Malawi asked to drop ‘Christian nation’ moniker
-12/10/05
Muslims in Malawi are seeking to get President Bingu wa Mutharika to stop making utterances that the southern African nation is ìa Christian countryî, suggesting that such continued remarks might trigger religious tensions.
The Muslim Association of Malawi has called on Mutharika to clarify his position on the separation of religion and state.
The association’s secretary general Imran Shareef told The UDF News, a publication owned by the former ruling United Democratic Front, that Muslims are concerned with public utterances made by the president, in which he has declared that Malawi is ìa Christian nationî.
A regional church commentator told Ekklesia that he shared the concern about an over-identification of the nation with one religion, but added that this was also a major issue confronting Muslims in many parts of the world.
In the western world Christians opposed to ëestablishmentí and the Christendom settlement routinely argue for a separation of church and state.
Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said that a neutral secular society was a positive benefit to Christians. And the Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cormac Murphy OíConnor argued for a ëspiritual humanismí in Europe.
Meanwhile, international UK-based churchesí development agency Christian Aid has announced that it is sending £100,000 to its partners in Malawi to support tens of thousands of people through to the next harvest.
Families have been running out of food as Malawi faces its lowest harvest levels in a decade. UNICEF, the United Nationsí childrenís fund, has also launched an appeal.
Christian Aid has spent £1.7 million on emergency work in Malawi since 2002. But this year, the crisis has worsened, and Christian Aid partners have asked for extra support until the next harvest.
The additional funding is part of a planned £1.1 million aid package from the Action by the global Churches Together (ACT) network, of which Christian Aid is a member.
Over 100,000 people in districts suffering the most will be fed through this fund. The money will also be used to buy seed and fertilisers, so people can plant crops for the next season.
In April 2005, Christian Aid partner CARD began food distributions in Nsanje district, one of the hardest-hit areas. Priority of aid is given to those who are most vulnerable, especially malnourished children and chronically sick people.
According to World Food Programme, at least five million people will need food aid before March 2006, the next harvest.
Leading development agency Oxfam last month told the worldís wealthy countries that they must act immediately to head off a looming food crisis threatening 10 million people in Southern Africa.
Oxfam and other church and secular aid organisations say that there is a real risk of repeating the mistakes made in the Northern Sahel region (Niger, Senegal, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso), where the famine that has impacted some 5 million people was actually forecast months in advance ñ and then ignored.
Malawi asked to drop ‘Christian nation’ moniker
-12/10/05
Muslims in Malawi are seeking to get President Bingu wa Mutharika to stop making utterances that the southern African nation is ‘a Christian country’, suggesting that such continued remarks might trigger religious tensions.
The Muslim Association of Malawi has called on Mutharika to clarify his position on the separation of religion and state.
The association’s secretary general Imran Shareef told The UDF News, a publication owned by the former ruling United Democratic Front, that Muslims are concerned with public utterances made by the president, in which he has declared that Malawi is ‘a Christian nation’.
A regional church commentator told Ekklesia that he shared the concern about an over-identification of the nation with one religion, but added that this was also a major issue confronting Muslims in many parts of the world.
In the western world Christians opposed to ëestablishment’ and the Christendom settlement routinely argue for a separation of church and state.
Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said that a neutral secular society was a positive benefit to Christians. And the Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cormac Murphy O’Connor argued for a ëspiritual humanism’ in Europe.
Meanwhile, international UK-based churches’ development agency Christian Aid has announced that it is sending £100,000 to its partners in Malawi to support tens of thousands of people through to the next harvest.
Families have been running out of food as Malawi faces its lowest harvest levels in a decade. UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s fund, has also launched an appeal.
Christian Aid has spent £1.7 million on emergency work in Malawi since 2002. But this year, the crisis has worsened, and Christian Aid partners have asked for extra support until the next harvest.
The additional funding is part of a planned £1.1 million aid package from the Action by the global Churches Together (ACT) network, of which Christian Aid is a member.
Over 100,000 people in districts suffering the most will be fed through this fund. The money will also be used to buy seed and fertilisers, so people can plant crops for the next season.
In April 2005, Christian Aid partner CARD began food distributions in Nsanje district, one of the hardest-hit areas. Priority of aid is given to those who are most vulnerable, especially malnourished children and chronically sick people.
According to World Food Programme, at least five million people will need food aid before March 2006, the next harvest.
Leading development agency Oxfam last month told the world’s wealthy countries that they must act immediately to head off a looming food crisis threatening 10 million people in Southern Africa.
Oxfam and other church and secular aid organisations say that there is a real risk of repeating the mistakes made in the Northern Sahel region (Niger, Senegal, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso), where the famine that has impacted some 5 million people was actually forecast months in advance – and then ignored.