The Sunday Mail
Religion Correspondent —
ZIMBABWEAN students have been exposed to Christianity for a very long time. It appeared as though Zimbabwe was a Christian nation, yet its constitution states that Zimbabwe is a secular nation where religious liberties reign supreme.
Over the past few years, the Zimbabwean education system has been moving its pegs to embrace the teaching of other religions in schools.
Recently, the announcement by the honourable Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora, that Zimbabwean schools will open their doors to every other religion that was previously marginalised, is a welcome development.
However, it needs to be embraced with a pinch of salt. There are issues that need to be critiqued about religious freedom in schools. These include religious tolerance and extremism.
Tolerance boarders around the acceptance of the fact that everyone is unique. Having been created in the image and likeness of God, God gave humanity the power to choose. Human beings have their God given power to choose whatsoever and howsoever.
However, from a Christian perspective, the Bible says, “Train up a child the way that he should go, such that even if they grow old, they will not depart from the way’.
The question that most Christians will be asking is, ‘Which way now?’
With the inclusion of other religions in schools, it means that Christians will be allowed to distribute their Bibles and philosophy in schools, Muslims will be allowed to distribute their Qur’an in schools, Jews their Torah, African traditionalists their philosophy and so on.
With such a scenario, the greatest question that will arise is — who will be able to stop satanism teachings and their philosophy in schools and how? Who will be able to stop extremism and atheism in schools and how? Who will stop the recruitment of child soldiers from schools in the name of religion and how? Who will have authority to evaluate the suitability of a religion to enter into schools?
It is everyone’s hope that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will not infringe on the rights of learners and their sponsors, the parents, by compelling them to learn or embrace any religion contrary to their beliefs.
The advent of a mixed bag of religions in schools will see most religious sensitive parents enrolling their children with those schools that are inclined to their religion or faith.
It is most likely that those who subscribe to Christianity would prefer sending their children to perceived Christian schools while those from other religions would opt for schools that are inclined to their religious beliefs and practices.
However, the impact of a mixed bag of religions in schools might be minimal as the majority of Zimbabwean parents are not sensitive to religion. What they want mostly is the academic excellence of their children. Most parents will only raise their brows when the word “satanism” is mentioned.
It is dangerous for any parent to expose their children to religious values that they themselves don’t understand. It erodes shared values and introduces other traits of character that the parents themselves abhor.
My strongest recommendation is that parents need to be extremely cautious when they choose schools for their children. Children are an important heritage from God. Jehovah God is happy when we take good care of our children.
