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The Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology and Faculdades EST, Brazil strengthen partnershiphttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4276The Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology and Faculdades EST, Brazil strengthen partnershipDion Forster<p>The Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology in the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University has been engaged in a rich and fruitful partnership with colleagues from Faculdades EST since 2007. Faculdades EST is a Brazilian institution of research and academic training in the fields of human sciences and applied social sciences, linguistics, languages, arts and health. The partnership has focussed predominantly on issues of Public Theologies in the respective contexts. Prof Dr Rudolf von Sinner from Faculdades EST and Dr Dion Forster from the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology serve as the coordinators of an ongoing research project on the nature and content of Public Theologies from Brazil and South Africa. This has been a very fruitful collaboration over the years with the exchange of staff and students, participation in conferences in Sao Leopoldo and Stellenbosch, and shared publications. <br> <br>On the 14th of September 2016 the Faculty of Theology (Stellenbosch University) and the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology presented Prof Dr Rudolf von Sinner with an artwork for the Centre for Ethics at Faculdades EST. The artwork, which was created by Prof Daniel Louw (Emeritus Professor - and former Dean - of the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch) is entitled '<em>The Cursed and Wounded Healer</em>'. It symbolises the frailty and brokenness of human persons and society as a result of sin. Yet, it points towards the hope of healing and restoration that the cross of Christ brings, expressed in Pauline terminology, as wholeness (<em>parrhesia</em>).</p><p>We look forward to many fruitful years of South by South collaboration between these two Southern hemisphere institutions. In this picture Dr Donald Katts, Stellenbosch (left) is presenting the artwork to Prof Dr Rudolf von Sinner (right) at a special service at Faculdades EST.</p>
Dietrich Bonhoeffer for todayhttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4234Dietrich Bonhoeffer for todayMarita Snyman<p>For three years now, the Bonhoeffer Consultation has brought together scholars, pastors, and students for a close reading and discussion of a portion of Bonhoeffer's writings. This year's Consultation focused on Bonhoeffer's dissertation, <em>Sanctorum Communio, </em>which he completed at age 21. In it, Bonhoeffer offers a description of the church as a social entity in which separate persons are brought into community by encountering difference in one another. Participants spent each morning reading through <em>Sanctorum Communio</em> and discussing its implications for theology, sociology, politics, personhood, and a fresh vision for the church's role in a diverse and reconciling South Africa. The discussions were supplemented by public lectures, including an address by the renowned theologian and Bonhoeffer scholar, Prof. John de Gruchy, on Bonhoeffer's prophetic example for a global Kairos theology.</p><p>Photo: Prof Robert Vosloo, Director of the Bonhoeffer Unit at the Beyers Naudé Centre with Prof John de Gruchy<br></p>
Public lecture by Lord Rowan Williamshttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4389Public lecture by Lord Rowan WilliamsMarita Snyman<p>Lord Williams was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 – 2012 and currently holds the position of<span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Masters_of_Magdalene_College%2c_Cambridge"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0">Master</span></a><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0"> of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_College%2c_Cambridge"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0">Magdalene College</span></a><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0"> at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0">Cambridge University</span></a><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0">. </span>He is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer, scholar and teacher. He has been involved in many theological, ecumenical and educational commissions. His visit forms part of the Global Network for Public Theology's Consultation on Democracy and Social Justice in Glocal contexts, presented by the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology and the Faculty of Theology. Please note that there is limited seating – please book your seat with Marita Snyman (<a href="mailto:maritasnyman@sun.ac.za">maritasnyman@sun.ac.za</a> or 021 808 2538) as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.</p>
Gift exchange between the Beyers Naudé Centre and the Institute of Ethics of the Faculdades EST, Brazilhttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4462Gift exchange between the Beyers Naudé Centre and the Institute of Ethics of the Faculdades EST, BrazilMarita Snyman<p>Exchanges of significant gifts are signs of friendship, partnership and koinonia between brothers and sisters in Christ. As such a sign, the Beyers Naudé Center for Public Theology gave to its partner Institute, the Institute of Ethics of the Faculdades EST at São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, an artwork by Professor emeritus Daniël Johannes Louw of Stellenbosch University. The artwork under the name of "Derelictio: Christ the cursed and wounded healer" was brought to Brazil and handed over in a worship service during the third International Congress of Faculdades EST in September by Dr Donald Katts and put in place in the Institute (photo). Made with broken glass, it shows how Christ assumed our human vulnerability and suffered for our sake. In the rising sun behind the cross we can see the light of the resurrection.</p><p><img src="/english/PublishingImages/Lists/dualnews/My%20Items%20View/Faculdades%20EST.jpg" alt="Faculdades EST.jpg" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p><p>This light is also visible in the Easter candle that was brought in return to the Beyers Naudé Centre in October, following the fourth Meeting of the Global Network of Public Theology held at STIAS in Stellenbosch. Prof Rudolf von Sinner, Director of the Ethics Institute, handed over the handmade candle to Dr Dion Forster, Acting Director of the BNS (photo). Whenever we shall look at these tokens, we shall be reminded of our partnership and collaboration in the work of God's reign, justice and love in our respective contexts. Both countries are among those with the highest economic and social inequalities in the world and well know the positive, ambiguous and questionable contributions of churches towards the common good in society.</p>
International Bonhoeffer Society raises voice in resistance to discrimination and aggressive nationalismhttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4635International Bonhoeffer Society raises voice in resistance to discrimination and aggressive nationalismMarita Snyman<p>Comprising scholars and religious leaders from the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the purpose of the English Language Section of the International Bonhoeffer Society is to encourage critical scholarship in conversation with the theology, life, and legacy of the German pastor-theologian and Nazi resistor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. While initiated in the United States, this statement expresses the concern, input, and support of our members in many countries that are demonstrating and protesting around the world. We speak noting that Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself taught the profound relatedness of all human persons and, indeed, of peoples and nations. We therefore feel called to raise our voices in support of justice and peace, and in resistance to every form of unjust discrimination and aggressive nationalism.</p><p>The United States has undergone an unusually contentious, bitter, and ugly election that has brought us to an equally contentious, bitter, and ugly beginning of the presidency of Donald J. Trump. While it is impossible to predict what lies ahead, we are gravely concerned by the rise in hateful rhetoric and violence, the deep divisions and distrust in our country, and the weakening in respectful public discourse. Some of the institutions that have traditionally protected our freedoms are under threat. In particular, this election has made the most vulnerable members of our society, including people of color, members of the LGBTQ communities, Muslims, immigrants, refugees, the poor, and the marginally employed and the unemployed, feel even more vulnerable and disempowered.</p><p>The German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer is quoted often in such times, for he spoke eloquently to such issues. His entire theological and political journey was shaped by his conviction that the church is only truly church when it lives for all God's children in the world, and that Christians fulfill their faith as Christians only when we live for others. Members of the Bonhoeffer Society hope to make a faithful contribution to our society in this ominous time.</p><p>The best way to understand Bonhoeffer's possible message for our times is not to draw direct political analogies between his time and ours, but to understand the meaning of how he understood his faith and his responsibilities as a citizen in his own times and discern where these words might resonate for us today:</p><p>In the coming time, we will seek to live such a life of witness, not only for the sake of our country, but because our Christian faith calls us to do so.</p><ul><li>He warned that leaders become "misleaders" when they are interested only in their own power and neglect their responsibilities to serve those whom they govern. (1933)</li><li>He warned that when a government persecutes its minorities, it has ceased to govern legitimately. (1933)</li><li>He admonished Christians to "speak out for those who cannot speak" (1934) and reminded that the church has an "unconditional obligation toward the victims of any societal order, even if they do not belong to the Christian community." (1933)</li><li>In his book <em>Discipleship</em>, he wrote: "From the human point of view there are countless possibilities of understanding and interpreting the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus knows only one possibility: simply go and obey. Do not interpret or apply, but do it and obey. That is the only way Jesus' word is really heard. But again, doing something is not to be understood as an ideal possibility; instead, we are simply to begin acting."(1936)</li><li>He wrote: "I believe that in every moment of distress God will give us as much strength to resist as we need…I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are not in vain and that is not more difficult for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds. I believe that God is no timeless fate but waits for and responds to sincere prayer and responsible actions." (1942)</li><li>He wrote: "Is there a political responsibility of the <em>individual Christian? </em>Individual Christians can certainly not be held responsible for the government's actions, nor dare they make themselves responsible for them. But on the basis of their faith and love of neighbor, they are responsible for their own vocation and personal sphere of living, however large or small it is. Wherever this responsibility is faithfully exercised, it has efficacy for the polis as a whole."(1941)</li><li>He wrote: "… one only learns to have faith by living in the full this-worldliness of life….then one takes seriously no longer one's own sufferings but rather the suffering of God in the world. Then one stays awake with Christ in Gethsemane…. How should one become arrogant over successes or shaken by one's failures when one shares in God's suffering in the life of this world?" (1944)<br><br>In the coming time, we will seek to live such a life of witness, not only for the sake of our country, but because our Christian faith calls us to do so. </li></ul>
Engaging "radical economic transformation" and land ownership in South Africahttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5601Engaging "radical economic transformation" and land ownership in South AfricaMarita Snyman<p>​The Faculty of Theology commemorated the beginning of theological education in Stellenbosch when the first classes were conducted on 3<sup> </sup>November 1859. The BNC facilitated a short but rigorous discussion of a topic that is relevant for our society as a whole and that will assist in focusing, challenging and informing the Faculty's Public Theology. Keynote speakers included Ms Bokang Mpeta, lecturer in Economics, Stellenbosch University and Dr Aninka Claassens, Director: Land and Accountability Research Centre, University of Cape Town.<br><br></p><p>Photo: Dr Dion Forster; Dr Aninka Claassens; Ms Bokang Mpeta; Prof Reggie Nel; Prof Hendrik Bosman<br></p>
Dr Chris Jones’s book wins most downloaded book awardhttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=8780Dr Chris Jones’s book wins most downloaded book awardMarita Snyman<p>The BNC congratulates <strong>Chris Jones* and Juri van den Heever</strong> on winning the following award:</p><ul><li>Most downloaded book during 2020 in the <strong>Humanities & Social Sciences AOSIS Scholarly Domain</strong></li><li>Book Title: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/114&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912194577%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=CrwyxqgKuuk7HTLsQUrGsnMAembp2FtnB5fGmGz9PBM%3D&reserved=0"><strong>Moral Issues in the Natural Sciences and Technologies</strong></a></li></ul><p>*Dr Chris Jones is the head of the Moral Leadership Unit of the Beyers Naudé Centre<br></p><p><em>This book reflects academically on important and relevant natural scientific disciplines, important technologies, and related media to determine and communicate the moral issues and challenges within those specific fields of study, and how to deal with them morally and from a multidimensional South African context. It aims to add scientific, technological, and ethical value, locally and globally, by reflecting mainly from the viewpoint of specific scholars, writing about the most pressing moral issues or challenges raised by problems within their specific field of study</em>. – Chris Jones & Juri van den Heever</p><p><em>This collected work reflects, in a multidimensional fashion, on moral issues that arise in scientific and technological work. It resembles the South African heritage and circumstances of the authors. Let me state unequivocally that this is a very professionally conceived and completed project. That it is multidimensional is a given</em> – Prof Michael Ruse, Department of Philosophy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America. </p><p>More about the AOIS Laureatus Awards:<br></p><p>The annual <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://aosis.co.za/laureatus-awards-2021/&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912184619%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=1gPTEPW9sRIJra3UaLEdzsReV2E%2BFS8qZdz5kNL5BxU%3D&reserved=0"><strong>AOSIS Laureatus Awards</strong></a> is a prestigious awards ceremony where we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of authors and researchers who are making an impact in our scholarly community. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we have adapted with the times to bring you the 2021 awards ceremony <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DRNqFBA1MGk8%26t%3D43s&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912184619%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=zHsjb0MMkFSjJiCKlaXqnaC1GRYSy2ryB97ezbc%2B7UE%3D&reserved=0">virtually.</a> </p><p>  It is with great pleasure that we give well deserved recognition to all the winners. View the complete list of prize winners: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://bit.ly/30U7tJZ&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912194577%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=Wl9E4fGYd8/mQGM8QAn2V9uC%2B73nmXLbGKSFfB3tmoU%3D&reserved=0">https://bit.ly/30U7tJZ</a></p><p>Click <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DRNqFBA1MGk8%26t%3D3s&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912204535%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=rzA%2Ba7iIyJTQyUy3diymsRlNV/zAHlbFh0tJYNL%2BLF8%3D&reserved=0"><strong>HERE</strong></a> to watch the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DRNqFBA1MGk8%26t%3D3s&data=04%7c01%7c%7c1ba09e175cb144e9d1fa08d9b00885ad%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637734372912204535%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=rzA%2Ba7iIyJTQyUy3diymsRlNV/zAHlbFh0tJYNL%2BLF8%3D&reserved=0"><strong>Laureatus Awards.</strong></a></p><p>​<br></p>
We should cultivate healthier social media habitshttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=7768We should cultivate healthier social media habitsDion Forster <p>We should cultivate healthier social media habits that are aligned to our better values, writes Prof Dion Forster from the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology) in an article for <em>The Conversation</em> (21 October 2020).<br></p><ul><li>Re​ad the article below or click <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-make-moral-choices-about-how-we-relate-to-social-media-apps-147509"><strong class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-5-0" style="">here</strong></a><strong class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-5-0" style=""> </strong>for the piece as published.</li></ul><p>​Recently a South African radio show asked, “If you had to choose between your mobile phone and your pet, which would choose?" Think about that for a moment. Many callers responded they would choose their phone. I was shocked… But to be honest, I give more attention to my phone than to my beloved dogs!<br></p><p>Throughout history there have been discoveries that have changed society in unimaginable ways. Written language made it possible to communicate over space and time. The printing press, say historians, helped shape societies through the mass dissemination of ideas. New modes of transport radically transformed social norms by bringing people into contact with new cultures.</p><p>Yet these pale in comparison to how the internet is shaping, and misshaping, our individual and social identities. I remember the first time I heard a teenager speaking with an American accent and discovered she'd never been out of South Africa but picked up her accent from watching YouTube. We shape our technologies, but they also shape us.</p><p>The potentially negative impacts of social media have again been highlighted by <em>The Social Dilemma</em> on Netflix. The documentary, which Facebook has slammed as sensational and unfair, shows how dominant and largely unregulated social media companies manipulate users by harvesting personal data, while using algorithms to push information and ads that can lead to social media addiction – and dangerous anti-social behaviour. Among others, the show makes an example of the conspiracy theory QAnon, which is increasingly targeting Africans.</p><p>Despite its flaws, the doccie got me wondering what our relationship should be to social media? As an ethics professor, I've come to realise that we must make moral choices about how we relate to our technologies. This requires an honest evaluation of our needs and weaknesses, and a clear understanding of the intentions of these platforms.<br></p><p><strong>Tug-of-war with technology</strong></p><p>Yuval Noah Harari, author of <em>Sapiens</em>, contends it's our ability to inhabit “fiction" that differentiates humans. He claims you “could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven". Humans have a capacity to believe in things we cannot see – which changes things that do exist. Ideas like prejudice and hatred, for example, are powerful enough to cause wars that displace thousands.</p><p>The wall between Israel and Palestine was conceived in people's minds before being transformed into bricks and barbed wire. Philosopher Oliver Razac's book <em>Barbed Wire: A political history</em> traces how this razor-sharp technology has been deployed from farms that displaced indigenous peoples to the trenches of World War I and the prisons of contemporary democracies.</p><p>Technology is in a constant psychological, political and economic tug-of-war with humanity. Yet, some of today's technologies are much more subtle than barbed wire. They are deeply integrated into our lives – they know us better than we know ourselves.<br></p><p>I have thousands of 'friends' on social media – far too many to relate to meaningfully. Yet, at times I can be more present to people that I have never met than I am to my family. This is not by chance – social media platforms are designed to seek and hold our attention. They are businesses, intent on making money. Harvard University professor Shoshana Zuboff, who features in the documentary, explains in <em>The Age of Surveillance Capitalism</em> that social media “trades exclusively in human futures".</p><p><strong>We are the product</strong></p><p>Zuboff says that social media platforms exploit our emotions and pre-cognate needs like belonging, recognition, acceptance and pleasure that are 'hard wired' into us to secure our survival.</p><p>Recognition relates to two of the primary functions of the brain, avoiding danger and finding ways to meet our basic survival needs (such as food or a mate to perpetuate our gene pool). These corporations, she says, are hiring the smartest engineers, social psychologists, behavioural economists and artists to hold our attention, while interspersing adverts between our videos, photos and status updates. They make money by offering a future that their advertisers will sell you.</p><p>Or, as former Google and Facebook employee Justin Rosenstein, says in <em>The Social Dilemma</em>:</p><p><em>Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers.</em></p><p>If our adult brains are so susceptible to this kind of manipulation, what effects are they having on the developing minds of children?</p><p>The documentary also reminds the viewer that social media has a more subtle and powerful influence on our lives – shaping our social and political realities.</p><p><strong>Fake news and hate speech</strong></p><p>The documentary uses an example from 2017 in which Facebook use is linked to violence that led to the displacement of close to 700,000 Rohingya persons in Myanmar. Something that doesn't really exist (a social media platform) violently changed something that does exist (the safety of people). Facebook was a primary means of communication in Myanmar. New phones came with Facebook pre-installed. What users were unaware of was a 'third person' – Facebook's algorithms – feeding information that included hate speech and fake news into their conversations. In Africa, similar reports have emerged from South Sudan and Zimbabwe.</p><p>Another example used is the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which also played out in Africa, most notably in Nigeria and Kenya. Facebook user information was mined and sold to nefarious political actors. This information (like what people feared and what upset them) was used to spread misinformation and manipulate their voting decisions on important elections.</p><p><strong>What to do about it?</strong></p><p>So, what do we do? We can't very well give up on social media completely, and I don't think it is necessary. These technologies are already deeply intertwined with our daily lives. We cannot deny they have some value.</p><p>However, just like humans had to adapt to the responsible use of the printing press or long-distance travel, we will need to be more intentional about how we relate to these new technologies. We can begin by cultivating healthier social media habits.</p><p>We should also develop a greater awareness of the aims of these companies and how they achieve them, while understanding how our information is being used. This will allow us to make some simple commitments that align our social media usage to our better values.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
Dr Marthie Momberg awarded a top 20 Post-Doctoral Fellow prizehttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=7955Dr Marthie Momberg awarded a top 20 Post-Doctoral Fellow prizeMarita Snyman<p>The Beyers Naudé Centre congratulate their colleague and project leader, Dr Marthie Momberg, with being recognised as among the top 20 Post-Doctoral Fellows out of over 320 at the University of Stellenbosch.<br></p><p>Her colleagues are very grateful for the significant work that Dr Momberg has done on the important topic of 'Shifting Perceptions of Zionism', with a particular focus on issues of justice for the people of Palestine in the Israel / Palestine conflict. <br></p><p>Please click on the link below for an article on the award:<br></p><p> <a href="/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=7844&fbclid=IwAR0VgKatSA6DbnYva8_lg1Vy4V8nMT3gjEUh-ZwVyffEBUguSuO8R5VUc0g">http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=7844&fbclid=IwAR0VgKatSA6DbnYva8_lg1Vy4V8nMT3gjEUh-ZwVyffEBUguSuO8R5VUc0g</a><br></p><p><br></p>
Be mindful of the next seven generations – US indigenous leaderhttps://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5172Be mindful of the next seven generations – US indigenous leaderDeborah Hendriks and Zenzile Khoisan<h2 style="text-align:center;">Be mindful of the next seven generations <br></h2><p><strong>Pearl Means</strong>, a writer, producer and indigenous rights activist in the United States, struck a raw nerve with the audience at the University of Stellenbosch on 21 September 2017, when she recalled the terrifying experiences that Native Americans had to endure. She shared how, despite relatively small numbers, they were putting up a valiant defense against US corporations and government putting an oil pipeline through Indian land and sacred sites. <br></p><p>Means delivered the keynote address at the 2017 annual Institute for the Healing of Memories lecture, jointly sponsored by the Institute and the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at Stellenbosch University. She observed, “The Native American is like the miner's canary" sending out a distress signal in a world, where failure to take action against injustice could imperil the future of the next seven generations. <br></p><p>“We are here today because of a painful past, one that the invader made certain no one would know about, and we are almost gone. There is one percent of us left in America, the most powerful nation in the world. This country knows nothing about us, therefore, is able to commit the atrocities, the genocide that continues today through their policies," Means stated.</p><p>She celebrated the power of activism to stop corporate greed and government policies that lead to war, plunder and the undermining of the environment. <br></p><p>Indigenous activists in America recently stopped the completion of the 1 886 km Dakota oil pipeline that would transport nearly half a million barrels of oil a day from the border of Canada, through five states to the holding and distribution centre in Illinois. The mass campaign at the Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota successfully resisted attempts by energy companies to drill and install the pipeline under Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River that the indigenous peoples proclaim as a sensitive heritage area. The contention of the indigenous peoples, she noted, was that the water sources of the indigenous clans could become poisonous.</p><p>“We are under attack, with our lifeline, our water and the desecration of our sacred ancestral burial sites," Means claimed, explaining that the current violations were part of a pattern of historic abuse, reaching back to colonial times. <br></p><p>Means called for urgent action to secure future generations a sustainable legacy: “If we do nothing we will be charged with the next seven generations. We are all part of the human family and we need to preserve life. We made a stand with four women and one man, set up a camp a year and a half ago and said no more. What we didn't realise is that we would have the solidarity and support of over 10 000 people from all over the world – 500 members of the clergy came and stood with us and in a ceremony burnt the Doctrine of Discovery to show their solidarity. Over 400 indigenous nations came and stood with us: from the Maoris of New Zealand to the Amazonian indigenous of Ecuador. They filled our hearts with pride, with love." <br></p><p>“We have over 500 years' experience with the invader. We have no choice. We followed the mandate of our Creator. We know our time here is that of a drop in the bucket in comparison to the lifetime of a rock," Means added. <br></p><p>The indigenous leader noted that the current violations of indigenous rights and sovereignty stemmed from pronouncements by the Catholic Church more than five centuries ago:</p><p>“In 1493 the Vatican under Pope Alexander VI issued a Papal Bull (edict of the Pope in the Vatican) that essentially said that all non-Christian-owned land was available for the taking for the Crown and for the Church. It gave them the moral and legal authority for the slaughter, for the raping, the pillaging of our homelands and our peoples". <br></p><p><strong>Patric Tariq Mellet</strong>, a South African liberation activist, author and social historian, was the respondent to the keynote address and reflected on contemporary events in South Africa.<br></p><p>“In the old days before modern technology, a caged canary was taken down the mines because its demise provided a warning to miners of dangerous levels of poisonous atmosphere. It was a signal to miners to take action or die… to leave immediately for fresh air at the surface. As a metaphor, the plight of the canary can be likened in our societies to the assault on the most vulnerable, marginalised and oppressed in our society. The call to wake up and to resistance action shouts out from the overcome canary. This is a warning that a toxic wave – a period of threat – is about to sweep over others in our society," Mellet stated. </p><p>He noted that the metaphoric 'miner's canary' became a case of the testing of the resolve of the Native Americans at Standing Rock – “shouts out that race supremacism is on the rise – people of colour beware, other identities beware, all who are demonised beware."</p><p>“Our miner's canary as a warning of the corruption of our struggle gains, and of neo-colonialism in modern day South Africa stands out most starkly as the Marikana massacre. This was our Standing Rock… and so much more," Mellet added. <br></p><p>Photo: Patric Tariq Mellet, Pearl Means, Prof Nico Koopman (Vice-Rector: Social Impact, Transformation & Personnel) and Father Michael Lapsley (Director: Institute for the Healing of Memories) <br><br></p>