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An ethic of relationship in difference and otherness1
ABSTRACT
As South African church history shows, the problem of difference lies at the heart of the inability of human beings to live together in justice, freedom and peace. After looking at the nature, problems and potential of otherness and difference, this article explores the possibility of an ethic of relationship. In its embodying of the idea of "communion", the practice of the Eucharist is presented as one way of reconciling difference and otherness.
A fragment from South African church history
The Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape Colony was faced with a dilemma in the early nineteenth century. Differences of race, history and social circumstances created tensions among its ranks. In 1829 this church had resolved that Holy Communion was to be administered "simultaneously to all members without distinction of colour or origin". Sadly, the rift between the settler community and the indigenous people, many of whom were slaves, eventually caused the church to bow to social pressures. Race proved to be stronger than religion. In 1857 the synod of the Dutch Reformed Church passed the following resolution:
The Synod considers it desirable and scriptural that our members from the Heathen be received and absorbed into our existing congregations wherever possible; but where this measure, as a result of the weakness of some, impedes the furtherance of the cause of Christ among the Heathen, the congregation from the Heathen, already founded and still to be founded, shall enjoy its Christian privileges in a separate building or institution.2
For "the weakness of some", read the racism of some white settlers. Thus the separation of believers along race lines began, a separation which ultimately led to the theological justification of apartheid.
Why difference, why otherness?
I am a white South African woman who has lived through decades of apartheid in a multicultural, ethnically and religiously pluralistic society. I have known the sweet smell of democracy only very recently. It therefore may come as no surprise that the central theme of my paper concerns the search for an ethic of relationship in difference and otherness. I want to explore how we can live respectfully, lovingly and creatively across our differences, in communion with one another.
Few...