Religion in Government, Parliament and the Courts of South Africa

Religion in Government, Parliament and the Courts of South Africa

http://mg.co.za/article/2012-03-16-judges-cannot-bow-to-religion

Currently in the South Africa Christianity makes about 79.8% of the religion of choice for the country’s population. While 15% of the population has no religion and 1.5% of the population belonging to Islam and Hinduism totaling 1.2%, we can deduce from the above statistics (http://www.southafrica.info/about/facts.htm) that Religion is alive and a huge part of the average South African. The question at hand is weather religion has a place in the affairs of the state or in the law system of the country.

South Africa is a democratic state with its constitution being religiously tolerant and inclusive of all different religious believes practiced in the country. The statement above does not in any way state which form of religion is used to represent the country unlike in Sudan were the country will be Africa’s first Theocratic state (A government ruled by or subject to religious authority). (http://godictionary.co.za/theocracy-definition).

In a speech address to Khartoum students, President Omar Al Bashir said “Ninety-eight percent of the people are Muslims and the new constitution will reflect this. The official religion will be Islam and Islamic law the main source (of the constitution). We call it a Muslim state.” (http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-10-14-sudan-to-become-africas-first-theocracy)

Do South African Courts, Parliament and Government reflect a “Christian state”? This would be an honest assumption by any individual who believes in the principles that govern democratic practices in terms of “the majority being the overall rulers” as the country’s majority is Christian, or is the country a religiously neutral state. Leaving in such a culturally an religiously diverse country the president of south Africa Jacob Zuma even though he may hold his own religious believes, he has to represent the state and uphold all religious beliefs of the country equally and form a relationship with religious sectors. (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=5519).

A recent article in the mail and guardian newspaper by Brent Meersman, a political novelist and a writer for the newspaper since 2003; Brent Meersman is misguided in his quest to revel the consequences of mixing religion and state affairs and furthermore he has controversial solutions such as the removal of Christmas and Easter as public holidays.it comes as no surprise that he would be labeled an atheist by some of the people who commented on his blog about the subject. (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/brentmeersman/2012/03/19/please-no-god-not-in-our-courts-not-in-parliament-not-in-government/comment-page-1/#comments). I totally disagree with his views on the matter. Though when it comes to the topic of just how impartial are Christian Judges, I have to agree it is a questionable and fair curiosity of the truth about how the law system operate. South African government, Parliament and Courts are all about upholding the rights of freedom of religious expression and believe as stated in the Bill of Rights. Even though some of the high officials put in place to safe guide these rights serve the country from their own individual religious backgrounds, their mandate is to cater and treat every religion equal respect. The South Africa government has shown a great working relationship between the state and all other religions and I will continue to do so.

Influence on Communication by Generation Gap

http://www.medleynews.com/relationship/what-is-generation-gap-1365.html



Generation Gap in my own interpretation is the period between two or more generations which differ in how they view the world and perform socially in that particular time.''The generational gap is and was a term popularized in Western countries during the 1960s referring to differences between people of a younger generation and their elders, especially between children and parents''.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_gap

In the book titled ''Mind the Gap!'' by  Graeme Codrington, certain generations are given names to specify which generation a person belongs. Those who were born in and around the period 1920s are referred to as the ''old generation'' and the generation which was born around and after the First World War whic was around the 1940s are classified as ''baby boomers''. Those who fall in the period around the 1970s are called ''generation X'' , and lastly the generation which came after ''generation X'' which fallS in the period of 1990s and 2000s are called the ''millennium generation.''

Every generation has its own view and interpretation of the world around. As the world evolves in terms of generally excepted norms and values by people belonging to a certain generation, we must not forget the impact on communication the different generations are causing on each other as the decades pass. For us to acknowledge the existence of a gap between the generations it means we recognise the challenges and most importantly the influences the generational gap has on communication. Phrases such as, ''i do not understant my teenage son and his type of choice in music'' or ''grandpa you too slow for me'' or ''you youngsters have no respect these days'' are common phrases expressed and verbalized by the frustrated yet so different generations when one a member of a certain generation interacts with other members of another generation.
I would like to argue the point that the influence on communication by the generation gap is the reduction of communication quality and adaptability to misunderstandings of communication without any desire to drive home the intended message.

Personalised values and perceptions which are mostly subjective during sensory analysis of a situation, maybe blamed for the existence of misunderstandings and therefore misinterpretation is created as a result and thus this leads to a communication quality reduction. In my opinion when communication between the generations is compromised in terms of misunderstandings and misinterpretations, chances are high for generational intolerance to formulate. Therefore it is crucial for a ‘’communicational compromise’’ from any side of the two interacting generations if any form of communication is to take place sidelining individualistic values and perceptions of the other.
 In 2005 I attended a seminar at the University of the Western Cape on HIV/AIDS presented by one of the resident lecturers. At the seminar it was highlighted that the effects of HIV/AIDS on the creation of a wider generation gap in south Africa due to massive loss of life especially among the ‘’generation X’’ which was born around the 1970s time period has already commenced. It was said that those who lost their lives to the Aids pandemic in South Africa , are the uncles and aunts of the ‘’millennium generation’’ and they were the younger siblings to the ‘’baby boom generation’’. The effect of such a massive loss of a generation on communication is visible in parent and child frustrations with each other, the increase in teenage suicides and the lack or fear of children confiding in their parents has resulted as an outcome. Once again communication quality is compromised. These effects were attributed to a cultural and societal norm and perception of seeing uncles and aunts ‘’generation X’’ as a bridging human instrument in terms of communication between parents and their children. The important role ‘’generation X’’ served in the South African context was being almost the closest person to communicate with who will be more understanding to both parent and child.

We cannot blind ourself from an existing reality that in current South Africa and globally that the quality of communication between different generations has changed.From the above findings one can formulate an informed intellectual conclusion that indeed generational gaps have a direct influence on communication.

The Physics of past and present South Africa

http://www.emagzin.com/featured/travel-to-fifa-world-cup-2010-south-africa/





Newton's third Law (first published in 1687) is still in motion in current South Africans mentality.The Law states that, ''for every action there is  an equal and opposite reaction''.http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm.An historical example of this Law is the ideology of the National Government's apartheid law.http://books.google.co.za/books?id=MrlnwlKQDr4C&pg=PA3&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false has seen Newton's Law projecting an equal and opposite reaction decades later,in what is currently symbolically known as the rainbow nation of South Africa.
One must be patient in understanding the developmental process of the South Africa's rainbow nation.It is still in its teenage phase.One has to make note of the similarities the new South Africa has to its predecessor, the Nationalist Government of the apartheid era.One can argue that history is repeating itself,but i will be quick to correct and highlight that history is only reacting out in an equal and opposite motion,just as Newton's third law states.


To support above mentioned statement let's analyse what we mean when we say: "We belong to the colourful rainbow nation".There is a symbolic meaning behind South Africa's ''rainbow nation'', (in my opinion) it reflects the individualistic celebration of different colours of the rainbow and those colours represent the diverse racial groups of our country.Every race has a sense of pride and belonging as we observe even the national flag,but a very crucial point many fail to observe is that the more the individual races celebrate their own uniqueness, it the more the different racial groups isolate each other from the other racial groups.The mental visualisation of thinking of the ''rainbow nation'' as a whole will never materialise in the minds of the average South African(in my opinion).


The above statement should draw you back to the ideology of the Nationalist Government of separate development for different races ,and you will notice how the ''rainbow nation'' is just an equal but opposite reaction to the historical actions taken by the then Government. Has history changed that much? And maybe we should ask, what are we as South Africans doing to steer the course of history?