Namhla Monakali’s litany (“A collective cry for humanity”) on the comments page of TygerBurger (16 April) should strike a chord in the heart of every South African of good intent: our country finds itself in a moral morass.
But, Monakali falls short of mentioning the obvious cause: the abandonment of love of the quality of the Man whose suffering and death we commemorate at Easter: “But I give you a new command: love each other as I have loved you” (John 13 v 34) – after he had washed his disciples’ feet.
I do realise that as a Christian I too have often failed to live up to this command, but at least I can confess that with remorse, acknowledge my guilt and strive to be more obedient. After all, with historical warts and all, Christianity has brought to humanity greater benefits than any other ideology.
I realise that I have just mentioned an unmentionable reality – and therefore take the liberty of taking another step: Jesus’ command has been replaced by another religion (after all: “Mankind is incurably religious!”): humanism.
That was enshrined in our Constitution with its emphasis on human rights (to be claimed), personal worth (without responsibility to live up to it), a judicial system (which often protects the criminal more than the victim), an educational system (which sidelines the content and moral basis of true religion) and sexual “liberty”.
DC Coetsee, Brackenfell
