South Africans are an intolerant bunch of people who often look down on others and themselves. Take the stupid political rally that the welcome of hero Caster Semenya was turned into by Julius Malema earlier this year — only to find that our own Pinocchio Leornard Chuene was the fool making us all look like lunatics swearing at the world when the key culprit was in our midst.
Take the stupid outrage about a gay kiss on the television soapy Generations recently. What could possibly make people believe that such crass intolerance is acceptable boggles the mind. This year has been particularly nauseating. To add to the injury you had a group of Anglican clerics jumping on the bandwagon. Oh, the sheer banality of it all. These are people who are supposed to be setting a moral example about how we must follow the tolerant ways of the Christ these high-ups are supposed to follow. It really is sickening to the stomach.
You would swear that some were absent during the apartheid years when people were considered to be sub-human because of the colour of their skin. So how on earth do the same group of people who had the entire world declare apartheid a sin against humanity begin to turn against each other and find reasons to categorise each other.
Maybe the race issue was so overwhelming that people ignored other kinds of silliness that goes on in the name of religion, culture and ethnicity. To add insult to injury, you now have a radio personality thinking its OK to insult the dead — something that goes against African culture to the core. Of course, there is freedom of expression and there is also freedom for us to say of what is expressed: This is crass.
Let’s look at religious intolerance. Here the born-again or more specifically the charismatic Christians, take the cake. Apparently some of these hypocrites claim that if you are in their fold you cannot consort with people from other churches. The brothers there spent time “being shown visions about who to fall in love with”. This is crass and needs to be condemned. Credit must go to those in those ranks who condemn this opportunism. Falling in love must simply be natural regardless of religious persuasion. The fact that we have cross-religious couples means that it must have nothing to do with what amounts to simple socialisation. No one is born Christian — they are baptised and then confirmed into that faith if they are still interested by the time they are old enough to make up their minds.
The Catholics follow a close second. Apparently when you are in a Catholic church and from another denomination you cannot share in the Communion (Selalelo/Eucharist) because you are not holy enough. There is no similar restriction when it comes to the time of offerings where you must take out your wallet … they don’t say “Please don’t give us your dirty money because you are not Catholic”. It really is pure hypocrisy. The only reason I did not join the Catholic church was because of a priest (may his soul rest in peace) who conducted my religious studies class at high school, told me that if I am not Catholic I will, well, “go to hell”. Not figuratively at all … leave your church or frankly, burn in hell. With these kind of angels I opted out of their kind of heaven.
I don’t have to tell you about the culture of some Muslims to oppress their own women in the name of modesty. The women are forced to cover themselves and are not allowed to speak in certain forums — something that is diametrically opposed to our Constitution. This reminds me of the lunatic segregation by the Anglican church sometime ago banning women from becoming priests. To their credit and under pressure from all sensible people, they threw this out. Sadly, there are still parts of the church in the United States and in Europe that have resisted these progressive moves until now. I hope history makes these backward people hang their heads in shame.
Then you have polygamy, both informal and informal in our country. The less said about this the better. Culture here is exchanged from religion as the blunt instrument to oppress women. Leaders at the highest echelons of our political spectrum say disparaging things about women and get away with it. Organisations like the ANC Women’s League which are supposed to be at the forefront of these struggles for women’s emancipation are now part of the silence allowing people like Malema to state that women who claim to be raped have called for it and probably enjoyed it. Where is the voice of the women who marched in 1955? Are they to be found in what has been dismissed as Mickey Mouse NGO’s, who dare to go to court to stand up for our women?
Now, priests who are gay cannot preach the gospel, according to some Anglicans. Now men cannot kiss on television because it will offend the sensibilities of the public. Instead of educating viewers, the SABC runs a big disclaimer warning sensitive viewers. They do not run such disclaimers when politicians lie to the public every day.
Go figure.
Thanks for the ciritical look at the wide range of intolerance stemming from religion. It was sobering.
Just one question arose for me: you also appear intolerant of statments on Maanto after her death saying “to add insult to injury, you now have a radio personality thinking its OK to insult the dead — something that goes against African culture to the core”. Isn’t that similar to all the other types of intolerances, large or small, that you mention in your article? Wherein lies the difference?
It certainly has – time now for the govt to do some hard work and deal with the real issues
So, we don’t offend African Cultureby criticising it, even if it goes against all morality (killing for sport) or becomes a little too cultish and excluding of other South Africans of whatever colour who have moved with the times (racist?), but it is cool to criticise Anglicans and other religions? Just asking, I’m not religious, just wanting to get this right.
They warned sensitive viewers about a gay kiss??????? Where is my warning when Die Sauk (in their wondrous knowledge of all) show trailers for ghastly movies, with corresponding revolting violent imagery, during kids’ cartoons in the afternoon?
However, Mr Tabane, whenever I read your pieces I am left with a feeling that you bring the utmost common sense to debate. If I ever came around to being a Cope voter, you’d be instrumental in that conversion. But the second thing that flashes across the mind is invariably the phrase ‘pissing in the wind’. Crass yes, but unfortunately also succinct.
Ah SA, strangeness is thy middle name. Double-barreled with hypocrisy. All of us are so.
Evidently you missed more than one point in your high school religion class. The prohibition against Non Catholics receiving Holy Communion is not because they are “not holy enough” but rather because they are not in “communion” with the Church. It is the same reason some Catholics may not receive.
A lot of common sense in a few lines. Well done. Religion has been a cancer afflicting and damaging human social development for centuries and no amount of criticism of the scourge will ever be enough. Most intolerance everywhere and the gross intolerance in this country is religion based.
As an American who has travelled frequently to South Africa, let me assure you that America is every bit as hypocritical as South Africa.
Here in America, there are large groups of ‘Christian’ and ‘Catholic’ heterosexuals lurking about the country and state-by-state they are implementing Apartheid toward gay citizens. Actually going into voting booths and taking away the civil rights of gay citizens. Not CRIMINAL gay citizens, mind you. Just ordinary, innocent people. In the land of the free. Having their existing civil rights taken away from them by these ‘religious’ hypocrites.
An unfortunately in America and indeed the world, the ‘Christian’ and ‘Catholic’ churches continue to steal the money of the poor and uneducated via a weekly ‘stupid tax’ dropped into a collection plate so that these ‘men of god’ in fancy robes can continue building their city of solid gold in Rome.
We have been lied to by these people. We have been bamboozled by these ‘men of god.’ They are not interested in god or his message.
The want nothing but our MONEY.
You can not buy god. You will not find him in these churches. You can not buy redemption and salvation.
For god resides in one place, and in one place only.
The human heart.
I must agree with you. This has certainly been a year in which ‘the best lack all conviction, and the worst are filled with passionate intensity.’ However I have valued and appreciated your insights and your sharp intellect over the year, and thank you for your continuing to raise the intellectual bar. I entirely agree that Mr Cliff’s comments were crass in the extreme. There is a strong tendency in SA at the moment towards a ‘dumbing down’ or celebrating the lowest common denominator and the relentless pursuit of mediocrity. If we continue this way, we will continue to devalue our own worth in the world.
Just for the record, the priest who told you that you would go to hell if you’re not a Catholic was preaching heresy. The Catholic position on whether anyone goes to hell, and who is in hell is entirely an”agnostic” one (no pun intended)—we simply do not know. Notwithstanding popular caricatures, the topic of hell is not an important theme in enlightened Catholic circles.
What an excellent article. I commend you, and wish there were more people like you on this planet, and especially in Africa. Well written!
Fantastic insight!
Although I can understand what this article tries to convey, we have to keep in mind, that we as humans have to limit ourselves to a certain amounts of order.
There is order in the entire universe. You just have to look at nature and this order becomes very apparent. So why do we humans have to live contrary to rder.
If humans are going to cast aside all semblence of order, we will create anarchy, and thus change the essence of human nature.
People talk about intolerance from humanity, towards various things, but what happens if something is offensive, do we have to sacrifice our values at the alter of tolerance?
Further where does it end? You tolerate certain things, and always you will find those who will push the envelope even further…untill where? Untill we turn ourselves into grotesque freaks, far removed from what nature intended.
No matter which persuation you follow, creationism or evolution, the bottom line and most basic rule is that, from disorder comes order, and not the other way around.
Unfortunate that you’ve only realised all this at the end of 2009. Again, politics, religion, social discourse are bound to clash big time unless one ive space to each. Let’s deal with what’s nauseating politically:
- Service delivery protests
- Central Methodist/ Social Services Department crass
- Political intolerance and moral decay (Malema / Mda)
- PSL/ SAFA elections morass
- Menzi Simelani appointment
- Cope’s internal battles, which have left the party counting loses to this day
- ANC/SACP/ COSATU jockeying for power against each other and duping the entire “masses”.
JJ, these are some of the issues that bedevilled our country this year, but the above script that you wrote can easily make me sleep at night at least.
I like your articles, and know you can do far better than o on holiday on serious matter that need to be tackled head on. I remain your fervent follower.
Lord Spencer
Funny that you can criticise the life out of my religion, yet we must all have respect for your narrow minded and superstitious rituals around the dead and ‘ancestor worhsip’.
JJ,
I’ve noticed that if i look at your profile pic from certain angles it looks like you have horns coming out your head (perspective?). I’ve also noticed that when i read your blogs long enough, i invariably find veiled reference to the ANC doing you some wrong(perspective?)-a kind of bizarro Memelaesque journalism. Perspective?
On the subject, while our constitution provides us a societal mean from which to fence perch i don’t think it intends this fence as an ivory tower from which to judge & condemn…
South Africa is a pretty nauseating country – hope it get’s better in 2010