The birds of the same feather flock together. Like animals, human beings feel safe when associated with the other like-mind people. Drug peddlers are also in affinity with one another, but not in love with one another. The same applies with any other group, whether for good or evil intentions, as long as they hold common objectives.
Bring a good person among those whose objectives are evil; the good person becomes vilified. Being in affinity with any group, is not necessarily a sign of abundance in love. With affinity, a person may be regarded as a hero among those of his/her grouping. However, that would not be a sign of love attributes.
Jesus was killed, because He did not identify with those murderers. The threat was not anything to do with His teachings, but being different from everyone else. In one chorus, before Pilate, everyone yelled for Jesus’ crucifixion. Those people were in affinity with one another. They understood love in the context of affinity with one another, unlike Jesus who loved the good and bad people alike.
Jesus dined with sinners, just as He dined with Law-Keepers. The only ones with whom He had problems were the hypocrites, pretending to be what they were not. Dealing with hypocrites is like driving behind a car that indicates turning left when actually turning right. As stated previously, falsehood is the cause of all problems. If a sinner, why pretend to be good?
Jesus taught what was new and not identifying with the general norm.
When teaching that people should love their enemies, Jesus was actually violating the law of affinity. Today, others condemn Jesus’ murderers, but the fair-minded ones do understand that those people simply sought to protect their affinity with one another. Jesus was alien to a society, sold to protecting its culture, its traditions, its values and dignity. With all honesty, what responsible people would allow a foreigner to encroach on their enshrined ethos?
Today the objectives of pan-Africanism seek to establish common African culture, just as other nations value their own cultures. This appears plausible. The African people have been degraded for a long time and sit in anticipation of a hero who would take them out of the quagmire of inferiority, since time immemorial.
By courageously standing up against the Western nations, President Mugabe is accorded hero status by the entire African continent. The fact that he governs an impoverished state is immaterial, as long as the Western hypocrisy is exposed.
The African continent looks to Mugabe, helplessly sympathizing with him for his impoverished nation. The wrongs of the Western Nations are documented for everyone to see. The blamed are given responsibility for impoverishing the black people. This sounds plausible to a people with low self-esteem, affirming what affinity is all about.
Blaming the Western nations actually empowers them, as one gives them the responsibility to then change things for the better in one’s own country. It takes only a responsible person to avoid entertaining the idea of blaming those nations for anything.
The reason given for blaming the aliens, instead of taking responsibility appears as shirking their influence and dominance. Nevertheless, the hardest thing is to convince the brainwashed to appreciate that such kind of behaviour actually invites re-colonization.
Whether true or false, America is today accused of looting in Iraq. Yet Saddam may have similarly been viewed as a hero by most Arab states. America could not have gained entry into the oil-rich Iraq, had it not been the foolish behaviour of Saddam Hussein. Who can rule out the possibility of Western countries invading Zimbabwe, through the United Nations, for purposes of “helping” the impoverished people?
My viewpoint is that we do not need the United Nations, Western or any other superpower to help us sort out our economic mess. We need Jesus, who, though rejected by the Jews, held the way to true freedom that has got nothing to do with affinity. In Christ there is no need for obsession with concern for the preservation of culture, or any other nomenclature, as used in the revolutionary struggles. Only Christ’s principles serve to restore the dignity of the African people.
By adopting affinity with Jesus, one receives the gift of the Spirit, whose fruit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control (Galatians 5:22). When analyzing these components, one can be sure of having attained the most sought after freedom, human dignity and value.
My only problem is that Jesus has been misrepresented for a long time, so that one cannot advance His name without being mistaken for what prevails in the Christian world. Nevertheless, affinity is not love. To be in affinity with Jesus means that one would eventually think like Jesus who loved His enemies and friends alike.
The difference between affinity and love is that conforming to affinity implies succumbing to mob psychology. So that whatever is approved by the group, you also have to approve, even though the inside of you confirms its wrongness. In true love, you take responsibility, based on reason, consistent with God’s Love. You become cause, rather than being effect. My message here is that, instead of blaming the powers that be, there is need to look beyond existent problems and come up with workable solutions. That brings total freedom.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, which lays down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into becoming a model to other countries worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing reliefs to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social instability. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabwean readers should find the book as a long awaited providential oasis of hope.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
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