The Cross and Land Politics in Zimbabwe: The Forgotten Side of the Church

Abstract

Since 1500, Christianity is the major and official religion in Zimbabwe while African Traditional Religion remains the popular religion among Zimbabweans. Such a scenario is comparable to the ancient Israelite religion; Yahweism (monotheism) being the official religion while Polytheism being the popular religion amongst the Israelites. Christianity as a religion did not bring with it land to Zimbabwe. This study will explore the position of Christianity in relation to land and land politics in Zimbabwe. Christianity is a foreign religious ideology to Zimbabwe. The advent of Christianity does not mean that Zimbabweans were short of religion. African Traditional Religion (ATR) is the indigenous religion to Africans including Zimbabweans. Christianity is of great interest in this study because it is embraced by the majority of Zimbabweans (Ruzivo, 2008, p. 28). The arrival of Christianity dates back to the 14th century. It was introduced to Zimbabwe by the missionaries. The article highlights and chronicles the less emphasized issue of religion and land politics in Zimbabwe. In this case, the religion in question is Christianity and land politics or politics of land in Zimbabwe.