It’s easy to forget the past with inherited freedoms by claiming a moral high ground

I WAS intrigued by a recent social media post by UCT SRC vice-president Zizipho Pae, a young black woman, in response to a US Supreme Court finding essentially prohibiting institutionalised homophobia in the US. The post read: “We are institutionalising and normalising sin! Sin. May God have mercy on us.”

Ms Pae reminded me of the abolishment of slavery. She reminded me that, when the good and brave people of the world pushed the cause of freedom and equality for all that one step forward, there was an outcry similar to Ms Pae’s. Slavery, after all, is sanctioned in the Bible.

Ms Pae also reminded me of the plight of women; when women could not vote and languished in the perpetual guardianship of men. And when institutionalised discrimination on the basis of gender was abolished, there was an outcry similar to Ms Pae’s. Does the Bible not provide, after all, that women will be subject to the authority of men?

Ms Pae also reminded me of the many instances of institutionalised racism that had been defeated the world over. And was such racism, certainly in South Africa at least, not informed by biblical notions such as a “Chosen People of God”?

Since you appear to be concerned with God, Ms Pae, I suggest that you thank him for the many good and brave people of the world pushing the cause of freedom and equality for all. If not for them, how horrible it would have been if we lived in a world where slavery and institutionalised racism and sexism were rife – justified by biblical references and thoughtless moralisations.

As a young black woman, you certainly benefit from their efforts, even though you have learned nothing from them.