‘Politics, Christianity not incompatible’
The Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Catholic Church in the Upper East Region, Most Reverend Father Alfred Agyenta, has postulated that politics and Christianity are not incompatible and the belief among some members of the public that they are incompatible is false.
“There are some people who think that being a Christian and a politician at the same time are two incompatible ways of life and this way of thinking is probably inspired by the common saying that politics is a dirty game,” he stated.
Most Rev.Fr Agyenta insisted that politics is not dirty, rather, it is humans, who are dirty, and had made politics dirty due to human attitudes which have tainted politics with greed, avarice, selfishness, acrimony and violence.
Preaching the sermon at the burial service of the late former Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central Constituency, Joseph Adda, held in Navrongo, in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, he maintained that people had turned the noble profession of politics into money-making venture and enterprise, giving it a bad name, but “politics by nature is a divinely ordained profession.
“Unfortunately, for many people today, politics is a disgusting word, and this is often due to mistakes, corruption, inefficiency and ineffectiveness of some politicians however, politics is a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity and commandment to love your neighbour becomes more compelling for politicians who have committed and dedicated themselves to promote the common good of all.
“True and genuine politics is not possible without embracing transcending values that challenge us to look beyond immediate interest of election victories but teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the beatitudes clearly defined some of the values that should guide politicians in their political career,” Bishop Agyenta pointed out.
He noted that espousing the values inevitably led to practice of politics that placed the common good of all above everything which should remind the citizenry that politics was not about enriching oneself or amassing wealth but about having gallant attitudes towards material goods of the earth.
Bishop Agyenta urged leaders, to ensure no one was left behind in distribution of these goodies and the late Mr Adda had played his part in politics to the best of his ability which must be emulated by both politicians and Christians. -GNA
