Research Articles (Religion & Theology)

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Browsing by Subject "Apartheid"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The absurdity of reconciliation. What we (should) learn from Rustenburg and the implications for South Africa
    (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020) Solomons, Demaine
    The quest for reconciliation in South Africa is an exercise in the absurd. To say it is an exercise for the absurd might also have some merit. Like Sisyphus, the figure in Greek mythology, those engaged in the quest for reconciliation are condemned to repeat forever the same, in some cases, meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain only to see it roll down again. This is amid the human propensity to forever search for meaning irrespective of the incongruity of the ideal and the absurdity that defines our existence. The illogicality of apartheid and the subsequent pain and alienation continues to be a defining feature of a country trying to come to terms not what it ought to be, but what it is � chaotic, irrational and sometimes meaningless. In this context, Rustenburg is a symbol of the audacity to dream of something beyond the absurd. Moreover, invoking a theology of reconciliation to achieve something extraordinary amid an uncertain future.
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    Beyond nostalgia in the search for identity: Black liberation theology and the politics of reconciliation
    (AOSIS, 2021) Solomons, Demaine J.
    Practitioners of Black liberation theology often reflect on the emergence of this theological expression by means of a nostalgic launch into the past, seeking ways to address some of today�s most pressing concerns. In this sense, much of what is known about Black liberation theology, including its identity, is premised on how we engage with nostalgia. However, the problem with the rendering of history through a nostalgic lens is our propensity to populate this reality with half-truths; in the process, we present an idealised version of events, sometimes ignoring the objective facts at our disposal. This is most evident in the tendency to look back at the �best� of the past whilst comparing it with the �worst� of the present. The purpose of this contribution is not to focus narrowly on what Black liberation theology (or its practitioners) has done well because this has limited value. Instead, a more productive undertaking necessarily includes what the late Vuyani Vellem refers to when he asks the question: �What lessons has Black theology not learned?� Often regarded in binary terms, liberation and reconciliation as root metaphors in Black theological thought provide a framework through which practitioners are challenged anew to reflect on some of South Africa�s most pressing concerns.
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    Black health, ethics, and global ecology
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2022) Conradie, Ernst M.
    The reflections offered here come from someone the South African government classified as white or as European under apartheid, who continues to be classified in that manner under affirmative action, and who has worked at a historically black university, the University of the Western Cape, since 1993. I teach systematic theology and ethics in a religion and theology department, and I focus on Christian ecotheology. I welcome theologian J�rgen Moltmann�s reversal of interlocutors in calling for Latin American liberation theology for the First World, black theology for white people, and feminist theology for men.
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    Knowledge, values, and beliefs in the South African context since 1948: An overview
    (Wiley, 2015) Conradie, Ernst M.; du Toit, Cornel W.
    In this contribution, an overview of the distinct waysin which the interplay between knowledge, values, and beliefs tookshape in the South African context since 1948 is offered. This is framedagainst the background of the paleontological signi?cance of SouthAfrica and an appreciation of indigenous knowledge systems, but alsoof the ideological distortion of knowledge and education during theapartheid era through the legacy of neo-Calvinism. The overviewincludes references to discourse on human rationality (as an implicitcritique against ideology), on the use of social sciences in theologicalre?ection, on the teaching of evolution in public schools, on scienceand religion, and on religion and ecology. The essay concludes witha survey of some of the major voices regarding the interface betweenreligion and science in South Africa.