NewZ September 2005

We Should Behave Like Christians - Not Proclaim It

From a legal point of view the Christian Nation Declaration in the Zambian Constitution is discriminatory, inconsistent with the Constitution itself and poses a potential source of conflict among the Zambian people, says Professor C. Anyangwe of the University of Zambia School of Law.

By Manja Kamwi, Information Officer MS Zambia

“We the people of Zambia … declare the Republic a Christian Nation while upholding the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience and religion.”

This is the declaration, which has aroused public debate since the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) released the draft constitution in late June this year. 

“Clearly the declaration encourages favourable treatment of Christians, Christian bodies and threatens the right to exercise other religions,” says Professor Anyangwe from the Law School at The University of Zambia (UNZA).

The Christian Nation declaration was included in the preamble of the Zambian Constitution only as recently as 1996. The CRC has however recommended that it should be removed. This recommendation has drawn condemnation from some religious circles and support from others.

From a strictly legal point of view the Christian Nation declaration could however, have tremendous consequences for the Zambian people and the society as a whole, explains Professor Anyangwe.

The nature of religion

Though the declaration upholds the right to exercise other religions, Professor Anyangwe argues that it is a contradiction: “You cannot favour one religion and at the same time honestly uphold the propagation and exercise of other religious beliefs that are doctrinally and in matters of faith opposed to the state-chosen religion. That is against the nature of any religion, which always seek to convert as many people as possible,” says Professor Anyangwe.

Supporters of the Christian Nation Declaration argue that the declaration is written in the preamble of the constitution and not in the so-called enacted part of the constitution and therefore does not have any legal implications. But that is not the case, says Professor Anyangwe. 

Declaration has legal implications

 “If that were the case why was it then necessary to have made the declaration in the first place. Surely it must have been intended to have some import, one of which is obviously to indicate a preference for a particular religious persuasion.  From a legal point of view the preamble forms part and parcel of the constitution. It is not outside the constitution. It contains an admixture of provisions that are expressive of constitutional values and may be justiciable, and provisions that are in the nature of a political manifesto” he says and continues: “It is a fact that the declaration itself amounts to making a law respecting an establishment of a religion and that is inconsistent with other parts of the Constitution.”

Singles out one particular religion

Professor Anyangwe points out article 11, Article 19 and Article 23, all in one way or the other guarantee everybody in Zambia the enjoyment of fundamental human rights and the freedom of thought and religion. (See box on page 8)

“I will submit that the Christian Nation Declaration amounts to hindering a person’s right to freedom of religion because it singles out one particular religion to which the state attaches itself. That attachment necessary implies favoured and preferential treatment,” says Professor Anyangwe.

Conflicting with international agreements

The Christian Nation Declaration is not only in conflict with Zambia’s constitutional Bill of Rights; it is also inconsistent with international human rights instruments to which Zambia has subscribed such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“These international instruments all guarantee the right to freedom of religion. When a state singles out one religion and declares it established as the religion of the nation, which in effect is what the Christian Nation clause does, the state is in breach of these international human rights norms,” says Professor Anyangwe, who also points out the political implications of having a Christian Nation declaration, especially today when there are political tensions between Muslims and Christians due to the USA-led war on terrorism.

“I would suggest that it would actually be a good thing to remove the Christian Nation declaration. That removal would be a statement that the people of Zambia can accommodate other peoples regardless of their religion. This fruitful accommodation has been with Zambia since the country’s founding.”

A handy tool for Christian fundamentalists

Many people have argued that the Christian Nation Declaration is merely there for symbolic value. But Professor Anyangwe argues that it has to be taken seriously and that we have to be mindful of its untoward consequences. Supposing that a Christian fundamentalist were to accede to the high office of President of the Republic of Zambia. The declaration could come in handy as a tool to impose, willy-nilly, Christian fundamentalist tenets and dogmas on all the people of Zambian.

 “Once we have declared Zambia a Christian Nation then the Government of Zambia also has to be Christian. You cannot have a non-Christian Government running the affairs of a Christian Nation,” says Professor Anyangwe who goes on to point out that that would entail having only Christian Members of Parliament, Christian Ministers of Government and Christian Judges and all civil servants would have to be true Christians in order to manage, in Christian fashion, the affairs of the Christian Nation.

“The laws of Zambia would have to be consistent with Christian doctrines, dogmas and practices. In effect that would mean that the Bible, and not the Constitution, would be the supreme law of Zambia. The Bible will become the linchpin of Zambia’s educational system, even as the Holy Koran is in Islamic States,” says Professor Anyangwe.

“And that being so, Christian leaders (priests and pastors, whatever rank they might hold in their respective Christian churches) would in effect be the real leaders of the country. That would be so because they have the authority, in virtue of having been called to holy orders, to interpret the Bible, just like you have the Mullahs and the Ayatollahs in certain Islamic states as the effective political rulers. We might have someone at Statehouse going under the name and style of President and Head of State; but he or she will just be a figurehead because he or she will not have the power to determine and dictate authoritatively the Christian direction of the nation, nor the necessary holy inspiration to see whether a proposed measure or piece of legislation is consistent or consonant with the Holy Book,” says professor Anyangwe.

Potential conflicts

He points out that that scenario might seem bizarre to someone who takes only a casual or superficial look at the Christian nation clause, but that none the less it is a real possibility and poses potential conflicts not only between Christians and other religious groups but also among the various Christian denominations who might get embroiled in a ‘holy war’ to ensure that their own brand of Christian teaching gains ascendancy in the State.

Declaration will not solve any problems

On a non-legal note Professor Anyangwe points out that declaring Zambia a Christian Nation, in itself and by itself, has not and will not solve the problems the nation is facing.

“I have heard arguments that we need the declaration because it will make people morally strong and upright. But let us be honest. We are reliably informed by dependable sources that since Zambia was declared a Christian Nation in 1996 corruption has increased and moral standards have declined. Not a few people would say that Zambia was much better off during the time before the country was declared a Christian Nation. I can understand that because of the not too happy situation in which the generality of Zambians find themselves one is apt to confuse things and to imagine that such a declaration would secure God’s rescue intervention. But declaring Zambia a Christian Nation is not going to solve the many economic, social and health problems we are facing if we sit supine and make no significant effort to turn things round. The huge challenges we face can only be addressed through our collective involvement in decision-making, priority-setting, decision-implementation, and a grim commitment and determination to uplift ourselves and country, guided in all this by quality leadership.” 

Professor Anyangwe underlines the fact that he has no problem with Zambia being a country of Christian people and that he is himself a Christian aspiring to a Christian way of life.

“Zambia’s subscription to Christianity should be manifest in the way its citizens conduct themselves and not in the Pharisee-like Christian nation proclamation. Credible Christians, or countries that espouse Christian virtues, do not go around proclaiming it on rooftops. Their Christian-ness is immediately apparent in the way they carry and conduct themselves. A tiger does not proclaim its ‘tigertude’. When you see a tiger you know it is a tiger,” ends Professor Anyangwe.