Religions must unite, not sow divisions

CHRISTIAN, Muslim and Hindu groups are seeking to put systems and structures in place to de-escalate tensions that may arise between the different religious groups.

This comes just as the Hindu Association of SA and the SA Hindu Dharma Sabha are suing the Revival Ministries of Chatsworth for R1 million over allegations of hate speech against the Hindu religion.

Various religious leaders had a virtual meeting to find a way forward and issued a joint statement yesterday.

The groups said there was a need to discuss conciliatory processes and social cohesion within their respective communities.

“It was agreed that religious leaders present, representing their different constituencies, would work toward establishing a platform for dialogue in order to address issues of conflict between the different religious groups. It was understood that leaders of faith would use their influence to foster peace and harmony, two key variables of social cohesion.

“Furthermore, educating members of the different faiths was considered key to establishing a sense of community, along the path to social cohesion,” reads the statement.

Religious groups would undertake to educate communities to also consider the great endeavours of social and religious cohesion of the past and present.

The African Christian Democratic Party, which was part of the virtual meeting, said they trusted that the judicial system would act in fairness and within the confines of the law in the matter between the Ministries and the two organisations.

Party leader in Chatsworth Jameel Essop said the ACDP is a proponent of religious freedom and distances itself from those who seek to promote religious intolerance.

He encouraged all faiths to consistently work towards a sense of community “where we have mutual respect for each other”.

He said religious intolerance in Chatsworth has been there and the root cause of it – which is cultural mindset – has not been dealt with.

“Historically, Indians were brought to South Africa by ship and were promised a better life but they were, in reality, put into sugar cane plantations as agricultural slaves, in what was then a newly British colonised country.

“These Indians, our forefathers, established a strong foundation based on mutual respect, integrity, honour and a deep sense of communal ethos built around strong family values. The neighbour was family despite their religion.”

Essop said the morality and respect which used to be vested in the people are lost.

“Some reasons for the decline of moral values may be the monetisation of cultures, the collapse of family values, and the influence of modern technology and media.

“The lost historical culture has brought us into religious intolerance and further moral decline as a community.

“As the Indian community, we need to divert our attention from the symptoms and return to the strong foundations that were created by our forefathers,” Essop said.

Dr Herbert Moyo, an expert in religious practices in African indigenous knowledge, said religious fundamentalism was the key problem that has seen instability in various religious groups.