Miracles and Witchcraft, same difference

Compiled by Olivia Phiri
‘Same Difference’ does not mean 'same thing'. Same difference refers to two subject matters which are not equal yet share similar values.  A miracle and an act of Witch craft are both aberrations of nature but are based on conflicting ideals by society. A miracle is an event credited to divine intervention. Otherwise, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader for example T.B Joshua of Nigeria. Theologians say that, with divine providence, God commonly works through created nature yet is free to work without, above, or against it as well. Mean while Black magic or Witchcraft has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. In modern times, some find that the definition of "black magic" has been complicated by people who define practices that they disapprove of as "black magic". Many rituals performed by black magic practitioners mentioned on television are mentioned as having characteristics similar to Christianity though in a tainted form, and it appears to be universally based upon a religion, but using perverted rituals to suit the needs of the user.

Good and evil are both very intangible concepts. Most philosophies accept the dualism of good and evil. Good coexists with evil and there can be no thing such as ‘good’ unless there is ‘evil’ and vice versa.

From a society’s point of view, whatever is beneficial to general mankind is considered good and whatever is not in the interests of the general mankind is considered evil. Therefore, labeling any action as good or evil is clearly based upon one’s perception and judgment. Society has made laws based on precedents of what it has viewed as good and evil. However, these perceptions keep changing with different generations

In a certain context, even devotional forms of ritual such as prayer can be regarded as a form of black magic, if the intended purpose of the prayer is to cause harm or injury to another. Prayers such as those that evoke the devastation of enemies and so on that produce negative results fall within the realm of ill objective.

In conclusion, both witchcraft and miracles can have good endings and also bad implications depending on the situation, and it must be understood that all that perform the two acts are created by God and thus only one divine creator will oversee their judgment and not society. Therefore society needs to heed caution when labeling an action good or bad because many other factors come into effect such as preservation of traditions and culture which are important even in facilitating the act of evangelism to Christianity in order to save humanity from itself, indeed a miracle.

Time keeping...important aspect in a development process

By Olivia A. Phiri

In Zambia we are famous for not observing time, whether we are invited for a party, business meeting or even a funeral. It would be easy to judge that we are not serious people, but that is not the truth, we are self less and hard-working, just too relaxed in observing time. I came up with five reasons why (i) We do not own watches, (ii) We do not have a highly mechanised or industrialised nation or economy,(iii) Climate, (iv) Culture and lastly, (v) Poverty.

Lack of Watches

Very few people wear or own watches in our country, the few that do either are very old people that stream from the colonial days like grandfathers, other people are business men and social elites. Watches can be said to be expensive and a bit unnecessary in this day of the cell phone but most young people only look at the phone to answer phone calls, access the internet and send text messages. Time does not seem to be very important, some people say that they know they wont be the only ones late thus only look at the time on occasion and not as a prerequisite to ensuring that they are on time. The youth in Zambia and mostly female tend to think it's actually fashionable to be late and makes them stand out at conferences and meetings. Unfortunately  when a person is late in a multicultural setting, everyone turns their wrists to check their time, in reaction to how disturbing your appearance or attendance is. Some people actually find bad time keeping an insult and may result in incomplete deals or agreements.
People for example in Europe do not wear cheap watches, they attach the value of watches to the value and importance of time. The reason we do not buy watches even when we can afford them is because we attach no real value to time itself. For example if you had a Rolex watch or Tag Heuer ...then you would definitely look at it more often and maybe observe time too. This however is not the reason Europeans observe time compared to Zambians, it's the mutual respect and orderliness they have for other people and thus they have cities that never sleep because they are constantly on a row, having up to four jobs per person. For a person who has no respect for time and others i doubt if we would manage clocking in systems, or payment by the hour jobs. Respect for time is very important as aspect in developing a good relationship, making good first impression, improving mental alertness, contributing to national development overall in that all activities will be done in good time and effectively. The advise would be to go out and buy a watch, just try, show the commitment to time by just purchasing a good quality affordable watch.

Lack of an industrialised economy

To be continued