What is Pastor Ray up to?

How honest is the jarring partisanship instigated by Pastor Ray McCauley? Would another church leader such as the archbishop of the Anglican Church have gotten away with inviting one political leader to their congregation in the middle on an election campaign? Maybe, but would anyone have gotten away with a blatant refusal to invite the other political leaders as we saw in the blatant refusal early this year, to invite the United Democratic Movement’s Bantu Holomisa to address the same congregation?

So, does it mean that the saved and worshiping faithful of Pastor Ray’s church are also all ANC faithful and that the expensive prayers of that congregation are reserved for the ruling party high ups? A lowly chap like Holomisa does not deserve their prayers apparently. How does McCauley explain to his faithful who happen to belong to the UDM, DA or Cope about this spiritually inspired political choice he has clearly made on their behalf? How does he explain this terribly partisan stance to them? This raises the question about how such a church is governed. Does it have some kind of a board or council with some influence over McCauley and if so how did such an action that surely brings the church into partisan disrepute pass their holy eyes? Why am I going back to this unholy episode?

Maybe it is because of the new high horse that McCauley is now climbing daring to challenge Tutu and those lead by Judge Kriegler to challenge the JSC on their poor and spineless handling of the Judge Hlophe matter recently.

I wonder quite frankly, is this because Tutu dared to challenge Zuma’s moral rectitude not so long ago? The criticism that was so well-deserved that Zuma himself acknowledged it recently as Tutu’s execution of his duty as the conscience of our nation. It boggles my mind why McCauley does not think that citizens like Tutu and Kriegler should be able, without undue insult, to take any matter on review to the highest court in the land the same way that the Zuma forum shopped our courts until he was acquitted of all wrongdoing. Why is it now wrong for other citizens to take up these matters with our courts to their hearts’ content? What assessment did the church according to McCauley conduct so quickly to arrive at the incredible determination that the actions of Tutu and Kriegler will lead to the undermining of the judiciary?

A determination that has not been forthcoming up to now? Me wonders, where was McCauley and his ilk when the judiciary was being threatened by Zuma supporters and the ANC top brass who unashamedly asked for (and received) a political solution for Zuma’s litany of cases? Where was McCauley when Blade Nzimande and his ilk called judges who found against the ANC last year apartheid apologists and thieves with no honour? Where was he when Vavi called the Human Rights Commission a kangaroo court when they sought to act against those threatening to kill for Zuma? Maybe these trivialities were no concern of our holy man. What about the current proposed laws that threaten to subject the courts to government or even those that threaten to make local government toothless and provincial governments non-existent?

I venture to suggest that while busy ingratiating himself to the new administration, it is important that he remembers the role that the church must play in being an honest broker of peace among polarised factions in our society and its role to truly safeguard institutions of our democratic dispensation when it truly matters not when it is the most popular thing to surmise. The manner in which the new religious forum was formed demonstrates that McCauley is ready to be sucked into a terrible partisanship that he started by patently favouring Zuma over his competitors during the elections.

On SAfm last week he failed under the incisive questioning of Xolani Gwala to explain why the establishment of the new body he now leads came as a surprise to the SACC with whom he participates in the religious leaders’ forum established by the previous administration. He went on to declare that the current body “does not represent the grassroots” a clear indication that there was a deliberate agenda to sideline one of the strongest voices of our faith in South Africa at the altar of political expediency. In the same interview he delivered judgment on the lack of efficacy of a body which he has been part of forever — he could not give an honest nor intelligent answer why these deficiencies he is pointing out could not be fixed in the old body. This state of affairs will frankly compromise the church, at least that part of the church represented by McCauley and his cohorts, in its mission to be the conscience of our nation.

It is quite frankly, total hypocrisy to be so selective about things that threaten our constitutional democracy in an attempt to please the powers that be. A long list of strange machinations of some in our governing party hopefully will one day earn the wrath of our hero of salvation.

Being an eternal optimist I believe that:

Maybe the workers who are trashing the streets, communities that are burning down public facilities and students who are destroying campuses will hear from him about cleanliness being next to godliness.

Maybe the civil servants who are paying themselves and their wives, families and friends with taxpayers’ money will hear from his holy self about the commandment “thou shall not steal”.

Maybe the soldiers who attacked the seat of government will hear from his Bible-stomping self about the respect for authority of the courts that interdicted them not to strike. Maybe Julius Malema who has roundly insulted women and at rape survivors and Tokyo Sexwale, who has called elderly women witches, will hear from his holy self about respecting elders and a common respect for women.

Maybe the commissioner of police who is preaching an eye for an eye policy of shoot to kill will hear from his grassroots loving self about building a forgiving and compassionate and not a blood-thirsty and trigger-happy society. Maybe his former spokesperson, who has now been promoted to speak for President Zuma, who sees nothing wrong with the terrible conflict of interest by civil servants who are stealing money from the public every day will hear from him about infusing some morality in the influential role of speaking on behalf of the highest office in the land.

Because more than Tutu and Kreigler’s challenge to the ineptness of the JSC, these and many acts by many high ups are more of a threat to our democracy and requires church men like him to stop the cosy act and speak out on moral issues that are facing our nation. Speaking truth to the powers that be requires the necessary distance perceived or real. It is sad that in the midst of our moral bankruptcy we can’t rely on men of the cloth like McCauley to rise above the petty partisanship and play the prophetic role for which they have been ordained. Maybe some nosy journalist must cut through the nonsense and explore his role during the apartheid years, maybe that will shed light about his insatiable need to ingratiate himself to the new powers that be — but that is a conversation for another day.