akorino nebula proposes a pacifist, apolitical religious practice and away from a world32 that can act as refuge when Mungiki groups attempt to develop authoritarian oathing and conversion, which seems to be the case since January2008. Establishment and Separation of Church and State While the topic of establishment has receded in importance at present, it has been central to political thought in the West since at least the days of Constantine. Obviously, it is difficult to understand Mungiki without looking at the group in the context of a larger dynamic of privatization of violence, State withdrawal from a whole range of governance functions and take-over of security by communities themselves. Conclusive Discussion (1996). Through a literature review of instances where religious institutions have, in varied ways, stepped in to provide relief and eventually, succor, to members of the society at large, I argue that religious institutions can expand the scope for pluralism, by way of being the space for everyone, notwithstanding the religious affiliation to anyone who needs assistance when disaster strikes. Are Kenyans now denying their clergy the political role that they have played over the years? Christianity's Role in the Development of Modern Institutions Their response was to call for negotiations and to receive victims of massacres, mostly without discrimination. The second section will detail the evolution of recognizing the role of religious institutions in DRR by international agencies. Maintaining social and spiritual connections in the midst of COVID-19 are not the only challenges facing our communities of faith. When UN-ISDR convened the second Global Platform for Disaster Reduction in Geneva in 2009, a Global Network of Civil Society for DRR (GNDR) had been formed, and with the cooperation of 600 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 48 countries had conducted a survey of 7,000 local stakeholders concerning progress in risk reduction. Revisiting our indigenous shrines through Mungiki. African Affairs, no. When a UN Secretariat for an International Strategy Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) was created, community participation became part of the central discourse of DRR. This paper will thereby seek to understand the various ways in which majority religious institutions have so far been involved in DRR efforts, and in what way they can fill existing gaps. They also underscored the Mau Mau heritage on which Mungiki blossomed. President Mois networks were still at work and the fortunes of the Kenyatta family, which controlled the party, presumably enhanced this fidelity. The Tent of the Living God is also a neo-traditional movement close to the Mungiki wave. It creates conditions which are more prone to eruption of violence than factors of low life expectancy (at less than fifty years), which has considerably reduced the window of opportunity within which the youth can achieve (by starting a family based on sufficient income). On the other hand, the Shirikisho Party of Kenya, which represented political interests of the Mijikenda, remained in the government coalition for too long. Many traditional practices, from polygamy to traditional healing and worship, which were discredited by the colonial state, are actively prohibited and punished by the new African-led governments. Religious Engagement in Peacebuilding - United States Institute of Peace (2012). In the Fijian islands, for example, 95 per cent of the population together follow Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. (2020) found that Thai Buddhist temples excluded the participation of Thai religious minorities like Muslims and Christians. Believing to Recover: The Role of Religion in the Recovery Phase of Natural Disasters, Anthropos, 107(1), 209-217. 36Tension between Mungiki and the State leadership can be interpreted as a consequence of the wounded pride of senior authorities. Lo, H-W.A., Su, C-Y., and Chou, F.H-C. (2012). 21 John L. Allen Jr, Church leaders faulted in Kenya. National Catholic Reporter, 25 January 2008; Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi), Catholic expert says Church is guilty of fanning tribalism. Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi) [archive], 29 February 2008. Thus, when the former Catholic bishop of Machakos, Bishop Kioko, died recently, journalists highlighted the fact that he was a churchman keen on development issues, who built a hospital and a leading secondary school in the area, not forgetting several projects run by the Diocesan Development Office. Their political messages, at least at the national level, did not always seem discernible but they never lost contact with the people, nor did they lose confidence, which cannot be said of State leadership. The accelerating collapse of the Venezuelan economy over the past few years has spawned political protests and has precipitated a humanitarian crisis. The Bible furnishes Kenyas shared national language of politics as much as it feeds its several ethnic imaginations. Only the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominated a religious leader, Sheikh Mohamed Dor (chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya), the first Imam to enter Parliament. 23Support for Kibaki from the Catholic leadership was nationwide. Maina Njenga, the son of the Mungiki leader, announced that he was interested in one of Laikipias two constituencies, his familys home town. Is this still the case at a time when this country is in dire need of a unifying factor, a social contract and respect for human rights? Helms, S.E., and Thornton, J.P. (2012). 26 This makes specialists to adopt a policist approach which is strongly balanced against religious sociology analysis: P.M. Kagwanja, 2003; H. Maupeu, 2002b; H. Maupeu, 2003. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag. However, the Kikuyu population in Laikipia is mostly from Nyeri District and the towns economic and political elite consider this part of the Rift Valley as an annex of their region. 5175. Gaillard, J-C (2007). Baidhawy, Z. But despite appearances that the sect founders cleverly protect, this vision is challenged by sections within it. It is no coincidence that local religious organizations are at the forefront of providing relief. (Oxfam, 2012). Thus, religious institutions currently find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with issues and difficulties not experienced by human rights NGOs. Following the elections, this sect became one of the big actors in violence. 8The Kenyan national political ethos is, above all, Christian and the other religions are more often than not marginalized. Le choix dun rseaux non exclusif. Cahiers dtudes africaines, no. However, the Catholic Churchs political influence stems from its national reach. Most publications in the Kikuyu language came from the Catholic printing press and the main intellectuals, thinkers on ethnic nationalism were Catholic. Some even say that Mungiki stemmed from it. (2018). Thus, the streets of Mombasa did not experience the kind of violence linked with the emergence of the Islamic Party of Kenya16 in the 1990s. Enjoying absolute immunity, it engaged in massacres. 6Indeed, the 2002 political transition was achieved due to active support from the most influential churches. Unnoticed but important: revealing the hidden contribution of community-based religious institution of the mosque in disasters, Nat Hazards, 71, 2207-2229. Even though churches did not intend to choose between the two camps, thereby losing touch with the majority, their stand was never clearly visible. These forces were essentially manipulated by N. Waruinge. Secularization is the transformation of the politics of a society from close identification with a particular religion's values and institutions toward nonreligious values and secular institutions. 10Throughout the election campaigns, political leaders spent long periods of time in the big towns along the Coast. (2008). The Kenya African National Union (KANU) demonstrated its influence in this region by retaining four parliamentary seats. Religious Institutions as Forces for Good. Religious diversity and international migration: national and global dimensions, In: Paul, B., and Koenig, M. Many youths belonging to Muslim organizations were arrested and handed over to American forces.6Several suspects of Somali origin found themselves denouncing their Kenyan nationality. 20, no. This was the case in Thika at the beginning of the 1990s when slum residents demonstrated against pollution from industries and working conditions. 161182). This survey asked questions that mirrored those being asked at the national level by UN-ISDR and covered 100 measurable goals derived from the Hyogo Framework of Action (Wisner, 2010: 129). First, Mungiki participates from a largely religious perspective where this sphere is subtly separated from the political and socio-cultural space. Based on extensive surveys conducted between 2006 and 2010 with affected communities in the Indian and Sri Lankan coastal regions, researchers at RMIT Universitys Globalism Research Center in Australia found that religious centers tend to become an important refuge for disaster victims and their role in this regard needs to be acknowledged (Shaw et al., 2010: 10). GNDR: London. Frmming, U.U (2006). It can be said that Kenyan politics is getting in step with its constitution, which envisages a structure of an officially secular State. 12A second source of tension drove coastal residents to the opposition. The Influence of Religiosity on Charitable Behavior: A COPPS Investigation, The Journal of Socio-Economics, 41: 373-83. After the wave of American-inspired Pentecostal movement, Protestant churches feared the success of neo-traditionalists. But Mungiki took advantage of this respite or prompt cooperation. RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS. This rhetoric hardly created any illusions and it transpired that some Mungiki groups enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. Religious Institutions | Encyclopedia.com Representative Muslim organizations do not share the same views and the ruling class easily managed to mobilize them against each other.10. Indeed, all research findings on Kikuyu prophetism underscored their difficulties to institutionalize and to limit continuous divisions.31 However, the contemporary Kikuyu prophetic field is currently dynamic and it readily offers alternatives to Mungikis war and youth vision. When development is expressed from the context of religion, it is broad, holistic and covers a wide range of issues. (2004). Both the media and politicians spoke of violence and the movements practices, without dealing with the sense or the political message conveyed by these actions. Wisner, B., and Walker, P., (2005). The persecutions were particularly virulent in Michukis constituency, where, for several weeks, young men opted to flee and seek shelter elsewhere in order to avoid police harassment. Ager, J., Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Ager, A. Nevertheless, it was clear that Nairobi communities carried out their own (economic and political) activities and the interviews seemed to indicate that they were hardly accountable to anyone. Nevertheless, the image of the church deteriorated because it was no longer considered an entity above ethnicity that could speak in the interest of everyone. 102, pp. Religious institutions | UNESCO UIS Peter Karanja).20 They stressed that their credibility had been terribly soiled by the crisis Kenya experienced. Thus, the multi-faceted and distinct contribution of the mosque in cultural, economic, social and political aspects of the lives of the earthquake-affected communities. Is it the lack of resources and expertise that limits religious institutions playing a more active role in DRR? The history and importance of the Black Church - Harvard Gazette Poverty, starvation, and violence are rampant. Yet Mungiki seems to be the main theme of his two chapters. However, this does not sufficiently explain the clergys involvement in national politics. 39Right from the initial violence that followed the announcement of official election results, Mungiki factions participated in ethnic cleansing that affected some parts of the sprawling Mathare Valley slums. Religious social support, sometimes referred to as church-based social support, is a type of social support in which participation in religious activities provides people with access to social networks that include support from clergy and from other members of that religious organization (Kanu, Baker, & Brownson, 2008).The benefits received from these religious . Children and Cultural Influences in a Natural Disaster: Flood Response in Surakarta, Indonesia, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 13: 76-84. The GNDR found that little of the top down effort to implement the HFA has reached the local level (GNDR, 2009). For a lot of Muslims, it was difficult to get identity cards or passports. With a growing number of disasters caused by natural hazards, there is a greater opportunity to tap into an institution that usually commands significance in the everyday lives of a vast number of people across the world. Social institutions - education, family, and religion - Khan Academy Bramadat, P. (2009). Australian Culture - Religion Cultural Atlas Power to Uhuru: Youth Identity and Generational Politics in Kenyas 2002 Elections. African Affairs, 105, pp. Role of Religious Institutions in Disaster Risk Management: A As disasters shake the local and regional socio-cultural systems of communities, and increasingly so in the past few decades, a growing body of research looks at the social impact and perception of natural disasters (Oliver-Smith, 1996; Frmming, 2006). However, the State is at the centre of an economic system in which the youth cannot obtain salaried employment, largely reserved for the older generation. New York: UNICEF. 24 D. Anderson 2002; P.M. Kagwanja, 2006; M. Katumanga, 2005; H. Maupeu, 2002a ; J.-C. Servant, 2005. A Political and Cultural Critique. PMID: 23516019 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-013-9702-5 Abstract In making their religious profession, they are "incorporated into the institute, with the rights and duties defined by law", and "through the ministry of the Church they are consecrated . Naturkatastrophen. How all religious faiths advocate for environmental protection - UNEP Taking its religious dimension into account makes it possible to qualify the image that attempts have been made to improve. However, by only looking at this aspect of Mungiki activities, they cannot find any explanation for the movements unique success. The Killings Fields, Nairobi, 2007. The Role of Religious Beliefs and Institutions in Disaster Management: A Case Study, Religions, 6, 1314-1329. Gillard, M., and Paton, D. (1999). 12 International Crisis Group, Kenya in Crisis, ICG Africa Report no. But how could they criticize or denounce a group which they had previously supported? Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. Their community land or their right to land had been increasingly violated by environmental legislation on forests. Thus, in 2007, like in previous elections, churches seemed to have taken sides. Community vulnerability and resilience in disaster risk reduction: an example from Phojal Nalla, Himachal Pradesh, India, Regional Environmental Change, 18, 2073-2087. This led to a distinction of the upcountry Mungiki, who operated differently from the Mungiki in town. This analysis, updated on Oct. 3, 2019, was originally published in 2007 as part of a larger series that explored different aspects of the complex and fluid relationship between government and religion. There was even a disastrous tour in 2003, when a pompous welcome was organized for an Ethiopian peasant presented as General Mathenge, who was said to have taken refuge in the neighbouring country. Religion clearly plays an important role in American life. Thus, religious institutions can provide a road-map for resilience for communities, especially those that might find themselves facing repeated disaster risk. Hindu nationalism and the social welfare strategy, In: Clarke, G. and Jennings, M. (Eds) Development, Civil Society and Faith-based Organizations: Bridging the Sacred and the Secular. The author is a Political Science lecturer and director of CREPAO (Centre for Studies and Research on East African countries, Universit de Pau et des Pays de lAdour). The humanitarian project is not just a European tradition. Consequently, Laikipia West was taken by Ndirithu Muriithi, the head of states nephew and brother to Kibakis main spin doctor in the 1992, 1997 and 2002 election campaigns. In Asia, the role of religion differs widely between countries. 2021. However, Makau Mutua seems to politically disagree with this movement or at least he does not appreciate their political strategies. Statement after statement by politicians stressed the leadership role played by the late bishop in the diocese. They administered oaths more and more openly and the police were asked to turn a blind eye. Moreover, leaders who are keen to mobilize violence can comfortably pay former soldiers in such a region where arms smuggling is rampant, particularly from Somalia. Indeed, like the clergy, members of the bar in these NGOs, who contributed to the 2002 victory, often find it difficult to denounce erstwhile friends. All rights reserved. Sincere gratitude to Professor Naoko Obi of International Christian University, Tokyo, for her guidance in developing this paper. 28 Ethiopan Ayanu was not the Uhuru hero. The Standard, 18 October 2007. (2015). Only the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominated a religious leader, Sheikh Mohamed Dor (chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya), the first Imam to enter Parliament. The institutions of family and religion also are linked by many policies and practices. Religious socialization is an interactive process through which social agents influence individuals' religious beliefs and understandings. This expert in communication managed to entrench the idea that Mungiki is a united mass movement, and whose followers are organized in a firm hierarchy (with model that is almost military), with a strong mobilizing or even revolutionary capacity. To hit the latter, Mungikis destabilization methods took various forms: murder of local administrators in the ministers constituency, financing an opponent, threatening the bus service controlled by the politicians son, destruction of coffee plantations and assaulting patrons of the country club he owns near Nairobi. Sanctions against Mungiki obscured its politicization. Indeed, Mungiki, like other Kikuyu social groups, positioned itself to welcome the election as Ituika, the moment where in the pre-colonial Kikuyu society, the generation in power (political and religious) handed over to a younger generation.30 In this view, generations of social cadets must demand the exit of social elders. Besides, and this is its originality in the grey prophetic sphere. Land speculation and corruption in particular, deprived them of the most productive areas. 16In North-Eastern Province, the PNU Waterloo was less clear than it appeared. Simultaneous to spiritual development, it encompasses human, environmental, ecological, social, economic, technological and other similar development activities. Members of the KHRC shunned the Mungiki cases because they were afraid of being used by a sect that took advantage of the courts to try to gain publicity for its activities. Religious institutions are the visible and organized manifestations of practices and beliefs in particular social and historical contexts. After the elections the number of churchgoers reduced even further. Amidst this turmoil, 1.2 million Venezuelans have left the country in the past two years, the largest refugee movement in Latin American history. (2020) Diversity During a Storm: Accommodating Religious Minorities in an Evacuation Shelter, In: Knox, C.C., and Haupt, B. MUTUA, M. (2002). Even though he refuses to talk of Mungiki, M.Mutua implicitly provides an analytical framework for the sects political situation and the reactions it elicits. In the face of this concern, mainstream Protestant churches felt disadvantaged and were incapable of finding practical answers when the Pentecostal movement and neo-traditionalists took full advantage of the faithfuls fears. Voiceover: We've heard in general about institutions. Les embches du passage au politique (Kenya, Tanzanie). In F. CONSTANTIN, C. COULON (Dir. It is true that the Catholic Church was the largest religious force in the region: in Nyeri District 41.21% of the population is Catholic.19 Like in 1997, the clergy endorsed M. Kibaki and members of his coalition. and academia and official channels focused on national so-called platforms for DRR (Wisner, 2010: 129). Lintellectuel populaire et limaginaire politique. 34Indeed, State leadership largely contributed to the focus of the 2007 election campaign on Mungiki. Often, because of the close ties that communities forge during an extended period of crisis, religious institutions take on many other roles for communities, facilitating transitional and sustainable solutions.

18-year Old Casinos Near Me, Orange County, Ny Semi Auto Rifle Permit, Benefits Of Alfalfa For Horses, Is Kahlua Kosher For Passover, Modesto Lawyers Stanislaus County, Articles R