EDITORIAL
Kenya, for very good reason, is a secular state which also accommodates freedom
of worship.
This freedom of worship applies not just to those who profess adherence to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and other exotic faiths, but also to those who prefer to remain true to traditional religion and to atheists, agnostics and others who remain sceptical or deny the existence of any Supreme Being at all.
It is not by accident that modern democracies are by and large secular states. On the one hand, it is a basic and fundamental right for one to worship or not worship, as he pleases. On the other, there is the recognition that a clash between political and religious fervour would make for an incendiary mix.
A Nyeri court, however, appears to be deeply ignorant of the whole philosophy behind freedom of worship.
On Monday, Julia Wanjiru Nduhia was sentenced to six months in jail on charges of behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.
Ms Nduhia heads a traditionalist sect, and apparently preached at a bus stage deep in Nyeri a message to the effect that Jesus Christ never existed. She preached a return to Kikuyu traditional forms of worship and also advocated revival of customs such as female circumcision.
Is that, really, a criminal offence? The court might well have been persuaded that the subject the accused chose might be deemed provocative in an area where presumably the people are deeply united in their attachment to the Christian faith.
It might even be considered irresponsible, insensitive and provocative to take certain religious messages where they are not wanted.
That still does not amount to behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. If anything, the role of the state in such situations should be to safeguard the freedom to worship and proselytise.
That might be the ideal situation. But if it would be impractical to ask that of the state in present day Kenya, one should still not expect the state to come across as an agent of religious intolerance and bigotry.
That is what the state does when it arrests and charges somebody for merely preaching his or her beliefs.
The judiciary compounds the error by actually going ahead to mete out an unjust punishment.