KNIVES OUT FOR MUGABE AS PARTY LOYALTY FADES

Source: Intercessors Network by Andrew Meldrum in Harare

by Andrew Meldrum in Harare

Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, is battling against a whispering campaign within his Zanu PF party begun by some of his deputies and lieutenants vying to succeed him. The Guardian has revealed that Mr Mugabe faced unprecedented pressure from fellow Africans, including the presidents of South Africa and Nigeria, to retire. Substantial elements of the party think it is time for Mr Mugabe to go. Cabinet ministers and party officials sit over beers and admit the party has failed the country. But when Mugabe comes into the room they all sit up and tell the president what he wants to hear. They are all afraid. Zanu PF is not just a political party, it is a liberation movement that fought a bitter and bloody war to gain power. They are committed to keeping power, not to democracy. They are not afraid to spill blood now to keep that power. Mr Mugabe’s use of the army, police, war veterans and youth militia frightens many people, but he cannot intimidate an economy back to prosperity or win back popularity. The parliamentary speaker, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former defence minister, is widely considered to be Mr Mugabe’s likely successor. He however is considered to be devoid of any new economic policies to reverse Zimbabwe’s decline.

The one Zanu PF contender who is an exception is Simba Makoni, a former finance minister. He has spoken out for rational economic policies and has avoided associating with the more lawless side of the party. He told the Guardian that Zimbabwe’s daunting problems demanded a national effort in which all Zimbabwean parties and civic organisations worked together. “We are faced with a crisis, both economic and social, that calls for a national effort that cuts across party lines,” Mr Makoni said. “The governing party and the opposition party must work together, with civil society and professional bodies. Only that way can we mobilise all our resources to find a way out of this crisis. We need to get Zimbabweans to work together again.”

Mr Makoni’s statements are earth-shaking, particularly coming from within Mr Mugabe’s often belligerent ruling party. ”It is a hallmark of democracy that the different political parties can work together. Anyone who suggests that our problems can be solved by an exclusively partisan approach from any one party is suggesting a path that will be longer and more painful,” said Mr Makoni. ”And to work with our regional and international partners would also be beneficial.”

Moderates within Zanu PF are comfortable with Makoni and even the general public likes him. He is not tainted by corruption. But he does not have a proven constituency, he does not have an elected seat.” Another party member said: ”Makoni is outside the inner circle but he could well come to power with a bit of support from South Africa.” South Africa’s economic pressure and President Mbeki are the most decisive factors influencing Mr Mugabe. ”South Africa’s key strategy in dealing with Zimbabwe is to try to get Zanu PF to make an internal change in leadership. If they finish up the land redistribution, that could allow Mugabe to retire as a hero and get a successor,” said Ivor Jenkins, director of the International Democratic Alternative for South Africa. He said Mr Makoni appeared to have ”the least baggage in terms of allegations of corruption and human rights abuses”.

EXPERTS DISCUSS ROLE OF RELIGION, DEMOCRACY IN POSTWAR IRAQ

Source: Religion Today

by Susie L. Oh Religion News Service

The Bush administration's goal of establishing democracy in Iraq may be difficult to achieve because the country has so few functioning social structures, but fears that an Islamic theocracy will take over may also be exaggerated, according to several policy experts.

Prospects for democracy in Iraq are weak, Michael Hudson, professor of Arab studies at Georgetown University, said. However, he noted, "the good news is that we're not starting with a blank slate." Hudson said that after World War II, Iraq had some functioning elements of a democratic society, including political parties, social structures and professional networks.

However, Saddam Hussein's one-party regime broke down much of that sense of political participation, he said. The independent social structures that survived were religious and kinship-based, which is why Hudson believes many people are coalescing around Muslim clerics in the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad.

While this has caused some fear in the United States that Iraqis will instil an Islamic theocracy, Hillel Fradkin, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Centre, said in a telephone interview this possibility could be offset by the amount of religious diversity in Iraq, even within religious groups like the Shiite Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population. It is "precisely this diversity that means it will be very difficult for one or another group to think that if a theocracy was set up, that it would get to appoint the theocrat," Fradkin said.

Hali Jilani, a freelance journalist and member of the board of advisers for the Policy Institute for Religion and State, joined the panel via satellite phone from Baghdad to talk about potential leadership for the country. She said Iraqis want their new leadership to be from within the country, but cannot name a single possible candidate when asked. Jilani claimed there are no home-grown dissidents in Iraq and said Iraqis may have to turn to exiles for leadership.While she acknowledged this leadership could likely come from the majority Shiite population, she also emphasised this leadership will have to be extremely moderate and secular.

The Policy Institute for Religion and State has its own plan for encouraging democracy in Iraq and other troubled regions, like Afghanistan. The program proposes to teach potential leaders of countries like Iraq and Afghanistan the principles of democracy through an immersion program in the United States.

Bruce Robertson, faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University and a member of the institute's advisory board, said this type of program would give students the opportunity to see a real working democracy, meet everyday Americans, experience a free market economy and practice religious freedom.

GLOBAL TRENDS FROM OPERATION WORLD

Source: Operation World

David Taylor analysed 'Operation World' and wrote an interesting article on emerging global trends. A few highlights:

• Evangelicals are growing at 4.7% annually, making them the fastest-growing movement in the mega-religion category, or those with over 100 million members.
• Ratios of non-evangelicals to Evangelicals are shrinking in many countries. But in many '10/40 Window' countries the situation is still very bleak. Consider Somalia, with a ratio of 67,314 non-evangelicals for every one Evangelical. Tunisia is next with 28,192 to 1, and Yemen follows with 14,374 to 1. Contrast these ratios with Kenya and the United States which have only 2 non-evangelicals for every one Evangelical.
• In a global village of 12 Evangelicals there would be 2 North Americans, 2 Latin Americans, 3 Africans, 3 Asians, 1 European and 1 Pacific Islander.
• Although Asians have the highest percentage as a group (32.1% of Evangelicals are Asian), their continent is one of the least-evangelized. Only 3.6% of Asians are Evangelical. Europe is slightly worse with 2.4%. Africa, which was thought to be a Christian continent by AD2000, is only 14.8% Evangelical. North America is by far in the lead with almost one in three being Evangelical.
• Among the agencies surveyed, foreign missionary sending increased from 76,120 in 1990 to 97,732 in 2000. Ten years ago, about 91% of foreign missionaries were sent out from the West. By 2000, this percentage decreased to 79%. Foreign missionary sending increased three-fold from Non-Western countries in spite of very difficult global economic conditions.
• The most dramatic increase in missionary sending was from South Korea, growing from 2,032 foreign missionaries sent in 1990 to 10,646 by the end of the decade. (It is interesting to note that South Korean churches set a national goal in 1990 of sending out 10,000 missionaries by AD2000!)  South Korea is now the second-largest foreign missionary sending nation in the world. The next highest increases for foreign missionary sending from non-western countries were Brazil, which increased by 1,080, and the Philippines, which increased by 678.

JESUS HEALS

Source: Friday Fax

A week-long seminar on the subject "Healing like Jesus" was held recently in the midst of a New Age Fair in southern Switzerland. Many of those attending had responded to advertisements in an esoteric magazine. The following are some experiences during the seminar:

Marlen Wildhaber, a secretary in Switzerland, reports: "Something went wrong during an operation in 1987. I suffered inner bleeding, and have depended on two hearing aids and thick glasses since then. Although I am generally sceptical, my friends persuaded me to attend the seminar 'Healing like Jesus'.  I was physically very stressed, and hoped to be able to relax during the week, with God's help. My hopes were greatly exceeded: I was healed! On the evening of 27th March 2003, I could remove my hearing aids and glasses, and was able to hear and read without assistance."

Impressed by what she was seeing, Reiki master Hannelore from Germany also wanted to be healed by Jesus. We prayed, but nothing more happened than that her ears became a little warm. Neither her eyes nor her ears were healed. She didn't want to give up so quickly. Together, she and the organisers asked Jesus what could be hindering her healing. In the healing service that evening, she told of what she had experienced that afternoon: "After the prayer, I went down to the lake, where I saw many coloured doves. Suddenly, I noticed a single white dove in their midst. I thought to myself that it must be a dove of peace. Then it dawned on me: I had not made peace with my husband, from whom I am separated. I wanted to neither see nor hear from him again. That must be why my sight and hearing is so poor, and why I was not healed." She was prepared to publicly ask God for forgiveness for her unwillingness to reconcile their differences. We prayed again, and the healing started immediately. The following morning, she was able to fill out the questionnaire without her 3.5 dioptre contact lenses.

A fortune teller told Michael from Berlin that he was called to heal. After reading of the seminar in the magazine 'esotera', he immediately signed up. He stuttered and hate was written all over his face, and with good reason: from the bottom of his heart, he hated the man who had raped his wife. Michael heard for the first time how he could be freed from his destructive hate. He was very touched by the fact that Jesus had given his life to save him. There was another difficulty: with the help of a medium, he had started the search for his daughter with whom he had lost contact. If he accepted Jesus as his saviour, would he still be able to work with this medium? Who would help him find his daughter? He finally decided to leave it all to Jesus. The first night was astonishing: he had a dream in which he was clearly shown in which Italian city he should start the search. On the last day of the seminar, Michael was baptised in Lake Lugano. That was a clear sign for us all that he no longer wanted to live for himself, but for Jesus.

WHEN THE GOD'S DROWN

Source: Deutsche Missionsgemeinschaft

'If you are really gods, you will float to the surface when I throw you into the sea. If you cannot help, then drown - I don't want to see you again.' Rajan Dinesh Shah was at the end of her strength and her faith in her Hindu gods."

Rajan and her younger sister had grown up with religious rituals; they had to wake at 3am every day to wash the household idols. The family had hundreds of golden and silver idols in their house, all of which had to be dressed, decorated, fed and worshipped before the family's shop opened at 9am. But Rajan and her family were not at all blessed; they were beaten and robbed, and she became so ill that she was unable to move. Fourteen times in hospital and eleven operations drove her deeper into her religion. She finally became a medium, sacrificed birds and animals to the demons, and practised black magic. One day, doubt crept into her mind. "Can you really help? You just sit in my house, taking up space, are deaf and dumb and unable to answer my prayers. I've had enough of you." She put the gods to the test, throwing them into the sea. They all 'drowned'.

A friend told her about Jesus Christ. During a visit to a Christian church, where Jesus delivered her from all dark powers, Rajan discovered that Jesus is the only true God. Since then, she has devoted her life to God, and helps other Hindus to find God. Her entire family are now Christians.

PAGANISM BECOMING MORE POPULAR ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Source: Boston Globe

A growing number of students throughout the country believe they're witches, and more are starting to come out of what pagans call the "broom closet," More than 100 groups have formed on campuses in nearly every state and at schools from Australia to the United Kingdom. Scholars say there are as many as a million pagans in the United States.

Pagans meet regularly and hold bizarre rituals. They may kneel before an altar chanting, casting spells, and calling up energy fields. The groups are "a spiritual offshoot of the emerging counterculture of greens and antiglobalists," the Globe reported. Colleges are tolerant, but many students still don't want to risk revealing their pagan beliefs to their parents or friends, the newspaper reported. Some parents have threatened students, and others warned that they would cut off finances unless they left paganism.