What irony that popular worldview (”Spread the truth, not the word”, December 24), which, scorning those holding on to traditional religion, denounces any form of ”truth”, yet with increasing hunger searches for real meaning. Cries for tolerance are directed at the religious, yet frequently come in the form of intolerance, often stemming from those proudly professing to hold no religious beliefs.
Irony aside, South Africa’s social climate calls for tolerance and nation building. We are all in the process of forging a united, multi-coloured and cultured country to call home. Slating a millions-strong movement of people, some of whom laid down their lives for this dream, is not only narrow-minded, but also ill informed.
Authentic Christianity is nowhere near dead. And nowhere near just surviving either. In fact, all over the world, Africa included, it is thriving. And has every right to. In history, wherever people have taken seriously the example and teachings of Christ, the world has become a better place. These kinds of people, living out their faith conviction, have made some of science’s greatest discoveries (Blaise Pascal and Issac Newton), developed history-shaping democratic principles, promoted a culture of human rights and civil liberties (Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Martin Luther King Jnr), scaled literary heights (Leo Tolstoy and JRR Tolkien), catalysed the abolition of colossal human injustices such as slavery (William Wilberforce) and child labour (William Booth of the Salvation Army), and have educated many who would have otherwise been denied the freedom of knowledge. (In South Africa alone, many of our leaders, Nelson Mandela and Albert Luthuli included, were educated in Christian mission schools.)
Perhaps one of the travesties of our 10-year-old democracy is the lack of credit given to a movement that was largely the voice through which the struggle was fought. The South African Council of Churches was, at times, the predominant voice for the African National Congress. The Church in South Africa played a decisive role in the liberation of the nation, and is certainly playing its role in the continued struggle against injustice and poverty. Just look at the many Christian-initiated children-at-risk facilities, orphanages, youth and counselling centres, feeding schemes, ministries to HIV/Aids affected families, job-creation projects, life skill programmes and countless others.
Christianity is not outdated, outsmarted or outwitted. It is a movement made up of ordinary humans motivated by a deep love for Jesus and the people he loves. To label it as anything less is inaccurate, uneducated and, simply … untrue.