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The ANC and religion (pt.2)
Jun. 21st, 2008 02:04 pmToday I bring you the 2nd installment from an essay on the ANC and religion.
The five instalments are:
1. Introduction
2. The ANC and Religion
3. Thabo Mbeki and the Truth
4. Jacob Zuma and God
Next week I'll bring you the third section, entitled Thabo Mbeki and the truth.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
An essay on the ANC, religion, and the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma
The ANC and religion
“Those who say the ANC is atheist are simply wrong. Practicing their different rituals, clad in different clothes, citing separate songs and scriptures, ANC supporters may seem divided, but in our struggle for liberation and transformation they share a belief in God and support a common political platform. Through their calls upon Jehovah, Jesus, Thixo, Allah, Umvelinqangi, Krishna, Modimo, or the teaching of the Buddha, Bahula, or Marx, similar themes emerge. We are all spiritual people, even though we are not all religious. We recognise a supreme driving force of goodness, success, and hope in the heart of the human community which does liberate and does transform. We have seen it happen. The ANC believes that Faith and Politics go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. We believe that the African world view of religion as an inclusive factor of life is accurate: ubuntu is a holistic view of life in the whole community. It is spiritual politics.” [1] [ANC Today]
“Transformation extends spiritual understanding from the religious world to the whole secular creation. It recognises that spiritual strength lies in human communities as such, and not necessarily in religious institutions. The RDP of the Soul which moves us from the Liberation to the Transformation of our society is a secular activity of the spirit of ordinary people, not reserved as a religious activity for saints. Its proclamation and practice by some transformed experienced progressive religious and theological people is a huge bonus.” [2] [The RDP of the Soul]
The five instalments are:
1. Introduction
2. The ANC and Religion
3. Thabo Mbeki and the Truth
4. Jacob Zuma and God
Next week I'll bring you the third section, entitled Thabo Mbeki and the truth.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
An essay on the ANC, religion, and the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma
The ANC and religion
“Those who say the ANC is atheist are simply wrong. Practicing their different rituals, clad in different clothes, citing separate songs and scriptures, ANC supporters may seem divided, but in our struggle for liberation and transformation they share a belief in God and support a common political platform. Through their calls upon Jehovah, Jesus, Thixo, Allah, Umvelinqangi, Krishna, Modimo, or the teaching of the Buddha, Bahula, or Marx, similar themes emerge. We are all spiritual people, even though we are not all religious. We recognise a supreme driving force of goodness, success, and hope in the heart of the human community which does liberate and does transform. We have seen it happen. The ANC believes that Faith and Politics go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. We believe that the African world view of religion as an inclusive factor of life is accurate: ubuntu is a holistic view of life in the whole community. It is spiritual politics.” [1] [ANC Today]
“Transformation extends spiritual understanding from the religious world to the whole secular creation. It recognises that spiritual strength lies in human communities as such, and not necessarily in religious institutions. The RDP of the Soul which moves us from the Liberation to the Transformation of our society is a secular activity of the spirit of ordinary people, not reserved as a religious activity for saints. Its proclamation and practice by some transformed experienced progressive religious and theological people is a huge bonus.” [2] [The RDP of the Soul]
( Full text )
