The religious implications of the declaration of Zambia as a Christian state

Abstract

The study looked at the religious implications of declaring Zambia a Christian nation. The conclusion arrived at was that Zambia is not a Christian nation because of the following reasons: • A nation cannot be Christian by proclamation, but by the life styles of individuals who call themselves Christians. • Zambia's constitution guarantees freedom for all religions found in Zambia. Individuals have a freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of their own choice without being coerced by any means. • The declaration had no theological backing. The scriptures used in the declaration were out of context. • The declaration was po1itical as opposed to being religious. The supporters ofthe declaration argued that President Chiluba was appointed by God and whoever disagreed with him, disagreed with God. • Zambian Christianity is diverse in the sense that there are different denominations with different doctrines and emphasis.