The role of religion in economic development was the title of the discussion I was at yesterday. The gentleman presenting wanted to highlight how religion and economic development are interlinked and how they affect each other.

First we looked at how economic development affects religion. There are four factors that come into play education, value of time, life expectancy and urbanization. Economic development will likely lead to higher education and with increase in education there is a desire to explain things scientifically. A less developed country would explain any situation using God and religious beliefs. The probability of explaining things using God in a developed country becomes less. People tend to use scientific terms to explain day to day living on any challenge that might come their way. For instance in a developed country if there is famine the explanation would be scientific but in a not so developed country famine might be explained as the anger of God or a lesson that we need to learn from gods especially in our African context.

Then religion plays a pivotal role in the way of our thinking. Value of time in developing countries makes it hard for people to seek religion. People would rather be at work than in church. Thus economics or being more economically developed will affect the way people view religion.

Knowing the life expectancy in any country can also contribute to how economic development can make it hard to find a community seeking for God. In America the life expectancy is around 75 to 80 years and if a male aged 30 still has his grandparents alive he sees no rush of going to church. On the other hand in a less developed country with a life expectancy of 35years like in Zimbabwe, people would rather go to church and prepare to go to heaven.

Urbanization brings many social platforms in a country as it gets developed. Going to church is among many of the options that people choose from. Urbanization brings in nightclubs, movies and many other social spaces. In a less developed country the only social space available to people in that country might be the church or other religious settings.

We then looked how religion affects economic development. Religion is attractive to higher educated societies. There are all these people trying to explain the existence of God, explaining the existence of God takes philosophers. It takes people who have a high education to do that. Then religion will affect economic development through education. Most religions value education, as you have to read the Bible or the Koran. Religious beliefs reinforce religious factors like hard work, honesty, thrift and value of time. So it is true to say that religion does affect economic development. The more people are taught in their religious circles to value time, to be hard working, the more a country can be economically developed.

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- Your pick to win World Cup 2010!

Anyone coming from outta space and landing in Sandton, Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon would have thought Bafana Bafana had just won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Thousands of Bafana Bafana fans from all walks of life swamped the streets of Sandton to show their support for the boys ahead of their first match with Mexico on June 11.

The fans had come to join the ‘United We Stand’ campaign, a joint initiative between my employer Primedia Broadcasting, Southern Sun and Supersport

Wearing their Bafana Bafana jerseys, they sang, danced and made the circle bigger, as they blew vuvuzela’s, kuduzela’s and the minizela, a miniature trumpet.

It was a real momentous occasion, the rainbow nation was indeed coming alive.

A few months ago, few people had kind words for the team. The nation was disappointed with the uninspiring team and many said they would be lucky to win a single match.

Since the return of Carlos Alberto Perreira, the team has not lost a match and the fans are hyped up.

Let’s get the party started and hope on July 11, 2010, we can go back to the streets and party all night long.

Reading Bev Reeler’s blog about our communities being invaded by cell phone towers and uncaring and non-responsive city officials, I was reminded of a poem by Ignatius Mabasa, one of Zimbabwe’s leading poets.

Concrete and Plastic

I miss the open air
In the open fields.
I miss the stretching space
That was usurped,
By high-rise glass buildings.

I see ashen street kids
Playing and fighting
For an inflated used condom.
“Strong, dependable and
Can hold up to 3 litres of water”.

I look around me
For the coloured butterfly
And the soaring eagle,
But the city has created
Urban modern birds.
The candy eating pigeon
The hamburger-munching crow.

I miss the human-being
In all this concrete and plastic
Where robots and computers
Professors and talk-show hosts
Telemarketers and experts
Tell me what is best for me
Even if they don’t know me.