President Lazarus Chakwera has called on Malawians to use religion and politics as tools to advance the common good of the people, rather than tools to divide societies.
President Chakwera was speaking in Lilongwe at the launch of a book titled Religion and Politics, which has been authored by Reverend Nicky Chakwera and Reverend Fatsani Luther Kwenda, all of Assemblies of God Church.
Throughout history, the controversial question of whether men of God should get involved in political processes has baffled people and through the book Religion and Politics, Pastor Nicky Chakwera and Reverend Fatsani Luther Kwenda are attempting to provide answers.
And Speaking at the launch, President Dr Lazarus Chakwera commended the two authors for providing guidance and understanding on one of the contentious issues.
President Chakwera emphasized that the relationship between religion and politics should be handled with care because it has the potential to cause social injustice. He also emphasized the need for people from religions to join politics to serve society.
In Malawi, he said one debate that keeps raging is how religion should be practised by those who participate in political activities such as voting, campaigning or running for a political office.
Dr Chakwera said he has learnt the need to desist from wrongly using religion to hide from fighting injustices and oppression.
‘’I have therefore learnt that one of the worst things we can do with our religion is to use it as a castle of cowardice a place to hide from our responsibility to stand up against injustices and fight for the poor and the oppressed,” said Dr Chakwera.
During the function, Dr Chakwera bought the first copy of the book at K3 million while Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima bought one at K2 million, among many dignitaries who supported the book launch.
