The Big Read: The devil inside Pastor Olivier

30 June 2016 - 10:28 By Jonathan Jansen

Pastor Andre Olivier reminded me why I no longer go to church. In his sermon last week he said three things that were as perplexing as they were troubling.First, said the pastor of Rivers Church in Sandton, white people still have money because they work. The insinuation, of course, is that black people lack money because they do not work. Of equal concern is the implication that whatever white people possess, it is purely a consequence of their labour.Following on, he claimed that, "We [whites] took nothing from no one." The pastor must clearly be out to lunch to believe such nonsense. The history of this country is one of dispossession and the relative privilege of whites in relation to blacks today is a direct consequence of the long shadow of racial inequality by force and design. And then, the pastor asked: "Are you suggesting I give away some of [my wealth]?" Well, yes. Many of us do, it is expected from Christians to do exactly that and it would have a powerful, conciliatory meaning if a white man did that in a poor and unequal country after apartheid.On the other side of the Atlantic, the famously irreverent and irreligious Republican nominee for president Donald Trump met behind closed doors last Tuesday with evangelical Christians. The leaders of mega-churches, including the sons of Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, fell over their feet to laud the foul-mouthed racist as God's man to lead their country. Lucifer and Hillary Clinton's name came up often in a transcript of the event, often in adjoining sentences. "If Lucifer himself ran [for president] that wouldn't work as well [to bring out the evangelical vote]" than if Hillary was the candidate. This from the president of a so-called Christian university.What makes these men dangerous is not only that they have an audience but that they couch their bigotry in the language of Christian faith while holding up the Bible as justification.In Pastor Andre's church many of the black congregants squirmed and stopped applauding as he mingled personal prejudice with scriptural authority, generally true statements (whites helped build this country) with racially provocative comments.There is something beautiful about the life of faith. I stare in admiration at young Jewish boys and girls walking through the streets of Orange Grove, Johannesburg, to worship in a synagogue on Friday. I am humbled by the sight of Muslims prostrating themselves in prayer in the Long Street mosque. I am moved by adult baptism in Princess Vlei as a very public confession of faith. The life of faith refutes the idea that all of our existence is material and meaningless and without higher purpose or vocation. Such simple expressions of faith transform human lives across the globe.But there are any number of preachers, from every religion, ready to abuse the faith and trust of ordinary believers behind their own political agendas and personal bigotry. They get carried away by their own sense of importance in front of thousands of worshippers; snakes are swallowed and hot coals burn the flesh on innocent feet. They rip off poor and gullible people who give away their hard-earned money to sustain the often extravagant lifestyles of these self-important preachers.Those who think the school curriculum is the most powerful agency for changing hearts and minds need to take a careful look at what happens inside religious institutions, where the connection between faith, emotion and trust can so easily override the logic of science, knowledge and common sense.And in the hands of unscrupulous preachers of any faith, great damage can be done to how young people understand themselves and those different from them in terms of race, religion, language and culture.This week a middle-aged , white Afrikaans-speaking woman came to see me. I had never met Una nor had I heard of her place of origin , Schweizer-Reneke. Una had something i n her heart that she wanted to share. Then the unheard of, spoken in Afrikaans: "I came to apologise to you for what we did as white people to hurt you, your family and our black brothers and sisters." Her voice choking, Una committed to using her talents and resources to correct what was wrong in our society. Then she reached out to hold my hands and pray for forgiveness and for wise leadership of the university.Because of Una, I might just be going to church on Sunday...

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