The ANC has decided to “fire” Ebrahim Rasool, the Premier of my province. He has not been accused of corruption / incompetence / deception, or any of the other things that politicians do. But he has not been publically supportive of Jacob Zuma. So he is to be removed.
And ordinarily I would shrug and say to myself – so it goes with politics. But I fought for a country where freedom of speech and freedom of association is built into the constitution. I welcome a variety of opinions and political views, and shudder to think that political allegiance to a “great leader” becomes the mark of acceptability. I hold no brief for Ebrahim Rasool. But I do object to his dismissal because he happened not to brown nose the right political leader.
But then I live within a religious structure that feels like it is going in the same direction. I have seen people promoted into positions of influence and visibility because they are properly connected – and seen people left out because they do not conform to the party line….. Kevin Light, Mbuyiselo Stemela, Deon Forster, Brian Wilkinson are a few who come to mind.
Pray for us – that we might nurture a society where independent thought is encouraged, and creative people are given space to explore new ideas.
2 comments:
I see the same thing in our church. I ranted a bit about that on barry's blog the other day.
I stand amazed at the idiots at the head of the church and the absolute senseless decisions they make and then try to force down our throats,
I wish someone will stand up against them. but how ?
Why can "we" not seem to make a difference? So many seem to share this sentiment Pete but it seems like the MCSA (and I suppose other denominations) is just as obsessed with power as any other political party. In the mean time some of the amazing gifts to the church are lost.
Keep up your prophetic voice - you speak what a lot of us are not brave enough to say!
Sharky
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