It was one of those show trials, where the judge was bought and the verdict was known before hand. The accused, a tall bearded man, was charged with defending the poor for protesting against a cruel government. The Court was full of party thugs and hired assassins, all chanting 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'
Judge: Quiet! Read the charge!
Prosecutor: We are still considering various charges, M'Lud. Suffice it to say that the accused has threatened the security of the state.
Judge: What's his name?
Prosecutor: Democracy, M'Lud.
Judge: Democracy? Democracy? Is this his first time to come before me? I seem to have heard that name somewhere before.
Prosecutor: Its a foreign name M'Lud. His father was born in Greece, so we suspect that he must have obtained Zambian citizenship under dubious circumstances. We are also looking into the possibility of having him deported.
Judge: What do you have to say for yourself, Democracy?
Democracy: The Pharisees sit on Moses seat, but they do not practice what he preached. They tie up heavy burdens which are hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of the poor.
Judge: Can you please get to the point.
Democracy: Woe unto you, Pharisees and hypocrites! You promised us the rule of law, but you lock us up without charge. You promised us freedom of assembly, but you make our meetings illegal. You promised us freedom of speech, but you imprison our journalists.
Woe unto you, Pharisees and hypocrites! You give honour to thieves and scoundrels, while the righteous live in rags. You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. On the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Prosecutor: There, you have heard it for yourself, M'Lud. Clearly this Democracy is a danger to the security of the state.
Judge: I see what you mean. These are clearly insults to the leaders of our great Christian nation, and therefore an insult to God himself. Has he admitted to any overt act which might threaten the security of the state?
Prosecutor: Oh yes, M'Lud. He preached a sermon that King Herod has done a deal to buy arms from the Romans, so that he may quell the protests of the poor.
Judge: Democracy, how do you plead to this charge? Guilty or not guilty?
Democracy: Woe unto you, Pharisees and hypocrites! You have stolen the money from the public purse, and there is none left to help the poor. You have paid yourselves thousands of dollars, and put the country into the hands of money-lenders. You have built great mansions like whitewashed tombs, as memorials to your monumental theft. On the outside they look beautiful, but inside there is nothing but sin and degradation.
You have put me in jail for telling the truth. I have been whipped, beaten, starved, and had a crown of thorns pushed onto my head. You snakes and brood of evil vipers! How can you avoid being sentenced to Hell?
Judge: Is this true, Mr Prosecutor. Has the prisoner been tortured?
Prosecutor: Good gracious no, M'Lud. He injured himself slightly when he accidentally fell out of the window of the torture chamber.
Judge: The torture chamber?
Prosecutor: Slip of the tongue, M'Lud. I meant the police station.
Judge: Those look like thorns on his head!
Prosecutor: He fell into a thorn bush, M'Lud.
Democracy: Sorry to interrupt, M'Lud, but can we proceed to the verdict, since it is already written in the scriptures.
Judge: I find that this Democracy is a danger to the nation, and a threat to our security. Unfortunately, I have searched all my law books, and cannot find any law under which telling the truth is an offence.
Again the thugs began to chant. 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'
Judge: Since this week is Easter, I shall release one of the public enemies to the mob, for their usual entertainment of the Easter Crucifixion. Which one shall I give you to crucify, do you want Decadence, Dictatorship or Democracy?
'Give us Democracy!' they chanted. 'He’s the enemy of the nation! Give him to us! We shall crucify him!’
With that the mob descended on Democracy with sticks and stones, and bundled him out of the courtroom, and made him carry a heavy cross all the way up Independence Avenue, where they erected the cross, and crucified him.
And so, on a green hill at Plot One, Democracy died. And with his last breath he shouted ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do!’
But he was wrong. They knew very well what they were doing. For those thugs were the rulers of the land, and they wanted Decadence and Dictatorship, but not Democracy.'
And to this day Decadence and Dictatorship rule the land. But the people still keep the distant memory of Democracy. And every year at Easter they all go to church, and pray to the Lord to send back Democracy to save them.
[With some assistance from Matthew 23, 1-27]
No comments:
Post a Comment