Negative campaigns cannot build organisations

CHRISTIAN TIBOTH WRITES:

The Bishop and Deputy Bishop elections are currently underway in the ELCRN.

It is now at it's maximum intensity as a result of a negative campaign strategy. A strategy that was designed, way before the election to assassinate the characters of some candidates. A campaign that is fundamentally premised on ethnicity.

Candidates who are not in favour of the de-campaigners are simply referred to as "sick pensioners", "corrupt idiots", "thieves", "Nama church council", "dictators" etc. on social media and in newspaper SMSs.

This campaign is for all its character, intents and purposes slanderous and in bad taste for a religious institution of this stature. More so because it is led by youth and some candidates (pastors) vying for this positions and other pastors who are driven by vanity. Terrible Christians!

It's just inconceivable how people can willfully accuse leaders, who remain very much leaders even during the elections, of corruption, theft and all sorts of vices without a single piece of evidence to substantiate such claims. They call this freedom of speech and campaign, forgetting that we have a collective responsibility as Christians to advocate for human dignity, fairness, justice and peace along with this freedom they so love!

Indeed the ELCRN is one of the few religious institutions who allows for various rights, most of the time to her detriment. Some of the current candidates can attest to that fact, because they dragged the ELCRN to court and lost yet they were given the right to stand as candidates. Note, the ELCRN is not oblivious to what is happening in and around her.

Deceiving an unsuspecting and gullible audience with blatant lies was never a winning strategy in terms of the overall growth of an institution. A strategy fundamentally represents an ideology. It is therefore important for the electorate to focus on what the ideology has to offer rather than getting excited over unfounded juvenile stories, vilification, unsubstantiated accusations and the lot. These self-proclaimed ignorant "radical youth" and the ever "innocent" pastors clearly has nothing to offer the ELCRN in terms of leadership or intellectually. This is an embarrassment to the ELCRN.



MANDATORY 40 PERCENT CONTRIBUTION

The basic function of the church is to meet every facet of the life of its members as well as non-members, inter alia, provide shelter, food, education and restore dignity.

Now how do you do this if the same people who baselessly de-campaign the incumbent leadership over bad financial management are the same ones leading a campaign to boycott mandatory monthly contribution to the Head Office? The de-campaigners are so successful that the institution struggle to meet ends, because no institution can operate with sporadic income.

A few refreshing questions to "monthly contribution boycotters" when they happen to lead this church one day:

How do you plan to pay hostel workers?

How do you plan to sustain hostels?

How do you want to sustain the very office you desire to occupy?

What happened to the celebrated Martin Luther High School (MLH)? What plans do you have to revive this greatness, without seeking international donations?

How do you want to pay your international obligatory membership fees, with reference to LWF, which amount to over hundreds of thousands per annum?

How do you want to preserve your membership in an organisation which primarily cater for the destitute and refugees worldwide?

Therefore, the more we ridicule the mandatory 40 percent monthly contribution in newspapers and social media, the more ridiculous we look in the eyes of the general public. Monetary contributions are very much part and parcel of good standing. Not only in ELCRN but almost everywhere.

Remember the hate we give now will certainly come back to haunt us.

The existence as an organisation of the Non Ordained Members Organisation (NOMO) is not up for debate. It is here to stay.

The organisation serve as the ears, eyes and voice of the laity. This organization is represented on all levels of the ELCRN structures.

The NOMO's participation shouldn't be seen as opposition but as a partner in the church of the Lord. We have a role to play in the everyday life of our church. We have a duty to teach and sensitize the ordinary member in terms of the church history, mission, vision, purpose and objectives of the church.

We have taken a leaf from other institutions, especially the great AMEC, in respect to the lay organization and how effective and efficient it can operate. There is just no return.

Let's now campaign for our candidates without character assassination, name-calling and all other trivial matters.

God bless the ELCRN