The Camouflaged Altar: A Review of the Hidden Interests in the Church and Their Implications on the Society at Large

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Camouflaged Altar: A Review of the Hidden Interests in the Church and Their Implications on the Society at Large

Serah Madiiga Kitsiiri
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya

Abstract – In present times, the word church has different meanings for different individuals. This is according to their experience and institutions. The fact that the church has been affected by modernity has changed its actual face. As humankind increases in earthly knowledge, the purity of the altar is totally compromised. The altar has been used to promote hidden interests from a few malicious individuals. Each and every day, we wake up to negative news from the media about the church; proving the fact that the altar, acting as a connecting point between humankind and God has several evils, inter alia, greed, all manners of immorality, leadership wrangles, dirty politics and corruption, cultic operations, fiction and stage-managed signs and words, but covered with white linen that portrays holiness. Simply, this can be referred to as a camouflaged altar, where different faces of the clergy can be discovered, all hidden in the name of God. This paper therefore discusses this problem through reviewing of existing literature on different issues pertaining to the subject in context, and the implications of the same to the larger society. The study concludes that the current state of most churches indeed raises concerns of spiritual misguidance and confusion about the reality of God, implying that the society at large may end up lacking a guiding factor if the trend continues.

Keyword: Politicking, Altar, Leadership Wrangles, Corruption, Cultic Sacrifices

I. INTRODUCTION

Mention the word church at any point in a discussion and people will raise a lot of questions and concerns. As a matter of fact, freedom in issues related to religion has brought confusion in the modern society at a worrying rate. Reflecting at what religion was initially, the difference can only be argued and not changed. Acting as a link that completes the relationship between the people and God, the church is a force and an institution that has got authority and power to impact the society and dominate positively (Dolamo, 2001). Just as God told the first man (Adam) in creation, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion…” implies that the plan of God was to have humankind as the final point of contact between Him and His creation (Genesis 1:28). From that point to date, religion has unfolded and expanded to what is now a questionable phenomenon. Among the intriguing questions in Christianity is why there are various denominations that are guided by different doctrines and yet still point to one God.

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