User:Jorsilvari/Religion in South Africa

Religious Values
The influence of religion is cemented in the community’s core characteristics, and this influence has shaped South African values. This can be seen in the high levels of confidence in the church that are present in South Africa. In essence, this perception can be viewed in the way that forgiveness is practiced. Christianity in South Africa would suggest that it is a necessary condition to forgive in order to be able to move towards a better future. Due to this religious value, forgiveness is a spiritual manner that those bound by the church must engage in. .

Religion and Politics
According to a Pew Research Center report in 2010, 74% of South Africans agree that religion is a crucial part of everyday life. As it can be seen in data such as this, religion is an integral part of South Africa’s culture. In addition to culture, religion has played an important role in politics as well. This role includes an appeal to different religious aspects in speeches, policies based on religious values, policies passed due to religious discrimination, political parties being based on religious ideas, and churches taking public stances on different political issues. Examples of religion and politics in South Africa intertwining include:

 Social Change 
 * The African National Congress which is one of South Africa’s main political parties having been founded in a Christian church.
 * Different Christian church leaders opposing each other regarding apartheid policies, and some of them engaging in public opposition or support of them (White Afrikaans led churches mostly in support)
 * Former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma stating that voting for the ANC would lead you to heaven.
 * Former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela stating that in the ANC, social and spiritual transformation cannot be separated.
 * The South African Council of Churches being led by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu to oppose apartheid.

Since the rise of democracy, a majority of the religions existing in South Africa have been recognized. Such a practice began under democratic rule in South Africa. Upon this democratic rule, all religions are supposed to have equal footing in the eyes of the government and must be able to respect the practice of other religions. This practice was not present during the apartheid dispensation in which the Christian religion held more benefits and recognition from the government than any other religion present in the country. During dispensation, Christian leaders were dominant in the spiritual business of preaching and counseling. However, with the rise of democracy in South Africa, now other religions share influence in social and political affairs.

 The influence of Christianity in post-apartheid dispensation 

According to the General Household Survey published in 2015; 86% of the South African population identifies as someone who correlates with the Christian faith. This could be rooted in the Christian church giving a blessing to the system of apartheid that made its early projects prideful of their Christian identity. That led to the Christian faith’s competition to suffer under the apartheid: people were persecuted, rituals and traditions were disrupted, and lands were taken away from people. This history indicates that there is a strong trust toward Christianity, which is still evident today as a high percentage of people still identify as somewhat associated with the religion.

 Chinese Religious Practice in South Africa 

The Chinese community in South Africa has always practiced eclecticism — giving them the freedom to choose their religion and philosophical beliefs. Three social factors have affected the Chinese community's religiosity. First, the Chinese community is small in South Africa, so they are inserted in the category of "Asians." Second, The absence of unity in the community. During apartheid, the Chinese society did not have any government representation, which led to less programming to foster the education of their community — such as language and the rich heritage of Chinese cultural history. Third, materialism that is rooted in their first arrival in South Africa during the 1850s, where they searched for opportunities for their children's future. Hence, when the opportunity to grow as a community came, the Chinese community took advantage of it.

In addition, South African education has restricted education facilities for the Chinese, which enabled Christian churches to convert people from the Chinese community. Chinese pupils from the beginning get exposed to Christian influences with prayers and hymns when they enroll in school. The Roman Catholic Church had a strong effect on this since they had a convent church for boys — the same case went for Anglicans. The parents who went to these schools encouraged their children to convert to their school's religion.

 Church Attendance 

In South Africa today, 84.2 of South Africans identify as Christians. StatSchriA data has provided that Northern Cape, 97.9%, and Free State, 95.5%, provinces have the highest percentage of Christians. In addition, the General Household Survey has found that 56.4% of people who identify as Christian rapport to church weekly.

 Music and Dance in Religious Practice 

Music and Dance have both played a vital role in religious practice in South Africa. They are derived from the same term -bina in many in several South African languages which reflects in their practice and culture. Due to having a majority of Christian believers in the country, many Christian hymns and choruses could be seen being used in both churchgoing and in protests. For example, the songs Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa), Thuma Mina (Send Me, Oh Lord), and Makubenjalo kuthe kube kunaphakade (May it be so until eternity) were used secularly in the church, and for protest outside of it. This usage of music for the practice of faith and protest against injustice is a result of music being an intrinsic part of South African culture.

Another song where the connection of music and religion in South African society is apparent is the National Anthem of South Africa. In the National Anthem there is mention of God as a Father, a plea for God to take care of the people, and lament in result of previous and current suffering asking for God to come down and help the nation.

Regarding dance, aside from Christianity, we also see a big amount of ancestral worship in which dance is used for different rituals involving healing, calling ancestral spirits, and divinity. Dancers are usually divided by sex, and have differences between each other depending on what groups perform and what the sex of the group is.

Legislation

Examples of constitutional sections that aid in religious practice include the preamble of the South African constitution which asks for God’s blessings, section 9 which is forbidding of religious discrimination, section 15 which provides freedom of faith, and section 31 which defends the right of people and institutions to practice their own religion.

 Role of Women in Religious Practice 

South Africa has made progress regarding women’s rights but has problems such as obstacles for women to hold positions of power, discrimination, rape, child marriages, genital mutilation, and domestic abuse. Regarding the secular world, in some conservative practices of religions such as Catholicism, Islam, and others there is a view of the women having a role of being responsible for the home, being caregivers, and being responsible for their children. This view of women as only for household roles and not leadership has some religions not allow women into religious leadership roles.