Interview with Yohane Thomas

Published 2019-06-08.
Who is Yohane E. Thomas?
I am a young man aged 29 and married to my beautiful wife, Kettie and have a lovely daughter named Johanna. I studied Bachelor of Arts Humanities with the University of Malawi and graduated in 2015. I am a Malawi who believes that we must do everything possible to address social problems that we have in our society. I am social and human rights activist. We should expect things to change if we do not change ourselves. I believe all people have rights and therefore equal and must deserve a chance to pursue the full measure of their happiness
Briefly tell us about your writing career
I started writing short stories and poetry back in 2014 while I was at the college. My writing is greatly shaped buy what is happening in my society. I have so far written four books which should be published soon. At first, my writing was just for fun but I thought it was not enough as I felt obliged that I have to address issues that are affecting our world today. I strongly believe that any writer has moral responsibility to write about what is happening in the society. For instance, when I see problems or social injustices taking place in my country or elsewhere, I feel obliged to share those problems with other people by uncovering those problems and possibly suggest solutions to address those problems. In short, through writing, I am a voice for the voiceless.
You have recently published new book titled New Religious Movements, what is the story behind this book?
Well. New Religious Movements as a book uncovers some of movements which are regarded as religions according to their beliefs and practices. In a world where we have many religions, there is a big problem of religious intolerance. We have endless conflicts in the sense that some religious groups feel they are superior to others. This has led to conflicts and fights. This was the case especially when new religious movements bloke away from mainline churches. In this case, mainline churches lost members in the process. This could not go well with mainline churches as a result conflicts and fight occurred. The reason why I have written this book is communicate with readers that religion is a matter of faith so it is of no use to judge other religions as cults or satanic. It is also important to bear in mind that some religions are shaped by people’s culture. There are some selection of some movements such as Vailala Madness, Ghost Dance and Peyote cults which are shaped by people’s cultural beliefs. While people are at liberty to regard their beliefs as nonsense but the fact of the matter is that those beliefs constituted their religion. Readers will be pleased to learn how these movements came into being, what reasons were behind and what contributions have these new religious movements contributed to this world. Also students of theology will find this book useful and interesting.
Across African continent, we also have religions which cannot be separated from our cultural values. This explains why these religious movements got a lot of members when they were established. People left mainline churches to join these movements simply because the the new movements adopted some of the cultural aspects of people so it was not problematic for these people to join. For instance, mainline religion did not allow polygamy which was regarded norm and worth striving for in other African societies as a result some of members simply joined new religious movements which allowed polygamy.
Why there is still no tolerance between mainline churches and new religious movements?
Well, all religions as I haves said reflect people’s cultures so the fact that there are different cultures there would also be differences and disagreements among religions. However, I personally believe that it is wrong to despise other people’s culture or religions simply because they are different from yours. Simply put, no culture or religion is superior to another.
What do you think should be done for these religions to unite?
I have suggested in this book that there is a need for these religions to appreciate the beliefs as well as practices of other religions. There is a need to avoid judgmental attitude. Where we have differences, there is a need to have discussion to iron out issues so that tolerance and cooperation can exist. We are born in different cultural settings, different environments and experience different situations so I would expect differences among people in terms of their cultures and religions. Discussion would help to build unity and tolerance among all religions.
What is the future of new religions movements and mainline churches?
Actually, their future relies on cooperation and unity. They must work together and appreciate their differences. The growth or decline of these religions also depend on human rights, technology, enculturation, holistic approach to human problems, globalization among other factors which I have discussed in details in this book.
You said you are social and human rights activist and that you have also written other books, what the titles of these books?
Yes I have written other books which should be out soon. My books include: In Search of Gender-less Society, My Journey of Poetry and Corruption: The Social Suicide in Africa: The Case Study of Malawi. I urge my readers to be on alert when these books are out. They should look forward to these books because they are worth and upon reading them people will not be the same
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I like visiting people, watching soccer, watching television, reading novels just to mention afew
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
After reading some books and watching some religious movies I discovered that there is something that must be written. I think as as any writer would write about what is happening in society I decided to write this book with hope that religious tolerance would be achieved.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Yes I do. It was story titled "Justice Should Prevail". It was moving story about young boy who lost everything following the death of his family. The relatives of his father snatched everything from him so much so that despite that he was born in affluent family he eventually became a pauper. However, at the end of the end, he got his parents' wealth after legal redress.
what can you tell your fans about your writing?
I am humbled to my fans. To them I say thank you very much and I humbly ask them to help me in every way they can. I promise them that they should expect more from me. Many interesting books are on their way.
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Books by This Author

New Religious Movements
Price: $10.00 USD. Words: 15,240. Language: British English. Published: June 1, 2019 . Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Education
This is a brief book that equips Christians with knowledge in as far as the study of New Religious Movements is concerned. This book takes a critical look at some of the New Religious Movements that emerged not only in Africa but also in the whole world. The book examines the causes and impacts of these New Religious Movements on missionary churches and local people. It calls for religious unity.