A theological exploration of the interface between Johanne Marange Apostolic Church and the human rights discourse with particular emphasis on children and women's rights

Abstract

This thesis used a large portion of secondary data and it also made use of limited qualitative research methods and techniques of gathering data. The interviews were informal and were only used to fill the research gaps identified in literature. Due to the COVID-19 induced regulations, human interaction was limited. The study looked at the interface between Human Rights and theology in the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church (JMAC) and went on to assess how this interaction affects women and children’s rights. This thesis was perhaps the first to look at the interface between law and theology in JMAC since Zimbabwe is a constitutional democratic state. In a constitutional democracy, citizens only enjoy rights that are provided for by the constitution. The study cited various doctrines of JMAC in relation to the constitution, civil and customary laws. The study made reference to other mainline churches and traced the history of women and children’s rights theologically. The study also interrogated the role of the state, non-state actors, feminist organisations and church organisations in fostering the rights of women and children. The thesis established that some women and children in JMAC do not enjoy their fundamental as enshrined in the Constitution. It was further established ordinary women and children are forced to take vows that they will not seek medical attention or access clinics and hospitals. The girl child is married to any member of the church without her consent thus there are rampant cases of forced marriages. The study recommended a global approach, engagements, strategic communication, and depoliticization of the religious sphere, responsive media coverage to abuse cases, mono legal system and church state relations.