See the humanity in others - celebrate religious and cultural diversity

THIS lecture, on the centenary of the Arya Samaj South Africa, is a tribute to the enduring legacy and memory of the late Pundit Nardev Vedalankar.  As a teacher,  religious and cultural leader, Pundit Vedalankar espoused and lived by values that stood in direct contrast with what the Apartheid State sought to advance as gospel – he lived by the idea of a common and shared humanity – not divided by race, religion, language and difference.

This is important when the world is severely fractured and religious identity is often used to fracture it even more.  This message that we share much more in common than that which makes us different is critical and must continue to be heard.

Pundit Vedalankar’s influence extended beyond religion, and he could see the community he served not in narrow terms but within the broader South African landscape.  Issues such as caste discrimination, gender discrimination and gender-based violence were and continue to be matters of concern – demonstrating that our religious and cultural beliefs do not, and cannot, exist in isolation.

Sadly, we continue to see the ongoing manifestation of these social ills even 30 years after the Constitution's adoption, and they persist quite stubbornly. And so, in a democratic state, one asks – how does identity manifest itself in all its different facets, in diverse societies such as ours?  How do you create the space for all of them to flourish while avoiding the domination of one over the other or the fracturing of societies as different identities assert and claim what they may regard as their rightful space?

The preamble to our Constitution recognises the bewildering diversity that defines South Africa, expressing the hope that we can be united in our diversity.

Section 15 of the Bill of Rights recognises the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.  In doing so, it expressly provides that this recognition must be consistent with other provisions of the Constitution.

Cultural liberty

Religious and cultural freedom has not been threatened in the past 30 years. There may still be battles to ensure its proper and equal treatment. Still, as a general proposition, we live in a country where mutual respect for religion and culture is well entrenched.

It is not something we should take for granted, and its importance as part of the development of any society (and in particular diverse societies) was recognised by the UNDP in its 2004 Report when it said - “Cultural liberty is a vital part of human development because being able to choose one’s identity - who one is - without losing the respect of others or being excluded from other choices is important in leading a full life.

People want the freedom to practice their religion openly, to speak their language, to celebrate their ethnic or religious heritage without fear of ridicule or punishment or diminished opportunity. People want the freedom to participate in society without having to slip off their chosen cultural moorings. It is a simple idea, but profoundly unsettling.”

Multiple dentities

Individuals have multiple identities that do not necessarily conflict with each other but make up the totality of who we are – uniquely so. There is no reason why we should choose between our identity as South Africans on the one hand and on the other our religious, cultural or any other facet of our identity.

And so in each of us, our families, our communities, and our country is the story of our identity – its retention and its extension.  Just as we are the same and yet different from our forebears who arrived here in 1860, so will those who attend this lecture in 2045 be the same and yet distinct from us here tonight.  That is the essence of the idea of identity – its retention and its extension.

 At the same time, challenges come when freedom of religion is suppressed or when it seeks to assert its primacy over other claims and rights.  Let me touch on a few of those challenges.

 Religious freedom and religious primacy

 A disturbing feature of our times is the ascendancy of what I refer to as religious primacy.  While most of the significant religions accept that there are shared values that reside in all faiths that generally speak about the need to advance the cause of humanity, it is almost as if we here on Earth are engaged in a war of the Gods. What would the Gods have to say about this?

It beggars belief that we can, on the one hand, say that we have mutual respect for the religious beliefs and practices of other religions, but at the same time seek to denigrate other religions and argue for religious primacy.  This undermines the very idea of religious and cultural freedom and creates a climate of exclusion and marginalisation. Sometimes, it evokes a counter-response that seeks to assert religious primacy from a different group.

Religion and politics

Political parties formed based on religion or those that identify with a religion are not a problem in and of themselves.  However, it carries the risk that when those parties are in power, the dividing line between religion and politics and between the secular and the religious becomes blurred.  Under those circumstances, religious and cultural freedom may be at risk.

Social media and primacy

In South Africa, we have the motto “United in our diversity”, but the other side of that motto is “Separate in our diversity”.  I say this because the focus on one aspect of our identity to the exclusion of others can result in us becoming inward-looking, insulated and where the focus is on what is important for our group, our religion, our language, we start creating and seeking separate spaces - legal, social, political, etc.  Soon, we would have sleepwalked our way to segregation.

Global religious resurgence, coupled with the ease of communication through social media, can and has created forms of exclusion, of hostility and of a competition between the assertion of different religions.  This may have worrying consequences for diversity and respect for others. It is a trend we should be concerned about.

The Arya Samaj’s founding philosophy is that the source of all knowledge and truth is to be found in the Vedas.  It is from the Vedas that the principle “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is drawn, and its meaning, even thousands of years later, remains powerful in its simplicity: One Earth, One Family, One Future.

Speaking to the same theme, Suvir Saran, writing in the Indian Express in April this year under the title “Why humanity must come before identity”, refers to various incidents where religion was weaponised and, almost as a reminder of the obvious, says: “My family taught me real religion doesn’t divide.  It doesn’t loot. It doesn’t lynch.  It forgives. It heals. It accepts. It acknowledges that in every orchard there are rotten fruit, but the tree still gives shade.  That our humanity is the thread and everything else the embroidery – important, beautiful but not the fabric itself. We’ve worshipped flags but forgotten the hands that sew them.  Even stopped kneeling to gods and started kneeling to slogans. 

"We no longer ask why – we just obey.  And that obedience has turned dangerous.  Obedience without reflection is not faith.  It is fear.  It is control.  When religion forgets the beating heart, the thinking brain, the dreaming soul and demands that we belittle others for loving differently, praying differently, dressing differently – it is no longer religion. It’s a leash.”

In conclusion, I would like to reflect on my visit to Palestine and Israel some years ago.  On a free day between work, I travelled to visit the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem, the old city of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque.

At the end of the day, the gentleman arranging my travels said, "I have taken you to all of the important religious sites today, but I am left wondering… which one is yours and what are you?”.  I responded that I am all and I am none. There is immense learning for us to take from the common human values encompassed in our faiths.  At the same time, there is immense learning for us to take from the danger of allowing our freedoms to transform into exclusions.  Let us allow our shared values to guide us in seeing the humanity in others and live the Constitution’s promise of a South Africa united in our diversity.

This is an edited extract from a Memorial lecture delivered by Justice Jody Kollapen, Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, on the 30th anniversary of the death of Pundit Nardev Vedalankar, delivered on the August 23 in Durban.

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