Is There Hope?

After the announcement of the ANC party election results, there was a clip of Helen Zille saying that there is still hope for South Africa. I ask: what hope? Is Zille really the source of hope? Are we to rely our hope and our trust on one person and her party?

These days it's difficult to put your trust in any one person or group. Confidence is in short supply, especially in these difficult days in South Africa.

Contrary to what I've said above, I'll state what we do want to hear: there is hope. This hope is not founded on people, parties, on the ACDP or on Rev. Kenneth Meshoe. Rather, it is founded on God. Of all the things that have come and gone, the Bible has been a steady source of wisdom for thousands of years, and despite attempts against it, has stood its ground. This itself is reason for tremendous hope.

Here is some inspiring Scripture from Psalms 37:7-11 (NIV) to give you hope for today:

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.

11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace."

Who Can You Trust?

The discussion of authority, how to submit to it and when to challenge it is a fascinating one. However, upon reflection, I feel that the topic reinforces a suspicion I've held for some time now - that the successful running of society depends very heavily on trust.

Consider for a moment how important trust is in your everday life. You drive on the left side, trusting that the opposite traffic stays on the other side. You hand over a R100 note at the supermarket and don't count the change, because you trust that the change will be correct most of the time. How often have you counted the notes that come out of an ATM. Doctors also hold a highly esteemed position of trust. We're more happy to trust an eTV news bulletin than the government they portray. In fact, how often do we question the contents of a front cover story in the local newspaper? Have you thought about whether the speedometer on your dashboard can be trusted? And are you sure that your favourite bank isn't investing your cash in a Colombian drug cartel?

While these kinds of thoughts may cause us to trust less, society actually depends on a certain level of trust. Imagine having zero trust in each of the scenarios painted above - we'd hardly be able to move. The reason the whole question of authority comes up is simply an issue of trust.

What produces trust? I'm sure there are many, but two spring to mind. Firstly, a track record. The longer a service functions successfully, the less likely you are to doubt it. Secondly, a point of reference. If your favourite uncle says that the corner butcher is the best in town, you're more likely to trust it.

In the case of the ACDP, the point of reference is the Bible. The Bible is a trustworthy book. It has a track record of 2000 years, has been used to fight against drug use, to pull down slavery, to promote honesty, to encourage faithful marriages, to hold governments to account and to provide a platform for the analysis of morality. The real question then is: how faithfully do the ACDP adhere to the Bible?

The Importance of Absolute Authority

I'll admit that's a frightening title, but let me elaborate...

Why does any political party have a reason to be honest?

There are a number of reasons: if voters discover dishonesty you may lose votes in the next elections, or you may have a stampeding protest outside your parliament. Then there's the media, snooping around all the time, splashing frontpage headlines across national media.

But beyond that, as evident with the ANC, you can get away with quite a lot, and if you stand behind barriers like the race card, you can get away with even more.

The critical standard here is what kind of authority does the party hold itself up to at election time? Service to the people? The mandate of the people? As you can imagine, these create plenty of room for shifting goalposts.

In contrast, the ACDP uses the Bible as its absolute authority, despite being under considerable pressure to abandon that stance in order to win more votes. Now there are of course grey areas that can't be determined from the Bible, such as certain aspects of economic policy, but others don't move. The Bible is a tough plumbline and even by its own definition nobody has risen completely to its standards. This is very good news for voters who can hold the government up to its own immovable standard. What some may see as a yoke can work out as a blessing.