环球英语 — 567：The Belhar Confession
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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Robin Basselin.
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And I'm Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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The 2010 World Cup competition was an exciting event. Millions of people watched the football games being played in South Africa. The noise of the plastic vuvuzela was heard all around the world.
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The people of South Africa felt great honour from this international event. The World Cup was a symbol of South African unity and hope. This hope was especially sweet, because South Africa has a history of disunity among its population. From 1948 to 1994, South African laws separated people based on the color of their skin. This was Apartheid. For years, apartheid laws created a culture of division and separation.
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Today's Spotlight is about the efforts of a particular group of South Africans to change this culture. They did this by publishing a document calling people to be united, not divided. The surprising thing is the place where they worked to make change. It was not in politics, it was not in social life - it was in the Christian church.
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Apartheid affected more than the social and political life of South Africa. Apartheid was also present in religious life. South African citizens belonged to many different religions. But, for over one hundred years, Christianity had been the majority religion. During apartheid, the Christian religion was not free from the effects of the culture of racial division.
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Most Christians today would look back with sadness at the influence of the church on South Africa's past. Two hundred years ago there was an organization called the 'Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa'. ('Church' here means a large Christian community - not just one building where people worship.) The Dutch Reformed Church shared its beliefs with many people. And so, people of many different skin colors became Christians. However, the white leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church did not think it was good to have people of different colors together in their Church.
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So, long before apartheid began, the 'Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa' was an all white church. Over time, it started separate churches for the mixed race Christians, black Christians, and Indian Christians.
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In the middle of the 20th century the apartheid government came to power. The all-white 'Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa' became the official government religion. Many government officials used the Church to support their apartheid laws.
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In apartheid, all people were identified by their skin color or race. They were identified as black, white, Indian or colored, meaning mixed race. The government passed laws that restricted life for anyone that did not have white skin. Non-white people could not work some kinds of jobs or live in particular areas. The laws even kept the best land for white people. Everyone else had to farm poorer quality land. There were also different schools for each race. Even medical care was separated.
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However, many Christians did not like the injustice of the apartheid laws. They could see that the laws took away human rights. They could see that apartheid did not fit with the teachings of Jesus Christ. These Christians believed that Jesus Christ and his message showed a very different way of living together.
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Some of these Christians were leaders of the 'Dutch Reformed Mission Church'. The leaders began to compare the situation in South Africa with the teachings of the Bible. In 1982, well before the end of apartheid, they published an important document. This document explained what they believed the Bible teaches about unity. They called the document "The Belhar Confession." Belhar was the name of the town where they published it.
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The Belhar Confession calls for unity among all of God's people. It also calls for justice. It encourages Christians to treat all people fairly and rightly, because they are equal. The document also encourages reconciliation. Reconciliation means people moving past conflict towards understanding of one another.
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The Belhar Confession talks about the teachings of the Bible. For example, these sentences show how the leaders believed that apartheid was against the Bible's teachings:
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"We believe that Christ's work of reconciliation is found in the church. Unity is both a gift and duty for the church of Jesus Christ... - separation and hate between people and groups is sin. Jesus Christ has already paid the price for this sin. So anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the church and must be resisted."
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The 'Dutch Reformed Mission Church' shared the document with the other non-white Reformed churches in South Africa. These churches also liked the document. They began to use it to express their beliefs. Later, many South African Reformed churches joined together. The black, Indian, and colored Reformed Churches became one church. This church is called the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa or URCSA.
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Then the URCSA looked out at the world. The Belhar Confession started as a response to apartheid in South Africa. But it could also be a statement of belief for Christians in all parts of the world. So, the URCSA asked similar churches around the world to study the Belhar Confession. It wanted these churches to consider adding this document to their list of belief statements.
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Reverend Dr. Seth Pitikoe is a leader in the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa. Pitikoe visited a group of churches that examined the Belhar Confession. He told this gathering,
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"The natural results of Belhar are much wider than its first setting. Our wish is that churches like ours would recognize this and not see it as only South African."
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Pitikoe and his church believe that the Belhar Confession relates to Christians all over the world. South Africa is not the only country that deals with issues of human rights. Many countries face problems of conflict, injustice, poverty, or racism. The Belhar Confession can help churches deal with these issues. It talks about the unity of the church and unity among all people. It talks about reconciliation in the church and in society.
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Churches around the world have answered the request of the URCSA. Today churches in Belgium, the United States, Canada, and the Dominican Republic have accepted and share the Belhar confession. They consider it true. However, more churches are still studying the document. Through their study they will decide if they will make the document their own too.
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South Africa's history shows how people sometimes use religion to defend the wrong things they do. But it also shows how good people can resist, and God can use such people to bring about peace and reconciliation.
