AFRICANEWS

South Africa

The sin of conformity

Human rights

The Church in South Africa remained silent infront of gross human rights abuses during the the apartheid regime because it was convenient to do so.

"I think the whole report of South African Truth and Reconciliation commission shows extremely well how much churches always conform to the world, whichever way the world is going. The churches' understanding of society is determined more by society itself than by the Gospel. Even the theology they have at any particular time is influenced by the social context."

This is part of Albert Nolan's comment on the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Nolan is a white South African and a theologian of international reputation, author of books that are studied world over. Nolan, a catholic priest member of the Dominican order, has also a personal outstanding record of resistance against apartheid.

He continues " The mistake of many churches and many Christians during the Apartheid time was not of being conscious of how one is influenced by the times, by the media, generally by what people are saying and by the social context. Individually and collectively we should ask ourselves: " Am I saying what I say because of the gospel, or because of the latest, more fashionable political thinking ?"

" We would not want to find ourselves joining the protest against the IMF and the World Bank, for instance, only when it becomes popular to do so. But we need to ask ourselves what we should be saying long before it becomes popular and to say that on the basis of the Gospel."

Our modern world- the world we tune in when we open a newspaper or turn on the radio- is dominated, sometimes controlled, by a culture that makes us think that we are in the best possible of all the worlds. A world where everybody worth his salt owns a luxury car, has a swimming pool in the backyard and can live without working. In the unlikely event that we are not satisfied in this wonderful world, the idea that anyhow there are no alternatives is subtly put into us. " Our President is the best, or the indispensable or at least the inevitable", is the message US citizens and not only them, give to the world; " the poverty we experience is the result of impersonal, unmanageable, superhuman forces," is the hidden message in the talks of incompetent politicians; " floods are an act of God", said a Kenyan minister; " Aids is God's curse on sinners", claim clergymen who have never understood the Gospel. And so on.

The social context forces us to conform, and churches fall victims to this tendency: It is much easier to conform than to stand up and proclaim the gospel of compassion, resurrection, freedom, responsibility and brotherhood. Conformity to the dominant mass media- controlled culture is what made the south African churches, in their majority and most of the time , to keep silent infront of apartheid. At a more down to earth level, all of us, when confronted by a corrupted policeman, " civil servant" or priest, have the temptation to think, "Since everyone does it, it must not be so bad. And to react would be in such bad taste! I would like a self- righteous fool". The moment we start thinking like this and we conform to the dominant attitude, our faithfulness to the Gospel is in jeopardy.

We Christians of Kenya, and as members of the church, cannot avoid reflection on these issues. We too, like the South African churches during the apartheid regime, run the risk of being silent in front of gross human rights abuses and cancellation of civil liberties, just because it is fashionable or convenient to be so. The next generation might condemn us. Yet, we are in this world, but we do not belong to it (Jn 17:16).

Adaka, the old man, spent most of his day sitting on the verandah of his mud hut, smoking his pipe. The village Msipazi, was rich for the fertility of its land and the hard work of its people. Adaka;s hut was the first if you were coming from Chipata, the provincial capital, and the old man was well known and not a few people exchanged words with him as they passed by.

One day, as Adaka peacefully looked at the stream of strangers coming in Msipazi because of the annual harvest festival, an unknown young man in his twenties, with spring steps and a ready smile, approached Adaka and asked: " Excuse me, old man , I have left my village where there is starvation and I am looking for a place where I can cultivate some fields and settle. I would like to have your advice and to know if the people of this village are good and ready to welcome a stranger."

Adaka took a long draw from his pipe and asked: " How were the people in the village you have left?" "Well" answered the young man, " They were good. They would solve their quarrels with the mediation of the elders, and they worked together when there was a need. The evening of feast days were a wonder that makes me homesick when I think about them. Not to speak of the girls, who certainly were the most beautiful and tender."

Adaka smiled and said: " Do not worry young man, the people in this village are as good as those you have left." The young man went on with an even determined gait, and a few minutes he was lost in the market crowd.

After a while another young man arrived. He looked suspiciously around, appraised Adaka with a long look and approached him: " I would like to settle in this place, but how are the people?"

Adaka took a long time to refill his pipe then asked: " How were the people in the village you have left?" The young man answered with a sneer: " They are bad. They are envious and jealous. They never recognized my talents. I am so glad I left them."

Adaka put on a worried look, and slowly said: " Then you better not even enter this village . Here people are exactly as those you have left behind. You will not find any friend here." The young man turned away in disgust.

Mphande , Adaka's granddaughter, who during all the time had been nearby grinding maize and had stopped to hear the conversation of her grandfather with passers- by, waited for the second young man to leave and then questioned him, astonished: " But grandfather, you have cheated one of the two boys! You gave completely different answers to he same question".

" You see, he explained " People are to us what we want them to be. If we treat them with kindness and consideration they will become our friends. If we despise them, they will despise us in turn. The first young man will find friends everywhere he will go. The second will make enemies everywhere, as he imagines them to be so. The difference is not in my answers, but in their hearts."

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