Those who reside near noisy places of worship are always disturbed and inconvenienced by the unending nuisance.
A visit to most of the low and middle-income neighbourhoods in the outskirts of the city will give you a better picture. So close to one another, all with blustering public address systems, one is left wondering whether the worshippers can listen to the good word.
The messaging is all over you- along the roads, on the roofs, on church entrances, billboards and posters in all manner of colour, all trying to outdo the other. The advertisements do not end at the message, but deliberately prominently focuses on the man, side-by-side with a woman graphically illustrated by distasteful photos perhaps to announce their territorial ownership of the facility. There are now hundreds of self-styled, so-called, televangelists and prophets, some who conduct miracles and are worshipped like gods across the country.
This points to an ending appetite of “churchprenueurs”, who are solely out to cash in on the emotive matter of worship/ religion. Sadly, it is a constant reminder of the gullibility of adherents who are duped into the snare of this kind of venture. There may be entrepreneurship spirit among Kenyans, but this trend needs to be checked as clearly it offends the basic tenet of reverence. We are a society where the followers may not be willing to be liberated hence the need to nip it in the bud to safeguard these worshippers. The relationship between the state and religion may strong, emotive and even a necessary evil, but time to take the unpopular path to rein in on these misleading churches is now. It is about time we sanitise Christianity to save not a country but a generation.
Gigiri