WHAT is wrong with us Zambians?
A simple figurative statement, by one Jesuit Priest, sends the whole country into paroxysms of self-righteous indignant outrage in the name of democratic virtue.
Indeed, absurdity is suggesting that Father Lastone Lupupa was suggesting rigging the August 2021 elections!
Anybody who has been to school, or indeed anybody who has read the Bible must be familiar with figurative speech, which exaggerates in order to make a point.
For example Mathew 18:9 says very clearly that if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.
Indeed Mathew 5:30 says “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” … It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
No single church today, nor indeed in those days, took the extreme measures proposed by the Bible because these are essentially figurative and symbolic, therefore not literal, but metaphorical.
By definition, a metaphor is not supposed to be translated literary.
According to Wikipedia, a metaphor means: A figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared with other types of figurative language, such as antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile.
It is therefore against this background that the pent-up anger against Fr. Lupupa must be seen.
As a priest, the orders of office offer him licence and an opportunity to be visionary and advise his flock on pertinent issues and in this regard he foresees calamity if the electorate, out of their free will, place in office individuals who are unsuited to the task.
There was nothing wrong in his stating this fact. Just as there was nothing wrong with many psychiatrists and preacher men who warned that Donald Trump was unsuited for the office of President because of his narcissistic tendency.
The truth has come to pass. The United States of America which is supposed to serve as a beacon of democracy and a leader of the free world, has descended into a divided, fractured and unseemly republic where all manner of conspiracy theories exist.
It is nonsensical to suggest that Fr. Lupupa in addressing his motley of congregants was agitating, let alone promoting the notion of rigging elections.
The priest had every right to be allegorical in warning the congregation against voting unwisely. He demanded for strict inspection of the candidates on offer to ensure that integrity, love and goodwill were the key watchwords of those to be considered.
What is shocking and most hypocritical has been the harsh reaction to this prophesy as compared to the uncouth and uncivil language that some opposition supporters have used to describe the current leadership.
We agree with Mr. Peter Sinkamba when he states that: “The bottom line, from the sermon of Father Lupupa is that we, the politicians must change our message to our people. We should preach love, unity, peace, and prosperity instead of revenge and mayhem. As Father Lupupa stated, it is a lesser evil to rig an election in favour of a leader who preaches love, unity, peace and prosperity than to allow wicked politicians win an election and at the end of the day they cause mayhem and destruction in the nation.”
