Religion in Times of Crisis in Zimbabwe: A Case Study of Churches in Manicaland and Its Theodicy of Liberation

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the efforts of religiously-inspired actors to transform ongoing crises in Zimbabwe. It seeks to answer the question: How and to what extent have the organizations contributed to resolving political crisis in Zimbabwe? To answer this question it roots itself in the conceptual frameworks of theodicy and social movements. The chapter argues that the mainline churches have held a theodicy that has legitimized perpetrators of political crisis in Zimbabwe. It also focuses on how such organizations, operating outside the jurisdiction and power of the mainstream churches, have positioned themselves in pursuit of broader social and political objectives. The chapter concludes that new theodicies of liberation espoused by emergent religio-political organizations, expressed through social movement approaches such as grassroots orientation, flexibility, participatory approaches, non-hermetic separation between the sacred and the secular, and the outward-looking character of their religious ideas, strategically positions them to facilitate social and political change. Keywords: Church; jurisdiction; political crisis; religious ideas; theodicies of liberation; Zimbabwe