Fin de siécle and the development of a post-secular religion: intimations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
C.W. du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
African Context ◽  
Secular Society ◽  
Secular Religion

AbstractThis article discusses the continued existence and characteristics of religion in a post-secular society and its influences on this society. The religious world is not a-secular and the secular world not a-religious. Attention is given to reasons that the secularisation thesis has not been realised and the role of modernism and pluralism in this development is discussed. Reference is made to the notion of a people's religion and the role of post-secularism in theology and postmodernism are discussed. The new South African context, in which a neutral state which does not promote any specific religion has replaced the previous Christian state, is discussed. Reference is made to the way African traditional religion fits into a post-secular environment. The argument closes with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an example of how the religious and secular interact.

Healing Painful Memories through Storytelling Cultivated by Vivid Images of Remembrance in Liturgy: Why the Liturgical Acts of the TRC (SA-1996) Did Not Produce the Healing Expected

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-151
Author(s):  
Ferdi P. Kruger ◽  
Ben J. De Klerk
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Holy Communion ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Worship Service ◽  
African Context

This article elucidates the idea that opportunities for remembrance should be cultivated within liturgy. No participant within liturgy enters a worship service as a tabula rasa. People enter the worship service with all kinds of memories, some of which may be painful memories of the past while others may be good memories. People’s memories could influence their participation in liturgy profoundly. The following research question was identified: What is the role of storytelling cultivated by vivid images of liturgy in healing painful memories in a post-TRC South Africa? The authors contextualize this idea by scrutinizing the praxis within a South African context nearly 25 years after the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the memories around it continue to be critically interrogated. The authors’ main focus is the communicative-liturgical approach that the TRC adhered to and why this approach seems to demonstrate shortcomings. This article examines the idea that the choice to remember will always be an ongoing process, mainly because a faith community is a remembering community. Three aspects are linked in a three-stroke relationship, namely liturgy, remembrance, and storytelling. Inter-disciplinary perspectives on remembrance and storytelling are offered while theological reflection reveals that remembrance and storytelling are interwoven. Two aspects in which remembrance and liturgy are connected, namely Passover and Holy Communion, are scrutinized and it is proposed that the idea of storytelling could be an intriguing aspect for further reflection within a Reformed tradition. We conclude with the idea that people’s memories are in need of editing through the process of remembrance. The telling of stories provides opportunities to do exactly this. We have explored the recognition that South African society needs people that continuously tell their stories of painful memories, while liturgy could cultivate vivid remembrances that will inevitably lead to healing.

scholarly journals Truth and reconciliation in South Africa: Hindu experiences and concerns

2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G.J. Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Hindu Community ◽  
The Way

The author who served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), focuses on the Hindu experience in South Africa during the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19 November 1997) two submissions by local Hindu leaders were tabled. Taking his cues from those submissions, the author discusses four issues: the way the Hindu community suffered during these years, the way in which some members of the Hindu community supported the system of apartheid, the role of Hindus in the struggle against apartheid, and finally the contribution of the Hindu community towards reconciliation in South Africa. In conclusion some notes on how Hindus and Christians may work together in th

scholarly journals Het Suggereren van Verzoening Tijdens de Hoorzittingen van de Waarheids- en Verzoeningscommissie

Afrika Focus ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Annelies Verdoolaege
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
The Other ◽  
The South ◽  
Specific Kind ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
African Context ◽  
The One

Suggesting reconciliation at the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) took place under unique circumstances and in a very particular historical context. This article will explore how such a specific kind of reality gave rise to a specific kind of discourse, a so-called ‘reconciliation discourse’. On the one hand, this discourse offered the apartheid victims a lot of opportunities regarding linguistic expression. On the other hand, though, this discourse was also regimented and limited to a certain extent. By means of fragments from the TRC victim testimonies, this article will deal with one aspect of this linguistic manipulation, namely the introduction of the concept of reconciliation. In the first part of the article, I will explain which linguistic methods were used during the TRC hearings in order to emphasize the notion of reconciliation in the narratives of the testifying victims. In doing so, a lot of attention will be paid to the concrete interaction between the testifiers and the TRC commissioners. In a second part, I will try to investigate why the construction of this specific reconciliation discourse was necessary in the South African context. We will see that, amongst others, also political considerations played a role in the control exercised over the discourse of the TRC victims. In this way, we will understand that the reconciliation discourse of the Commission was a reflection of a very ambiguous social attitude: this discourse had to reveal as much as possible about the apartheid past – and this in a manner as spontaneous, as transparent and as open as possible -, but it also had to be adapted to certain socio-political needs. This will tell us that also a quasi-judicial institution such as the TRC involves an inevitable interplay between language on the one hand and ideology and society on the other.

scholarly journals Shattered stories: Healing and reconciliation in the South African context

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cori Wielenga
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Meaningful Change ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Current Events ◽  
African Context ◽  
Part Model

Sharing our stories has been described, by those in the field as well as by popular opinion, as a way to foster healing and reconciliation following violent conflict. This article argues that sharing stories is in itself not necessarily helpful. It is when our stories are shattered by the story of another that meaningful change can begin to take place and new stories can emerge. This idea will be explored in the South African context, with reference to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as current events. It will consider storytelling and reconciliation using John Lederach�s four-part model of justice, truth, mercy and peace.

scholarly journals Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Jewish Voices and Perspectives

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 546-567
Author(s):  
P G J Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Jewish Experience ◽  
Apartheid Regime

The author who served on the South African  Truth  and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) focuses on the Jewish experience in South Africa  during  the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19  November 1997) Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris submitted a statement on behalf of his community. Two earlier documents were also put at  the TRC’s disposal: a statement on Reconciliation  presented by Gesher (a Jewish movement for social action) as a well as a comprehensive volume containing 27 interviews with Jewish activists (Cutting Through the Mountain). Taking his cue from both the Chief Rabbi’s presentation and the earlier documents, the author discusses the role of the Jewish community in overtly and covertly supporting the apartheid regime, as well the experiences of many Jews in struggling against apartheid. Finally the contribution of the Jewish community towards healing and reconciliation in South Africa comes under the spotlight.

scholarly journals Seeking feasible reconciliation: A transdisciplinary contextual approach to reconciliation

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffel H. Thesnaar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Institutional Church ◽  
Daunting Challenge

In South Africa scholars in the broad field of practical theology are currently faced with a daunting challenge: to rethink the reconciling role of the institutional church in the light of continued challenges facing reconciliation within post-apartheid and post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) South Africa. This contribution investigates whether the transdisciplinary, region-centred scientific research approach with a focus on the Hölderlin perspective on reconciliation could assist scholars in practical theology to address reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The article proposes a contextual and constructive approach to reconciliation in order to assist South African scholars in the field of practical theology and the institutional church to address the challenges of reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The contribution confirms that this approach does indeed assist the field of practical theology to contribute to reconciliation without the risk of speaking a language that nobody beyond theology can understand.

scholarly journals Pastors or Lawyers? The Role of Religion in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission Process

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G.J. Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Committee Member ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Religion In The South

In  this  article, Piet Meiring who served as Committee Member on the TRC discusses the often disputed religious character of the Commission. Quoting examples from the TRC process he describes the debate that developed – on Archbishop Tutu’s religious way of handling the affairs of  the  Commission. Meiring discusses the TRC liturgy that was developed during the course of the process, as well as how important the role of religion proved to be in terms of three crucial issues: the process of remembering, the quest for truth, and the costliness of reconciliation.

scholarly journals The end of truth?

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
African Context ◽  
Metaphysical Truth

As we are approaching the end of the century, many ideas, systems, and certainties, previously taken for granted, seem to be questioned, altered and rejected. One of these is the notion of truth, which pervades the very fibre of Western thinking. Rejecting the relevant critique as simply a postmodem fad, this article proceeds to give attention to the questions regarding the end of religious, scientific, and metaphysical truth. Truth and power are dealt with, as well as the narrative nature of truth. The article concludes with reference to the functioning of truth in the South African context as manifested in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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