THE ANC AND RELIGION - PART 1
By: Gareth van Onselen
The next five posts on InsidePolitics will, together, comprise a single essay on the ANC and religion. The central thesis of the essay is that religion is a helpful metaphor for understanding the ANC’s political ideology and, in particular, for better understanding the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. The five different posts - each one of which constitutes a different section of the full essay - are as follows:
1. Introduction
2. The ANC and Religion
3. Thabo Mbeki and the Truth
4. Jacob Zuma and God
5. Conclusion
Thus, today, we start with the introduction, which sets out the argument in broad terms, on which I will elaborate in each of the next four posts.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
An essay on the ANC, religion, and the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma
By: Gareth van Onselen
“There cannot be a clearer mark of the progress of liberty of thought than the contrast between the world views of science and religion, nor of the hard-won nature of that progress than the struggle to liberate the former from the latter. Liberty of thought is the essence of enquiry, and free enquiry produces a conception of the universe totally different from any that thinks the world was created as a theatre for the moral and spiritual destiny of humankind by anthropocentric gods. The story of science is also the story of the struggle by religious orthodoxy to retain control over how the universe is to be seen, and where the limits of legitimate enquiry lie. To make science possible, religion’s claim to hegemony over the mind had to be broken.” [1] [J. Youlton]
Introduction
Although the central thesis of this essay revolves around the relationship between the African National Congress’s nationalism and religion (and by religion, I mean monotheistic religion), it does not presuppose that such a relationship does not exist between other political philosophies and religion; only that this particular relationship is often profound, its consequences damaging and, by identifying and trying to understand it, I hope, fairly illuminating.
This essay also makes use of fairly broad brushstrokes in an attempt to define the argument in general terms. This might well have the effect of suggesting that the ANC’s particular brand of African nationalism is uniform, coherent and consistent across all its members. In reality, though, this is obviously not the case and, no doubt, there are individuals within the ruling party who do not fully subscribe to the particular political philosophy I describe in this argument. Significantly, however, there are individuals in the ANC for whom this description is entirely accurate and, in extreme cases, even understated. I would argue it is this second group of people who represent both the majority of ANC members and, perhaps more importantly, those who occupy the most powerful positions in the party. As these are the people most likely to influence South Africa, it is around their world view that this argument is shaped.
The argument in a nutshell
“Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also - since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself - unshakeably certain of being in the right.” [2] [George Orwell]
| Posted on 12/6/2008
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