A Christian Perspective On Press Freedom

Tim Neill, Harare

The charging of the editor-in-chief of the Daily News with criminal defamation is fundamentally an assault on Press freedom. It is in the same category as the bombing of the printing press of the Daily News, the forceful closing of Capital Radio, the torturing of journalists and the like

In the following reflection it is fundamental that God is the God who can totally change and transform evil situations by changing people and by intervening in history in sovereign ways. Furthermore, it is fundamental that God in his love delights in the happiness of all his creatures.

God wants the best for each one of us. In the Bible we read: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness." (Romans 1v18).

Suppression of truth It is obvious to anyone that there is a systematic suppression of truth in Zimbabwe today by our government. The wrath of God is therefore being revealed from heaven onto them.

But how? There are some of us who would hope that the ground would open up and swallow certain members of the government but this isn't what the scripture is talking about. Rather, God gives these people over to sinful desire to lust and degradation of the mind so that it becomes more depraved.

As an illustration: The Movement for Democratic Change MP for Mabvuku reported to Parliament how he had been taken from his house and beaten up by the police. The ZANU PF Members of Parliament, on hearing the story that one of the honourable members of the House had been so humiliated, responded not by calling for a full parliamentary investigation into the outrage but by laughter.

Wrath of God

They have become dehumanised. They no longer have a heart that listens to the pain and the humiliation of a fellow human being instead of laughter.

When you see that, you're seeing a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against men who by their wickedness suppress the truth, this being given over to moral corruption and delighting in what is not at all good. Therefore, when ZTV screens the kind of rubbish that it does you are not looking at the product of only one mind but that the suppression of truth is a corporate activity

People are working with other people to deceive the nation. But they pay the price and they pay it individually.

Darkness of mind

We are moral creatures who are accountable to God and the wrath of God descends on those who suppress the truth. Therefore the people who still support ZANU PF in all its wickedness are presently tasting an increasing darkness of mind, an increasing sense of desperation and increasing levels of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.

You suppress the truth by wickedness and you pay. The payment is progressive, exacting and unrelenting.

But why does the wrath of God descend on those opposed to the freedom of the Press, to the free flow of information, to openness and investigative reporting? Why does God get so angry? I don't want to answer for God but I suspect the reason is two-fold. Local cartoonist First, God reveals his wrath because people generally don't get that upset that truth is suppressed - witness how few people came to the planned march which followed the bombing of the Daily News.

I believe it was Harry Truman who said: "Human beings cannot stand too much reality." People don't want to know. They don't want the truth disturbing their quiet worlds.

Suppression of truth by wickedness doesn't make people angry simply because many people don't want to know. A local cartoonist had a clergyman saying that he doesn't read the newspaper because it spoils his day!

Criminal defamation

Second, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven because it makes God angry when people are denied their natural and fundamental rights.

And the right to information is a basic right all humans share. These acts of violence and the ridiculous criminal defamation legislation and the rest are acts of violence against rights God gave us when he made human-kind.

God loves us and desires the best for us. Where does this get us to? Back to Romans 1.

Suppress the truth and you get barbarism of the worst kind in society. Witness Zimbabwe today.

But the opposite holds true. When more and more aspects of truth are seen and heard, when the airwaves are freed, when there is more and more investigative reporting, when the alternative opinions are voiced and heard widely, the more the potential for creating a good and healthy society.

Tim Neill is a fomer vicar-general of the Anglican Church and a human rights campaigner.

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