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The ANC and religion (pt.1)
Jun. 15th, 2008 01:51 pmI'll write several posts that will, together, comprise a single essay on the ANC and religion. The central thesis of the essay is that religion is a helpful metaphor for understanding the ANC’s political ideology and, in particular, for better understanding the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. These several different posts - each one of which constitutes a different section of the full essay - are as follows:
1. Introduction
2. The ANC and Religion
3. Thabo Mbeki and the truth
4. Jacob Zuma and God
Thus, today, we start with the INTRODUCTION, which sets out the argument in broad terms, on which I will elaborate in each of the next posts.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
An essay on the ANC, religion, and the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma
“There cannot be a clearer mark of the progress of liberty of thought than the contrast between the world views of science and religion, nor of the hard-won nature of that progress than the struggle to liberate the former from the latter. Liberty of thought is the essence of enquiry, and free enquiry produces a conception of the universe totally different from any that thinks the world was created as a theatre for the moral and spiritual destiny of humankind by anthropocentric gods. The story of science is also the story of the struggle by religious orthodoxy to retain control over how the universe is to be seen, and where the limits of legitimate enquiry lie. To make science possible, religion’s claim to hegemony over the mind had to be broken.” [1] [J. Youlton]
1. Introduction
2. The ANC and Religion
3. Thabo Mbeki and the truth
4. Jacob Zuma and God
Thus, today, we start with the INTRODUCTION, which sets out the argument in broad terms, on which I will elaborate in each of the next posts.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
An essay on the ANC, religion, and the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma
“There cannot be a clearer mark of the progress of liberty of thought than the contrast between the world views of science and religion, nor of the hard-won nature of that progress than the struggle to liberate the former from the latter. Liberty of thought is the essence of enquiry, and free enquiry produces a conception of the universe totally different from any that thinks the world was created as a theatre for the moral and spiritual destiny of humankind by anthropocentric gods. The story of science is also the story of the struggle by religious orthodoxy to retain control over how the universe is to be seen, and where the limits of legitimate enquiry lie. To make science possible, religion’s claim to hegemony over the mind had to be broken.” [1] [J. Youlton]
( Full text )
