Musaazi NAMITI | SUNDAY THOUGHT
Social media has gone into overdrive since social commentator Frank Gashumba attacked Ugandan pastors while also challenging them to perform miracles that they keep talking about and promising their followers.
Mr Gashumba used a deeply insulting Luganda word, emiyaayu, to describe the pastors. One of those who responded is Pastor Robert Kayanja, a well-known Pentecostal preacher whose church, Lubaga Miracle Centre, has been operating in Kampala for 40 years. He was visibly livid and warned Mr Gashumba that God would deal him a blow that could flatten him like a chapati.
Ugandans responding to this saga are standing with either Mr Gashumba or Pastor Kayanja and other Pentecostal preachers.
But there are also those who are saying that Mr Gashumba should not attack pastors and that only God performs miracles. This column will try to delve into this claim to see if it really makes sense.
Let us begin with a clear definition of “miracle”. We will look at two definitions because many people using this word deploy it in two senses: an act or event that does not follow the laws of nature and is believed to be caused by God, and a lucky thing that happens that you did not expect or think was possible.
In the first instance, a good example would be something like a man who is fed up with life, goes to the rooftop of Workers House or Crested Towers and tries to jump to the ground but is prevented from reaching his destination and is pushed right back to where he started from. Or conjoined twins getting separated without human intervention.
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The second definition would be something like a plane full of passengers taking off and after being airborne for a few minutes, all its engines fail, it ploughs into the ground and bursts into flames and everyone walks away with no injuries.
These examples illustrate what would qualify as real miracles. Yet there is no reliable, independently verifiable evidence that God performs or has ever performed such miracles. All people who are bent on taking their lives by jumping from skyscrapers face enormous risk of death. Conjoined twins have never been separated without human intervention. Doctors separate them through surgery, which can be complicated and risky depending on the organs and structures the twins share.
If God were able to perform real miracles, he would consider conjoined twins as candidates. Alternatively, he would make it possible for women who have had hysterectomy—the surgical removal of a uterus—to become pregnant. But we all know he does not.
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🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.