People and Power

Bad news, we can’t forget but the good news is that we can forgive.

One of the common questions asked is how one can forgive yet remember or whether it is possible for one to forget in order to forgive. At this point my answer will be NO and NEVER.

If Archbishop Denis Hurley were alive today, he would be disappointed with the dark cloud of greed and corruption that is hovering above the nation and growing darker each day, Bishop Rubin Phillip of the Anglican Diocese of Natal said this afternoon.
 

Following an announcement from Lambeth Palace, London, that Dr Rowan Williams will be stepping down from his position as Archbishop of Canterbury, the World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed admiration for the archbishop’s ongoing leadership and his significant contribution to the ecumenical movement spanned over several years.

As the professor stood before his first-year class at the end of his lecture on the fascinating question, "Did God really say?", he suddenly found himself unable to speak.

This module in a new and innovative core curriculum for undergraduates at the University of the Free State was designed to challenge deep beliefs about authority and (any) scripture in fundamentalist societies.

Written by Jonathan Jansen

This is by far the best book written and published in 2011, and I would be very surprised if it did not win the Alan Paton award for non-fiction in 2012.

It is a story that challenges the dominant narrative of the anti-apartheid struggle - that of evil white against good black, of the wicked apartheid system against noble warriors, of clear-cut perpetrators against defenceless victims.

Written by Jonathan Jansen

It all started as a civil discussion on my Facebook page.

The student posed a question about a problem on campus, and I answered him as gently as possible, careful not to overplay the professorial hand. He followed up with another question. I asked for clarity, probing his assumptions. All of this in an effort to raise the level of the dialogue I was beginning to enjoy with this bright young mind.

A top human rights activist has been arrested in Zimbabwe, in what Amnesty International deplored as an attempt to silence government critics.

Abel Chikomo, director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with failing to properly register his organisation, police said.

Written by Jonathan Jansen

I have sat in audiences where I have listened to and interacted with Edward Said, Jurgen Habermas, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela and a half-dozen Nobel Laureates in the sciences.

But never before have I heard a speech with the intelligence, insight and compassion of a Down's Syndrome girl who came to my office three days ago. This is what she said:

Written by Gladys Terichow

It was a reunion of friends when Sibusiso Ndzimandze, a peace educator from Swaziland, stayed in the home of Gord and Lynne Ball during a recent 10-day visit to Ontario.

Around the kitchen table in Oakville, a city west of Toronto, the Balls reflected on their experiences as participants in a learning team from their congregation that visited southern Africa. During this trip in 2009, they met Ndzimandze, whom they now count a friend.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has never shied away from speaking out against the inequalities, intolerance and human rights abuses he witnessed under apartheid. But he has been equally outspoken about the problems of post-apartheid South Africa.