Adequate texture reference from I'll marry when I want
The theme of religion is couched in other themes, such as class struggle. This is because religion is a tool of the oppressors, and is a flash point for debates about traditional vs. outsider culture and values. The play is not explicitly anti-religion, but Gĩcaamba in particular lays out how the Kenyan churches often argued against independence and capitulated to Western influences. He decries all of the Western churches opening throughout their villages. He also spends a great deal of time explaining how religion is an opiate, is the "alcohol of the soul" because it encourages people to think not about their earthly struggles but about their future in heaven; this precludes criticism and uprising, and allows people like Kĩoi to flourish and fatten while the poor do their best to ignore their woes or conclude that they are God-given.
