The purity ring: Are we taking expression of faith too far?

Lydia Playfoot, a 16 yr old girl who was banned by her school for wearing a “purity ring” is taking her school, Millais School in Horsham in West Sussex, to the High Court. Lydia, a member of the Silver Ring Thing Christian group wears a silver ring engraved with a Biblical reference- “1 Thes 434” St. Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians- as a sign of their belief in abstinence from sex till marriage. She claims that her school is breaching her human rights by preventing her from wearing the ring, while allowing Muslim and Sikh students to wear headscarfs and religious bangles.

While it can be argued that using such a ring as an expression of faith is part of the right to express oneself, it is also becoming apparent that expressions such as these are the beginnings of fads that eventually burn out and do not sustain the goal for which they were started.

The purity ring is just one of many endeavours by some Christians to stay true to bible principles inline with purity until marriage. In Uganda, pro-purity organisations have pushed for the “True love waits” campaign in a bid to help young people find esteem, appreciate the gift of virginity and to stand in the face of peer pressure.

However in world that is highly visual and brand conscious, it increasingly becomes hard to actually pick up and stick to the singular concept that such belief expressions are trying to put across.

It is a tenacious situation because just like any other religious group, Christians will use popularly used mass media channels to get their message across but by adopting such measures they become ‘just like everyone else”.

Not more than a year ago, it became a fad to wear wrist bands that carried specific messages like “Arsenal forever”, ‘Peace”, “Unity”, “Tranquillity”, “Club Silk” and “Celtel Africa Challenge”

This fad was so powerful that the Christian community did not escape it, bands reading “W.W.J.D” (What Would Jesus Do), “F.R.O.G”(Fully Rely On God), “D.O.G” (Depend on God) and “P.U.S.H” (Pray Until Something Happens) became the boldest form of expressing belief, encouraging oneself in times of dire need and identifying with people of the same belief system.

Expressions like the purity ring eventually get swollen up by the bigger, brighter and more repetitive adverts and soon no one will even remember what the purity ring was about to begin with. Does this solve Lisa’s problem? Does this help protect young innocents, keeping them pure till they get married?

An expression of faith is at best that, just an expression. It is a basic human right to express oneself, but the impact of the message of that expression should be weighed against fading into oblivion and becoming just another fad.

Climate Change: What You need to know.

Climate change is as much a part of our lives today as it has always been. It is just not something many people even consider as they go on day by day. It is not a dreamed up notion purported by over zealous scientists or crazed environmentalists. Every aspect of our lives, every interaction we make has an effect on climate and environment and will continue to do so unless we take positive steps to counteract negative impact.

Simply explained, Climate Change is a regional change in temperature and weather conditions. Current science indicates a change over the last century and human activity specifically the burning of fossil fuels. The term has also been used synonymously with “global warming” and “green house effect”.

The effects of climate change on Uganda have taken their toll over time. In 2006 after investigations were carried out on Mountain Rwenzori, it was reported that warmer temperatures were melting the glaciers on its picks and the snow would eventually disappear within 2 to 3 decades. The glaciers act as a major source of fresh water to kigezi and thus their loss would affect water availability. The region thus has to start preparing for this eventuality by drilling bore holes to tap under ground water and adapt irrigation systems to conserve the regions rain.

In April 2007, it was also reported that changes in rainfall patterns, increased droughts, lowering of the water table and other factors go a long way in contributing to disease increment, especially in regard to Malaria, cause unstable weather patterns that affect farming especially that of crops like coffee, cassava and Soya and so on.

This year, the Government of Uganda allowed big industries in Uganda to run diesel powered generators to boost their energy levels following the start of nation wide load-shedding. This is interesting considering that diesel is one of the most common elements through which the gases that affect the climate are emitted.

When the different climate-changing activities in which Ugandans are involved are peaked, it should be obvious that we have to effect some measures to ensure that we conserve natural resources and balance out environmental effects.

What we can do as a nation is first realise that climate change is a reality and the burden lies on each of us to deal with the results of our activities.

As a nation, we need to take the international conventions and protocols on climate change seriously and enact laws and regulations to protect our country and its resources. National resource has to be directed towards creating workable solutions to deal with these changes in climate. We need to be able to prevent natural disastrous such as droughts and have measures to ensure survival in case of natural disasters.

We cannot fully rely on only one source of energy, hydro electricity as evidence by restrictions to energy production we are suffering at the moment. We have other sources that need to be fully investigated and made effective.

Ideas without implementation are just that, ideas. We need change. We need to wake up and realise that we will be totally defenceless if we do not act now.