|
Written on: 26. 03. 2010 [00:36]
|
|
endo
endo venuo
registered since: 01.07.2009
Posts: 4
|
Re: the letter of R. Negonga of 19 March "Namibia must promote secularism" - At the moment Namibia is a secular state. But secularism (as opposed to secular), being an -ism, a doctrine, is something that might border on the totalitarian. You tell me I will not be allowed to call my son Stephen, after the first Christian martyr? Or when he grows up, I will break the law if I tell him before the age of 18 that the name means 'crown of victory'? Or that I will not be able, by law, to call my child Unotjari (God is merciful)? And are the police going to crash my door if they hear us singing a hymn inside? Not far fetched at all. Ask Christians, more than adherents to most other religions, in many countries. You start by "promoting" secularism, once secularism takes root, life becomes bitter for anyone not adhering to it.
R. Negonga errs when he reduces mission history to having been a mere smokescreen. In this way, he repeats historical cliche's without taking trouble to get to know the missions of the church from inside out. Yes, European missions were regrettably tainted by compromise, because of the close church-state relationship in those days. In another sense, the same goes for South Africa.(You only have to remember how the SA army attempted to turn chaplains into political commissars with the Bible under the arm.) But, that does not describe the character, core and being of missions! It merely says something about human fallibility, something that all of us need to be humble about. Just look at the havoc and death sown by totally non-religious leaders who demanded absolute loyalty to themselves under the smokescreen of what Jesus described so accurately: "do not be like the rulers of this world, who want to be the greatest, while calling themselves well-doers of the people."
I don't think many students nowadays complete high school without hearing the name of Charles Darwin. I've raised 3 children and made a habit of reading some of their school stuff. Except if children are passed on account of the teacher being their family  But this is another myth. Many Christians just don't want to be put in a straight jacket. If we can make a good case for intelligent design, we want to be able to make it and not feel an ideological gatekeeper breathe in our neck.
Argue us as much as you want, we like discussion. Just don't be repressive, we're born free's in another sense.
And if we want to say it is for us perfectly possible (like quite a few scientists do) to be believers while at the same time being evolutionary biologists or astrophysicists (like Professor David Block), we should have that freedom. And if my cousin wants to share with me openly his faith, he should not have to be wary of being given an etiquette like prosylitizer or reactionary or having his job application canceled and his social benefits taken away. Remember: believers are like a global family. We share these kind of experiences amongst ourselves.
What is happening in Egypt and Nigeria would not have been stopped by promoting secularism. I am very much convinced that religion is only a minor role player in that whole situation, if you skin the onion layer by layer, you'll arrive at deeper socio-ecomomic and tribal issues and in some cases governmental uninvolvement. And then, it is very unscientific and unfair, from an anthropological viewpoint, to lump together all beliefs and faiths under the acronym 'religion' and see it all as the same thing. Thereby I do not advocate comparisons that can cause friction, I am just pointing out that ideas differ and it is up to the citizens to be civil enough to argue in gentlemanly ways.
Lastly, about promoting science: perhaps you'll see the church calling the ministry of education to order and tell it to start being serious about science. Remember that the very first universities in the world were initiated by the Christian church in the 11th century. But then, free and genuine science, and not some -ism.
|
secularism
