I have a question for all Christians in Zimbabwe. Can you be unpatriotic and be a Christian? Can you be a Christian if you fail to honor your father and mother? Can you still be a Christian if you degrade the symbols of your nationhood and birthright? Can you be a Christian if you lie using the bible?
A good Christian will say no to all of the above questions.l think these questions are the answer to the opponents of the Zimbabwean's national pledge.
The unpatriotic Christians have taken the verses below which are being taken out of context.These people are prepared to lie to justify their political goals. Lying is a SIN before God and unfortunately, the wages of sin is death (Roman 6 v 23)
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In Leviticus 19 v 22 it says “And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD.” Where then does a pledge becomes a sin?
In Matthew 5 v 33 – 37 Jesus Christ said “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”Again where does the Zimbabweans pledge becomes a sin?
In James 5 v 12 the Bible says “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and [your] nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.” Where in this verse does it make our pledge a sin?
Now if you have noticed I have deliberately put the question with the word pledge under each verse so that even a fool can see that the word "pledge" is not mentioned in the verse.I am finished with my bible side of the argument and I will go for the English definition of the word
PLEDGE
NOUN
- 1 a solemn promise or undertaking. Øa promise of a donation to charity. Ø(the pledge) a solemn undertaking to abstain from alcohol.
- Law a thing that is given as security for the fulfilment of a contract or the payment of a debt and is liable to be forfeited in the event of failure. Øa thing given as a token of love, favour, or loyalty.
- archaic the drinking of a person's health; a toast.
VERB
- solemnly undertake to do or give something.
- Law: gives as security on a loan.
- archaic drink to the health of.
DERIVATIVES
pledgee noun (Law).
pledger noun
pledgor noun (Law).
ORIGIN
Middle English (denoting a person acting as surety for another): from Old French pledge, from medieval Latin plebium, perhaps related to the Germanic base of plight.
I took this from Concise Oxford Dictionary (11th Edition)
You will notice the word missing in the definition is "oath".Why? It is as simple as that an oath is not a pledge.People make oaths when they marry.When those men of the cloth are appointed to positions such as bishop,pope they make oaths. Now as you can see those men of God are breaking the code in those verses above.They are not only liars but have taken oaths that contravene the bible they quote from.
To all Zimbabwean and true Christians the national pledge is what it is. It is pledge.
