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this problem with the politicisation of the Methodist Church should be dealt with - otherwise it will be the cause of more instability in the future.

there has to be politivcal will to do this thing - once and for all.

the best way to do that is to have Churches licenced - beyond the Religious Bodies legislation there should be a licensing authority set up to issue licences to Churches - like they do in China and Singapore and Malaysia. all Churches and religions must be licensed be they Chatholic, Methodist, Mulsim, Hindu or whatever - and the conditions of the licences must be clear (a) the churches must not engage in overt or covert politics (b) the Churches must stick to preaching the message of Christ (in the case of Christian churches) and in social and educational and economic programs designed to uplift the people (c) the Church must not associate itself or been identified with a political party.

These simple rules should be strictly enforced - if a Church does not obey the rules, then its licence should be revoked, its properties sequestered (seized) by the State and its leadership fined and/or imprisoned for failing to observe the conditions of the licence.

Christ taught about freedom of worship - and that right should not be removed - Churches are free to worhip and fellowship - but they must not engage in politics - the moment they engage in politics they should be dealt with by law - severely.

the Constitution should guarantee the right of worship - and the State religion should be Christianty - but beyond that every religion should be free to practice its beliefs, Muslims, Hindu's, Budhists, Bahai's, Christians in peace and harmony.

thats the only way foward - there is no choice but to licence the Churches - they have been left for too long and they have become political entities in themselves, hiding agenda's which are not good for the longterm well being of the country.

we now have the ridiculous situation of the interim Pm having to ask Archnishop Mataca to get involved in a political forum (NCBBF) and Rt Epeli Ganilau having to ask the Methodist Church to listen to the explanations about the NCBBF Charter - this is wrong. the government is not answerable to any Church, be it the Methodist Church or the Catholic Church or the Arya Samaj or the Amadiya's or the Muslims - the Government should be only answerable in the court of public opinion in whats best for the country going forward - and the leaders of the Church must not be involved in any political process - if the want to get involved then they should stp outside the Church like Rev Paisly did in Northern Ireland - and how the IRA MsGuinness did when they moved out of the Provisional IRA to join Sinn Fein in a purely political capacity.

we can't have the Church (and any other relion for that matter) mixed up in the politics of this country - its unhealthy and it must be stopped.

Attaturk did it in Turkey - and the millitary ensured that the Turkish state remained secular - and the Turkish millitary still ensures that seculiarity today - in every spehere of Turkish governance - Turkey is probably the only properous and free "Islamic" country in that very unstable Islamic region of the world (Syria, Jordon, Iran, Iraq) - Attaturk did it because he understood the underpinnings of Turkish society - the fragile marriage of politics and religion, he understood to be a recipe for ongoing instability.

Turkey is an economic powerhouse in the Medditeranean today because of his foresight.