'Worthy Women': Sexual bargaining for a place in Utopia - or Dystopia?
South African pastor and bishop Peter Storey said, “American preachers have a task more difficult, perhaps, than those faced by us under South Africa’s apartheid, or Christians under Communism. We had obvious evils to engage; you have to unwrap your culture from years of red, white and blue myth. You have to expose, and confront, the great disconnection between the kindness, compassion and caring of most American people, and the ruthless way American power is experienced, directly and indirectly, by the poor of the earth. You have to help good people see how they have let their institutions do their sinning for them. This is not easy among people who really believe that their country does nothing but good, but it is necessary, not only for their future, but for us all.”
This beautiful quote from my mentor, and former Bishop, ties in with what I tried to convey in this video 'Losing my religion in Basel'.
In this blog I travel by bike and train from Nijmegen in Holland to Basel in Switzerland. The purpose of the journey was to speak at the 12th international Bonhoeffer Conference.
My paper was on Bonhoeffer and Mandela: A conversation on Christian humanism and Christian witness.
The point of my paper is to make the argument that a political anthropology with very little faith conviction (like Mandela held) could not solve some of the complex challenges that the world (and South Africa in particular) faces. What is needed is a deeper, more significant change of persons to become truly human, and to relate to others as truly human - a condition that can only be brought about by ontological participation in the true humanity and divinity of Christ, as Bonhoeffer suggested. Bonhoeffer was deeply influenced by Patristic Eucharistic Christology - the concept of theosis suggests that God becomes human (in Christ) so that we can become more like God (or take on the character of God's nature) by participation in Christ. Thus, true humanity is to become like the true human - Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer, characterised this true human as 'a man for others'.
However, in relation to the quote above and this video, I also reflected on the role of civil religion in South Africa. Civil religion is a form of 'belief' in which our hopes, aspirations, and even faith, are placed in the nation state. North Korea has a very particular and overt form of civil religion. The United States also has a form of civil religion that can be witnessed in things such as the phrase 'God bless America', and the symbol of the nations flag which is displayed in religious buildings like Churches, or the phrase 'In God we trust' on the coinage. Robert Belah has suggested that Americans often are not sure of the distinctive elements of their faith (i.e., if they are Christian that their salvation comes through Christ, that their belief is in a tri-une God etc.) rather they have a vague notion of belief in something that transcends them, and often it is a civic belief - a belief in the 'saving power' of their collective national identity. Patriotism replaces religious conviction, even to the point of the ultimate human sacrifice, namely, the willingness to offer up their lives for the sake of the nation.
In this video I suggest that South Africa was not immune to this civil religion. At the start of the new South African democracy there was such hope and optimism in the new South Africa. Nelson Mandela was naively regarded as a ‘Messiah’ that would lead the people to salvation. Desmond Tutu, was regarded as the high priest of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ who gave religious credence to the new hopes and beliefs of the people. The South African constitution was held in awe by many as a type of sacred ‘text' for transformation that gave the guidelines and inspiration for our new humanity. Whereas the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) served as a ‘liturgical moment’ for this civil religion - many hoped that this moment would usher in, or inaugurate, true and lasting change.
Sadly, such misguided belief gives over our responsibility and the possibility for true and significant change to historical persons, events and processes that cannot realise it. I suggest that this idolatry is a form of civil religion that we would be wise to leave behind. The political dispensation of the Nation and civil society cannot truly transform and renew citizens and society. Indeed, neither can 'religion' as a social construction. What I contend is that we need active citizens who are renewed in heart and mind, and who work sacrificially, tirelessly and in the character of the true human - Jesus Christ - for the renewal of humanity and society.
It is not that the state and the political dispenstation are unimportant, they are. However, they are not be 'believed' in. These structures are there to protect our rights and freedoms. Our true humanity, our dignity, our life - these all stem from the source of all life and life, Jesus Christ. Our character is formed by being part of the new community that is made possible by the true person. Thus, the Church as the body of Christ (not the institution) is the people among whom we live out, and learn, what it means to be truly human for the sake of humanity and creation.
I'd love to hear your take on this!
Tomorrow the summer school on religion and law will begin at the University of the Western Cape. I have the privilige of co-presenting the opening paper with Advocate Keith Matthee (a fellow Methodist, Senior Council at the Cape Bar and acting Judge in the High Court).
The Summer School is a collaboration between the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, the University of the Western Cape, the University of KwaZulu Natal and Stellenbosch University. This year we will focus on the topic of law and religion.
The title of our paper will be: A question of meaning in Law and Religion: Problematizing “the objective normative value system” imposed by judges on the South African Constitution.
Here is the abstract:
In a 2001 Constitutional Court case Ackerman J and Goldstone J stated:
“Our constitution is not merely a formal document regulating public power. It also embodies, like the German Constitution, an objective normative value system.” [1]
Our paper seeks to highlight and discuss a key problem in this accepted approach to the South African Constitution. Namely that this approach incorrectly presupposes only one meaning for concepts such as dignity, equality and freedom and that such meaning is ascertainable by reference to an objective value system contained in the constitution itself.
The result of such an approach is that the constitution becomes imbued with theological meaning and power and so oversteps its bounds from being a protector of religious freedom and an arbitrator of religious rights, to holding a normative theological position alongside, or even in conflict, with religious groupings in South African society.
The problem can be illustrated by means of a comparison of the different conclusions reached by the South African and German legal systems about whether an unborn child is “life” as envisaged in the equivalent provisions in the two constitutions.
Our paper will argue that the following could serve as a contribution towards addressing this legal theological problem:
- See the bill of rights for what it should be, a legal document regulating public and private power and not a document for imposing a specific worldview (“objective … value system”) on society.
- In every legal decision judges must recognize the role of their own worldview, inclusive of those who hold a worldview that they would describe as agnostic or atheist, as an authoritative point of reference, (or value system) when they seek to give content to concepts such as dignity, freedom and equality. This is of particular importance if the judge concerned in her own daily life draws upon a normative religious source, such as the Bible, Quran or some other commonly accepted religious/philosophical document or code.
- The various religious communities, inclusive of the atheistic and agnostic communities, must be allowed and encouraged to exercise their unique role when it comes to developing, critiquing, or explicating the “normative value system” referred to in the quote above. In this process the role of the state/courts/law should be to regulate these religious communities inter alia with a view to curbing any abuse in the exercise of this unique role.
I will post feedback on the paper, and the paper itself (once it is published). So please do check back here for more information.
Here is a list of the papers that will be presented:
Tuesday 24 February
8h45-9h15 |
|
Arrival and registration |
9h15-9h30 |
Bernard Martin (Dean of Law, UWC) |
Opening and welcome |
9h30-11h00 |
Dion Forster (SU, Systematic Theology) and Keith Matthee (SU) |
A question of meaning in Law and Religion: Problematizing the objective normative value system contained in the South African constitution. |
11h00-11h30 |
Tea |
|
11h30-13h00 |
Wilhelm Gräb (HU, Theology):
|
Religious Implications of a Constitutional Democratic State: Why the Secular Differentiation is not True and What the Religions can Contribute to Law and Justice in a Constitutional Democratic State |
|
Jacques de Ville (UWC, Law) |
The khōric Constitution |
13h00-14h00 |
Lunch |
|
14h00-15h30 |
Rosa Schinagl (HU) |
Love – a law or an inner drive? |
|
Asharaf Booley (UWC, Law) |
Women and Islam: An Overview of the Marital Contract and Practices found in Muslim Countries |
15h45-16h30 |
Phillip Öhlmann (HU) |
“Faithful men don’t beat their wives?” Measuring religiosity as a determinant of individual actions and social capital |
17h00-18h45 |
Agustín Fuentes (Notre Dame) |
Dean’s Distinguished Lecture (UWC Library Auditorium): Deep roots for justice, law and religion? The significance of cooperation, compassion and imagination in human evolution |
Wednesday 25 February
9h00-10h30 |
Simanga Kumalo (UKZN, Practical Theology): |
Religious Organizations and African Immigrants in post-apartheid South Africa: The Case Study of Central Methodist Mission and Bishop Paul Verreyn |
|
Miranda Pillay (Religion and Theology, UWC) |
Abortion, Law and Religion |
10h30-11h00 |
Tea |
|
11h00-1230 |
Ian A Nell (SU, Practical Theology)
|
Towards a deeper understanding of “Just Leadership”: Engaging Beyers Naudé |
|
Johan Cilliers (SU, Practical Theology) |
Poverty and Privilege: Re-hearing sermons of Beyers Naudé on religion and justice |
12h30-14h00 |
Lunch |
|
14h00-15h30 |
Mbhekeni Nkosi (UWC, Ethics) |
Conceptual clarification of the German restitution model: South Africa as a case study |
|
Grischa Schwiegk (HU) |
Secular distinctions and the problems of ground and motivation in “secular” law – theoretical considerations |
15h30-16h00 |
Tea |
|
16h00-16h45 |
Manitza Kotzé (UWC, Religion and Theology) |
Biotechnology, bills and belief: Justification, self-realisation or domination? |
19h00 |
William Storrar (CTI) Cilliers Breytenbach (Faculty of Theology, HU) Michael Weeder (St Georges) |
Panel discussion (St George’s Cathedral): International perspectives on Religion, Law and Justice
|
Thursday 26 February
9h00-10h30 |
Demaine Solomons (UWC, Religion and Theology) |
Justice and Reconciliation: Antagonists or soulmates? The Kairos Document Revisited
|
|
Muneer Abduroaf (UWC, Law) |
The impact of South African case law on the status of Muslim women: An analysis of court decisions versus the current (2010) Muslim Marriages Bill provisions |
10h30-11h00 |
Tea |
|
11h00-12h30 |
Lana Sirri (HU) |
The tensions between ancient and modern interpretations of Islamic law, based on the work of Kecia Ali Sexual ethics and Islam- feminist reflections on Qur’an, Hadith and jurisprudence” |
|
Hendrik Bosman (SU, Theology) |
“The dialectic of religion and law according to the memories of Moses in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament” |
12h30-14h00 |
Lunch |
|
14h00-15h30 |
Andreas Feldtkeller (HU) |
“Justice in Islam between Tradition and Modernity. Some Thought in Dialogue with the “Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi” |
15h30-16h00 |
Tea |
|
16h00-17h30 |
|
Open discussion of conference theme |
18h30- |
Conference Dinner |
Life sciences building |
It looks like an exciting program with a lot to think and talk about!
References:
[1] Please see the quote in, Ackermann, L. 2012. Human Dignity: Lodestar for Equality in South Africa. Juta and Company Ltd. p.28.
While most faiths do develop the moral fibre of their adherents, this is not something that should be put into law! Yes, faith has a public role, and should have positive effects on public life, but religion should not get preference from the legal system of a nation. The law is intended to protect the rights of all citizens, regardless of their religious perspective. Laws should be based on the principles of justice and our shared human dignity - whether a person has a religious belief system or not, or differs with the religious beliefs of a minority, or majority, of the population, their rights should be protected in law. Religion on the other hand is based on beliefs that are not commonly shared, in fact some beliefs may run contrary to our common human rights (like the treatment of women and girls in some faiths, or the disregard of the rights of persons with a same sex orientation). Most people who want religion to be enfranchised in law want their religion, or religious convictions, to occupy that privileged place. I am guessing that Judge Mogoeng inadvertently expressed such a view. Indeed, nations like South Africa are deeply religious, and so we must take note of religious convictions and religious groupings. But such individuals or groupings should not be accorded special place before the law. Civic organization should enjoy the same access to the law and the same rights and privileges as a religious organization.
Here's my view.
Some years ago I was privileged to hear a lecture by Professor Martin Prozesky at the Joint Conferences on Religion and Theology at Stellenbosch University. The title of his lecture was the following: 'Is the secular state to blame for the decline in moral values in Southern African society'.
The Chief Reporter of the Star and Idependent Newspapers, Murray Williams, contacted me yesterday for comment. Here is his article.
Religion in law: judge triggers talk (The Star / Daily News article)
Cape Town -
South Africa’s most senior judge has sparked debate about the role of religion in law, in a lecture damning the country’s descent into a moral void.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng spoke at the second Annual African Law and Religion conference at the University of Stellenbosch on Tuesday night.
Justice Mogoeng decried the levels of maladministration, crime and corruption, and “the extremely low levels to which morality has degenerated… the dishonesty as well as the injustices that have permeated all facets of society – price-fixing and fronting included”.
These, he argued, “in my view would effectively be turned around significantly if religion were to be factored into the law-making process”.
The chief justice was not available for any further explanation at his office at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
In response, Professor Pierre de Vos, who holds the Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance at the University of Cape Town’s law faculty, cited a ruling by Justice Albie Sachs – who was also a speaker at Stellenbosch on Wednesday night.
“In the judgment, the values of the constitution – human dignity, equality and freedom – are viewed as sacrosanct,” he explained.
“The constitution requires in an open and democratic society the rights of non-believers to be respected.
“Judge Sachs says there must be ‘respect for the co-existence between the secular and the sacred’.
“That means that in the legislative sphere, in the political sphere, the secular holds sway,” he explained.
But he stressed: “That doesn’t mean that people cannot have their religious beliefs. Just that it is the role of the constitution to ensure that the view of the majority doesn’t oppress other groups.”
Another academic, theologian and author Dr Dion Forster, who lectures at Stellenbosch University, commented on his blog site: “Here’s my view. You don’t want an anti-religious government – like that in the former USSR or China, where people of faith are persecuted. Faith is an important part of life… But you certainly don’t want a religious government – we have simply seen too many of these kinds of governments abusing people.”
Instead, Forster argued for “an honest, impartial, just, servant-minded secular state… A state that will protect and uphold the rights of all of its citizens, giving equal space for all to exercise their positive beliefs”.
The chief justice is publicly a devout Christian, a fact which surfaced in the Judicial Service Commission interviews which preceded his appointment.
“Do you think God wants you to be appointed chief justice?” Inkatha Freedom Party commissioner Koos van der Merwe asked Justice Mogoeng.
“I think so,” he said.
May 29 2014 at 09:11am
By MURRAY WILLIAMS