THOUGHTS ON SOUTH AFRICA

I live in a country where most of the white citizens would claim

to be Christians, would feel it to be their supreme duty to preserve

their Christian civilization, and sometimes, in moments of stress,

would call it "White civilization." Many of them believe that

God placed them in southern Africa to carry out a "civilizing

Mission. Most of them hold firmly the belief that this civilizing

Mission can only be carried out by the separation from one

another of all racial groups-residentially, educationally, culturally,

politically, even religiously.

I write these words not with the trivial aim of bringing my

government into dispute, but with the aim of showing that if a

Christian takes seriously the commandment to love his neighbor

as himself, he may incur the active hostility of State and Church.

And we should remember that Jesus did exactly that, and that he told his disciples that this might happen to them also. These sayings of Jesus should be taken seriously. Our Christian cause

could well bring us into conflict with authority, and the only way

in which we can overcome the fear of such a prospect is to believe

that we are the instruments of God's peace, which means of

course that we are instruments of God's love, and because we.

are used by it, because it dwells in us, We have no cause for fear.





ALAN PATON (1903 – 1988)