ICC Note:

Throughout much of the world, and increasingly in Africa, Christians are facing growing amounts of persecution. That persecution can manifest as government repression, social hostility or a mix of the two. However, a recent opinion piece by a Zimbabwean claims that Christians in that country not only do not have to fear their government or other religious adherents, they can even publicly congregate in celebration of their faith.

07/04/2014 Zimbabwe (allAfrica) – Persecution of Christians in some parts of the world has raised religious liberty into a contemporary global issue. Two weeks ago, the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) converged in their tens of thousands at the Glamis Stadium to celebrate the religious liberty they enjoy in Zimbabwe. Speakers at the function, including the Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province, Mirriam Chikukwa, underlined the need for cordial inter-religion relations.

The SDA, renowned for their non-participation in politics, could not resist the urge to thank the country’s political leadership for protecting religious liberty.

The head of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) department in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID) of the church, Dr Paul Charles thanked the Zimbabwean government for adjusting even the national elections day to accommodate church members who may want to vote or participate in the logistics side of the plebiscite. A few days later, an inter-religious dialogue was held in the country to show gratitude to President Robert Mugabe’s government for the religious freedom prevailing in the country. Zimbabwe is a country of tremendous religious diversity, thus its constitution recognises, guarantees and protects religious liberty. As a result, there are no inter-religious hostilities that obtain in other countries.

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