The death toll is expected to rise in this horrendous discovery, which sparks memories of some of the world’s worst cases of cult-related mass deaths such as Jonestown, Guyana and Waco, Texas, where more than 1,000 people perished in a cult massacre instigated by their so-called religious leader.
At the heart of the latest cult massacre is “pastor” Paul Mackenzie, a controversial preacher who indoctrinated his followers, asking them to abandon “earthly life” and meet at his 800-acre farm in Shakahola village in Kilifi county for a fast “to meet Jesus.”
This so-called pastor also instructed his followers to quit their jobs, drop out of formal schools, stop feeding on “worldly food”, and not seek treatment in hospitals.
These followers were allegedly told not to mingle with anyone from the “outside” world, if they wanted to go to heaven. They were reportedly further instructed to destroy all documents given by the government, including national IDs and birth certificates. All nonsense but the definition of a cult is the victims are gullible to such.
This gory discovery in Shakahola has also further fueled the debate as to whether the government should step in and regulate the church.
Addressing this massacre, President William Ruto said people masquerading as religious people, yet their actions are contrary to religious teachings and beliefs will face the law. The President said Mckenzie is a criminal and belongs to jail.
But is Mackenzie alone? How many others out there are exploiting the gullible in the name of religion? How many have enriched themselves on the backs of the poor and even the less poor who so easily part with their money to give to these so-called pastors who do nothing with the money other than to enjoy life with it?
To be sure, giving money to the church is something that finds its genesis in the Bible where followers of Christ are encouraged to set aside a certain amount of one’s income for God’s work. That amount is typically a tenth of one’s income.
For Muslims, one of the five pillars of Islam is zakat, which is mandatory giving. All Muslims eligible to pay it must donate at least 2.5 per cent of their accumulated wealth for the benefit of the poor, destitute and others. Other faiths have similar requirements to give for the benefit of others.
That’s all well and good and in most cases, money given for this purpose goes to do good as can be evinced by traditional churches that have built and operate schools and hospitals that are part and parcel of any country’s infrastructure.
The problem is the mushrooming of these get rich quick schemes by so-called pastors who set up churches overnight that are often nothing but a kiosk next to a bar and the like calling itself a church.
These schemers then prey on the gullible milking them of every penny they don’t have, and the better skilled ones soon progress from those meager beginnings to operate bigger so-called churches where the objective is the same: Separate the gullible with their money for the sole benefit of the fake church’s founders.
On the far end of these extremes are the cults like Mackenzie’s who ostensibly go on undetected until it is too late as in this Shakahola tragedy.
Yes, the country’s traditional religious organizations exert substantial power in the public and political spheres and a debate can be had whether that is good or bad. However, there cannot be a debate as to whether these phony pastors and other so-called religious leaders should be allowed to exploit the poor and others with impunity.
The solution is for the government to first heavily lean on the church to regulate itself better or to shut down these phony cons and schemers masquerading as churches.
It’s a delicate balance but it can and must be done.
