The Sunday Mail
Tendai Mbirimi
Prostitution seems to be a lucrative business today if what Belinda Precious Kufa — a self-proclaimed sex worker in Harare — claims is anything to go by.
She said: “I have 10 cars, two flats, two houses and a full time maid-cum-receptionist.”
What a fortune!
But who really is the customer of this illicit service offered by these ladies of the night? The common belief is that it is male divorcees, hooligans and young single men.
But married men also hire sex workers.
I undertook a simple survey to determine the type of clients who frequent Harare’s red light centres.
“Most of our clients are married people who come wearing their wedding rings. Most people who wear wedding rings are hypocrites,” said Yvonne Masunda, who has been in the trade for three years.
“We have both permanent and temporary clients, but most of our permanent clients are married and when you meet a client wearing a wedding ring you know that you have a serious client,” concurred Pamela Matangira, who plies her trade in the notorious Avenues red light district.
“Most housewives take their marriages for granted after the wedding and fail to pay attention to those simple things which spice up a marriage.
“Most churches are misleading their flock on matrimonial issues too, they just emphasise on tithing and being a prayer warrior without telling women that what really matters most in a marriage which is what we offer here in abundance,” claimed Yvonne.
Many myths surround the wearing of the wedding ring on the left fourth finger.
One is that, that finger is the only one with a vein which runs straight to the heart. Another suggests that both left and right fourth fingers have the said vein but since the heart is positioned to the left of the body, that side should bear the wedding ring.
So, by placing a ring on the left fourth finger, one will be declaring his or her true allegiance, faithful and matrimonial honesty.
Considering the history of wedding rings, some say it is unbiblical for Christians to wear them. Does it? It is true that God forbids worshipping Him using customs borrowed from pagan religions. It is also true that pagan cultures used wedding rings.
Historical records are sketchy and not entirely consistent, but available records generally agree that the Egyptians started the custom thousands of years ago.
These histories say the first “ring” was merely grass twisted into a circle. The obviously temporary nature of such a ring led to other plants being used, including reeds, then leather and, finally, metal became popular.
Knowing that the wedding ring was used by pagan cultures and being aware of God’s direction in Deuteronomy 12, some believers have wondered if wearing a wedding ring is wrong.
Wedding rings symbolised many things in the different cultures that have used them throughout the history of man. Initially, traditions indicate that a man placed a ring on the finger of a woman simply as proof that he “possessed” her.
The ring was placed on the left hand, considered the weaker side of the body, to indicate the submission of the woman to the man.
Also added at some point was the thought that this circular design implied an eternal bond —“till death do us part” is the more modern concept. Egyptians even attached significance to the circle within the ring, using it to symbolise the unkn own.
Truly, no newly married couple knows with certainty what the future will bring.
Interestingly, it seems the history of wedding rings for men did not begin until the Second World War, when men began to wear a ring as a reminder of their wives back home. Do these facts make it wrong to wear wedding rings?
Nevertheless; real vows are in the heart.
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