Special Hearings — Faith Community Hearings — 1997-11-17

UNKNOWN: We first want to express our sincere and greatest gratitude   for this opportunity, Your Grace, Mr Chairman, especially for the two Afrikaners   who are very ashamed of your own past and also what we are submitting here,   is in great humility.
We are not theologians as indicated on your programme, we are neither ministers,   but we are ordinary lecturers at University of Potchefstroom. We are also members   of the Reformed Church of South Africa and we are therefore here in our individual   capacities and not officially representing either our church or the institution   where we work.
We therefore cannot speak on behalf of either the church or the university   and I must say we are sad that our own church is missing the opportunity of   this occasion where we have learnt a lot and which have encouraged us to continue   on the way ahead.
I will briefly answer on the three questions you have posed and the first one   is to what extent have you suffered? Your Grace, the answer is simple. We did   not suffer. At least if we compare it with the real sufferings of our black   countrymen. We had ordinary check ups by the Security Police, we were ridiculed   and rejected by our own people on many occasions, we were mentally tortured,   but never physically.
We also by participating in apartheid, did damage to ourselves, because we   benefitted from the system and we were not willing to sacrifice our careers   in deliberating taking the side of the oppressed people. And for all these reasons   and many more, we made a public confession of our guilt, of which you have a   copy and more copies are available also in English translation.
May I read only a small part in the original Afrikaans. Confession of guilt.   We hereby confess before God and our neighbour that we failed in word and in   action in church and society, privately and publicly to testify adequately and   unambiguously against the embodiment and execution of the ideology of apartheid   which had an invidious and even ruinous effect on the lives of so many of our   fellow believers and fellow citizens.
We confess that we were not courageous enough to testify that we did not pray   faithfully enough, did not believe actively enough, did not love vehemently   enough and did not have enough empathy in the context of individual and social   injustices in which our country was plunged for four decades and more.
We acknowledge in great humility that we were guilty of the violation of fundamental   human rights and we acknowledge that we had a share in the directionless movement   of our country, during times of crisis.
We confess that we are deeply guilty in the sight of God and we seek forgiveness   from God and the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but we also plead for   forgiveness from our deprived and wronged fellow believers and fellow citizens   for what we did to them.
From our side we undertake as far as is humanly possible, to make amends in   word and action for the damage which we did to them through the unfair discriminatory   system. It is only this small portion that I wish to read, I will continue in   English.
May I add Your Grace, that in spite of the fact that only four people drew   up this document of repentance, that we were not the only voices crying in the   wilderness. We received many phone calls, letters and personal conversations   and also in the press, positive reactions from people who said that they would   like to sign this document, both from the Reformed Church of South Africa as   well as from staff of the Potchefstroom University.
On the other hand, we must also say that we noticed a stubborn resistance of   people simply ignoring us by keeping silent. This brings me to the second question,   what have you done to oppose apartheid.
We were privileged at the Potchefstroom University in our education also overseas,   that we were not educated in a narrow minded church view of the world and of   society, but that we were educated in a Christian world view which indicated   that as Christians, we had a calling to serve God in all areas of life.
Of course this makes us even more guilty that we have done so little in the   past. An important part of this perspective was a Christian social analysis,   you can call it Christian footwear and Christian clothing to appear in public   and not only pyjamas for your personal life of faith or a Sunday suit.
And of course a Christian world view can easily derail and finally become an   oppressive ideology, but from this perspective and from a Christian philosophy,   we tried to open the eyes and the perceptions, change the perceptions of especially   the white people in our church and also at the university and as far as possible,   also outside our university.
I mention a few examples. The periodical Word and Action, Word and Deed, already   criticised apartheid from the early 1970's. The publication in 1977 of the Koinonia   declaration which had an international impact, and then all the publications   of the Institute for Reformational Studies on socio-political issues as well   as its comments on important documents like the Kairos document, Church and   Society.
But what I would like to mention especially is our conferences where we try   to get together people from all walks of life and all the different population   groups in South Africa to discuss together issues of relevance for the whole   country.
I had experience that during time of racial isolation, this encouraged people   tremendously to continue in the struggle and at our conferences we also challenge   the Potchefstroom University, we reprimanded it in our resolutions because of   its stance, its policy about the admission as well as accommodation policies   towards black students.
In all these ways, we tried to open the eyes of church leaders, lecturers,   students and people blinded by the apartheid ideology and I must confess opening   our own eyes more and more for the damage done by this ideology.
This brings me to a last point, what kind of expertise can we contribute in   the future? I think there are three levels, personal, institutional and national.
Me and my family have done a few small things. I am not going to mention that.   On the institutional level I only want to mention that we are involved in a   variety of ways trying to transform the university and perhaps the Reformed   Church of South Africa.
I think Professor Venter can mention more examples. I only want in conclusion   to mention one thing on a national level.
I think we should pay even more attention than in the past to the whole issue   which this whole meeting concentrated on, and that is what is the correct, what   is the correct relationship between religion and society including of course   political, economic and cultural and educational aspects.
You may say I am becoming to academic now, but I think we need clear thinking   to have correct actions. Let me mention three things. The first thing, I think   even during this meeting it was quite clear that the following question needs   further study and clarification.
About this relationship between religion and society, on the one hand, we cannot   identify religion and politics, then you get the unholy alliance again which   we had in the past between church and State.
On the other hand again, we cannot separate religion and society, then you   get a so-called a-political Christianity of which we also have examples at this   conference because religion is something total, it is something integral, you   cannot separate the two.
The question then is what is the correct relationship. Ideas about an independent   prophetic role has been mentioned here. I think it is not enough. I think and   that is only one suggestion, that we have to work out a comprehensive philosophy   of society in which we concretise God's central love commandment so that we   can see that justice is the form of love we need in political life.
There is not a clash between justice and love, that stewardship is the central   norm in our economic life and what the implications thereof is, fidelity in   marriage, etc, etc.
Second example, many Christians think that religion can only have a beneficial   influence on society, more or less automatic positive influence. I think it   has also become abundantly clear during this whole meeting that this is not   the fact. Religion can play a double role. It can also simply legitimise an   unjust status quo,it can act as opium because religion is a fallible human response   to God. How can we therefore in future, and that is the question, enhance the   inspiring, motivating positive impact of religion whilst neutralising it negative   consequences. In other words, put very straightforwardly, how can we become   more self critical?
And then lastly, and here I am including myself. Many beautiful promises have   been made during this whole meeting of what people envisage to be doing in the   future. My question is shouldn't it be monitored?
I think we need a kind of feedback in a few years from now. This may be one   of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee and because   this Committee will no longer be in existence any more, I do hope that the religious   communities will take the initiative.
Thank you Mr Chairman, my time is up and I hand over to Professor Venter.