AFRIKAANS: Hoe ek voel oor Belhar

Ek het die sinodesitting van die Wes-Kaapse sinode van die NG Kerk bygewoon. Ek het ook ten gunste van die voorstel gestem dat ons as sinode Belhar as belydenisskrif onderskryf en dat ons die Algemene Sinode versoek om die proses aan die gang te sit om dit 'n belydenisskrif van die NG Kerk te maak.


As iemand komende uit die noorde van die land (oud-Tukkie en alles), het ek destyds in die Kaap aangekom met 'n voorbehoud of Belhar werklik die toets van 'n belydenisskrif kan deurstaan.

Toe gebeur die land. En die armste van armes ly die ergste onder korrupsie, swak dienste en die inploffing van 'n regering wat hierdie mense se belang moet verteenwoordig. En ek gesels met VGK predikante en ek leer dat hulle dieselfde stryd as ons vir geregtigheid stry - want dis kleurblind. En ek bespeur by heelwat van hulle 'n stuk ontnugtering omdat hulle teen apartheid baklei het en nou van voor af moet stry vir die sake waaroor Belhar gaan.

Tydens die sinode-vergadering is gesê dat 'n belydenisskrif die sterkste getuienis is wat 'n gereformeerde kerk kan verwoord oor die konteks van die dag en hoe God daaroor sou voel. Dit val ook op dat al meer gereformeerde kerke wêreldwyd Belhar onderskryf (PCUSA, RCA, CRCNA, PKN, en nog ander), kerke wat nie ons struggle konteks ken of deel nie, maar die tydlose waarheid snap van God se mededoë oor geregtigheid en omgee vir magteloses. Belhar gee boonop vir ons 'n nuwe stem in 'n kapitalistiese wêreld van magsvergryp en ekonomiese uitbuiting. Belhar wys daarop dat die wêreldsisteem waarmee ons tans leef, die kapitalistiese verbruikerskultuur inherente foute het wat nie vanself gaan regkom nie. Arm mense is nie arm of werkloos omdat hulle lui is of te veel drink nie. Hulle is arm gebore en verdoem om daarin te leef, want daar is geen manier waarmee hulle hulself daaruit gaan vrymaak nie.

En dan help Belhar ons ook om as gelowiges by ons broers en susters wat nie kan praat nie, te staan. Dit help ons om medegelowiges wie se waardigheid weggeneem is deur hulle armoede-konteks, op te tel en namens hulle te sê God het hulle gelyk gemaak met elke ander mens. En in ons konteks is dit 'n tweesnydende swaard wat ons getuienis as gereformeerde kerk teenoor die uitbuiting van 'n integriteitlose sisteem sterker maak. Belhar is inderdaad 'n tydige belydenisskrif.

Daarom moet ons Belhar aanvaar. Ons moet met die VGK verenig. Dit help die NGK om deel te word van die oplossing vir die probleme en nood van ons land. Dit versterk ons belydenis oor die sonde van apartheid (nie omdat ons moet aanhou vergifnis vra nie, maar omdat ons inderdaad verander het). Dit gee ons 'n nuwe stem in 'n land wat radikaal anders lyk as twintig jaar gelede.

Gaga Denies Judas Video Is Blasphemous

 Lady Gaga (Picture) performing live on her Monster Ball tour at the Nassau Coliseum New York City, USA....

Lady Gaga has downplayed the religious aspects of the video for her latest single Judas, insisting she had no plans to launch an "attack" on the Christian faith.

The star revealed the promo for the second single off her Born This Way album on Thursday (05May11), and the controversial star immediately came under fire from religious groups for its imagery.The video shows Gaga as Mary Magdalene, who is embroiled in a modern-day love triangle with Jesus and his betrayer, Judas, with Christ's disciples represented by leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding Hell's Angels.But the Poker Face superstar, who was brought up Catholic, is baffled by the furore around the promo - insisting she never meant to cause offence by using the iconic imagery of her religion.She tells Mtv.com, "In my opinion, the only controversial thing about this video is that I'm wearing Christian Lacroix and Chanel in the same frame. This video is not meant to be an attack on religion. I respect and love everyone's beliefs. I'm a religious and spiritual person who's obsessed with religious art. I'm obsessed with it."

DECIDE FOR YOURSELF AND WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

Some names just won't work for you baby

10 Christian names you don't really hear

By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

 

John and Mary might be familiar names at baptisms - Nebuchadnezzar and Wilgefortis less so

The Pope says children should be given truly Christian names. But why have some saints and biblical figures inspired baby names, but not others?

Our playgrounds are blessed with a multitude of Daniels, Sarahs and Adams, but not quite so many Amminadabs, Zipporahs or Habakkuks.
The names of saints Andrew, Catherine and Frances might echo down the ages, but the phone book is not exactly bursting with Abbos, Etheidwithas and Leocritas.
But could these holy, if inexplicably unfashionable, titles be due a comeback?
In a speech, Pope Benedict XVI urged parents to name their offspring in the Christian tradition, and bequeath "an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit will allow the person to blossom in the bosom of the Church".
In doing so, the pontiff has reiterated the Catholic Church's canon law, which cautions against baptising children in a manner "foreign to Christian sensibility".
He has also surely tapped into a growing public backlash against celebrities burdening their progeny with such profane appellations as Brooklyn, Peaches and Princess Tiaamii.
Should the British public choose to follow his Holiness's advice, there are plenty of names of saints and from the Bible's Old and New Testaments from which to choose - but, for whatever reason, some have proved more enduring than others.
Here are 10 rarely-adopted names from this Judeo-Christian tradition.
1. The name of Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, later became shorthand for a fallen woman. "This is a case of a name attracting a degree of notoriety," says social psychologist Dr Martin Skinner of Warwick University. "No-one is going to give their child a name that has taken on negative associations - in this case, with a certain type of woman. To most people, this is better known than the fact that Jezebel was, in the Old Testament, like Eve, Ruth or Naomi."

King Nebuchadnezzar II

2. Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian empire. His exploits, which are recounted in the books of Daniel and Jeremiah, were praised by Saddam Hussein, to whom he was a hero. Mr Skinner believes in this case there is also the phonetic difficulty that puts people off. "It sounds very harsh with all those zeds. It's not very easy to pronounce, either."
3. Dorcas was a faithful female disciple "full of good deeds" whose death prompted much weeping, according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament. She is also known as Tabitha, a name that is much more commonly heard.
4. Saint Philemon was the recipient of an epistle from Saint Paul in the New Testament. But whereas the name Solomon, from the wise king, is often heard, Philemon rarely is.
5. Gomer was the wife of the prophet Hosea. "To Anglo Saxon ears, there's a sort of masculinity about the sound of Gomer," says Mr Skinner. "Feminine names tend to be lighter - Nicola, Pamela and so on. Men's names tend to be sharper, like John, Jack or Sid."
6. The oldest person named in the Bible, Methuselah, is said to have lived until he was 969. "If we know one thing about him, it's that he was ancient - we use the phrase 'as old as Methulselah' and so on. When you have a baby boy, you aren't going to picture him as a Methuselah. It also sounds quite Dickensian to modern ears, as do a lot of Old Testament names which were popular in the Victorian period like Ebenezer and Ezekiel."
7. Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, who offered her in marriage to Othniel in the Old Testament.
8. According to a story dating back to the 14th Century, Saint Wilgefortis took a vow of virginity when she was promised in marriage by her father. Following her prayers for help, she grew a beard and moustache.
9. Zipporah, wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, was mentioned in the Book of Exodus.
10. Radbod, or Radboud, was Bishop of Utrecht around 900 AD. "This is another Anglo Saxon-sounding name that you might expect to catch on," says Mr Skinner. "Maybe it just sounded too familiar. When you have a diversity of names, people sometimes pick sounds and concept they've never picked before. These days, this process has become a celebrity phenomenon."