Tingle examines the startling claim made by John Kane-Berman, executive director of the South African Institute of Race relations, that “Black people in the townships are reaping a whirlwind of violence that the churches have helped to sow (p. 4).
The book concludes that Kane-Berman was essentially correct in his claim. Tingle states that “in their understandable desire to see and end to apartheid, sections of the Church in SA, aided and supported by sections of the Church overseas, have sympathised with the liberation movements – especially the ANC – to such an extent that they have either simply turned a blind eye to the methods such organisations have been prepared to employ to gain political power, or have developed a theology which actually justifies violence” (p. 5-6).
Tingle traces the origins of this development to the activities of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and particularly its Programme to Combat Racism (PCR). Listing all the grants made by the PCR in Africa since it was first set up over 20 years ago, the book shows that the WCC has “now given almost $5 million to liberation movements in Africa, virtually all of which have adopted the principles of Marxism-Leninism and have been prepared to use revolutionary violence in order to seize power.
“SA’s two liberation movements, the ANC and the PAC, have respectively received a total of $1.3 million and $0.7 million from the PCR” (p. 192). But, as the study declares, “neither the WCC itself, nor its member Churches, appears to have shown any concern about the dismal economic and human rights record of the liberation movements assisted by the PCR once they have taken power.” (p. 192).
Further more says Tingle, in order to justify a Programme whose activities have been deeply at variance with the traditional work and beliefs of the Church, the WCC has encouraged the development of new forms of “theology” which support radical political action and undermine orthodox Christianity. (pp. 50-1, 192).
The study describes how, by fusing radical; North American Black Theology and Latin American Liberation Theology, progressive theologians and Church organisations developed a specifically South African version of Liberation Theology as found, for instance, in the highly influential and widely distributed Karos Document.
Published in 1985, against a background of horrific Black-on-Black violence, this purportedly Christian document quite specifically rejected a moderating and peace-making role for the Church. It suggested that there was no alternative but to intensify conflict (p. 103) and “argued that Christians should not be working for peace and reconciliation but, rather, should participate in the ‘struggle for liberation and justice.’” (p. 193).
It also advocated civil disobedience as a form of resistance against the government, ignoring the degree to which civil disobedience campaigns have frequently involved gross intimidation of third-parties (particular politically moderate Black people) in order to be effective. Such arguments have frequently been repeated in other documents and at Church conferences. In such ways SA’s radical Church organisations have contributed to the climate which has rocked the country ever since 1984.
The book describes how the Church in SA has become deeply divided. For some years now, apart from small break-away Afrikaner churches in the Dutch Reformed tradition, all of the South African Churches have condemned apartheid. “But those Christians and Church groups who adhere to orthodox theology, who emphasise the importance of preaching the spiritual Gospel of Salvation, and who would see their role in wider society as a ‘Third Force’ helping to bring about reconciliation between all racial and political groups, have been subjected to criticism, ridicule and other forms of attack by ‘progressive Christians’.” (p. 193-4)
This has been compounded by the fact that, since at least 1985, the ANC has also developed a strategy to attempt to bring a many Church groups as possible into the national liberation struggle (pp. 134-48. Thus, says the study, “whether the vast majority of ordinary Church-goers are aware of it or not, a battle has been going on for control of Church practices, symbols and resources. In other words, what is ultimately at stake is the meaning of the Christian faith.” (p. 194).
The study shows that the two organisations which have been most responsible for the radicalisation of the Church, have been the Institute for Contextual Theology (ICT) and the SACC. The ICT, which has been in the forefront of the development of South African Liberation Theology, is funded almost entirely by Grants from overseas donors (pp. 82,246).
The SACC, enjoyed a yearly income between 1987 and 1990 averaging R23.38 million, but according to the Tingle, “hardly any of this has been spent on traditional Christian missionary or evangelistic activity.”
Although it has run social welfare programmes which would be acceptable to most Christians, other activities are far more questionable. For instance, its ‘Church and Mission’ departments have been involved in promoting radical theology, and other departments have been involved in providing legal aid for those involved in civil disobedience and violence.
“Only limited information is disclosed about the use of its semi-secret Asingeni Relief Fund but former SACC general Secretary, Bishop Tutu, has stated that the purpose of the Fund is to ‘empower the powerless in their liberation struggle’.” (p. 195). Much of the SACC’s activities have thus had very obvious political implications. It is noteworthy that, partly because of this, the vast majority of African Independent Churches (to which an estimated 8 million Black South Africans belong) have not joined the SACC.
Tingle estimates that between 1986 and 1990 at least 98% of the SACC’s income was derived from overseas, the great bulk of it from European Church agencies (pp. 258-264). Over this period, 16.6% of total SACC donation income came from Denmark; 14.0% from Germany; 12.4% from Norway; 11.6% from the Netherlands from the Netherlands; 11.3% from Sweden and 8.8% from the UK.
The study also draws attention to the use of the approximately R500 million from the European Community channeled to SA during 1986-1991 mainly through the SACC and the Kagiso Trust (set op jointly by SACC and the Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference).
“According to statements from the EC commission, the grants were intended for welfare and humanitarian aid schemes, and were not supposed to support the activities of political organisations. However, the Commission has refused to give details to the European Parliament of projects financed, and there are many indications that not only has much of the money been used on projects which are political in nature, but also that there is a strong bias in favour of ANC-aligned projects or groups.” (p. 196).
As Tingle states, given the significant change in the way in which some of the Churches now view their work in the world, “the decision to provide aid to a country like SA via Church organisations, is no guarantee against becoming deeply involved in their political conflicts.” (p. 197). Tingle declares that because an estimated 77% of SA’s population declare themselves to be Christian “what the Churches say and do is of immense importance for the South African society.” (p. 6). She says that, in the same way that the DR Church has publicly admitted that it was wrong in the past to have supported apartheid policies of the National Party, so “those who have used the Church as an arm of the ‘liberation’ struggle, had provided theological justification for revolutionary violence, should admit that their stance has been wrong.”
She concludes that “it is to be hoped that all the Churches in the country will return to preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ – including Christ’s command to show unconditional love and forgiveness to one’s enemies. This may well be the only hope of bringing about the reconciliation between people of all races and political factions which is imperative if SA is to avoid plunging into a full-scale civil war and emerge as a genuine multi-racial, free and stable democracy.
The book has a forward by the Rt. Rev. Bill Burnett, formerly Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, who refers to the book as “important and timely” and to Contextual/Liberation Theology as a “counterfeit form of Christianity.”