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Social & Moral Issues |
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Social & Moral Issues |
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BE ENCOURAGED - PERSEVERE IN THE FACE OF A SECULAR ONSLAUGHT 14 August 2003 Dear Friends "The only reason why the Devil is so often winning, is that the Church is so seldom fighting," Peter Hammond. At the oral hearings on the zoning of Sexually Orientated Businesses (SOBs) in Cape Town, on 27 May 2003, eleven of the twelve submissions came from the Christian community, with only one dissenting voice - SWEAT (Sex Workers Education Advocacy Task Force). Although some of the Christian groups claimed to be representing constituencies of 120,000 upwards, the secular media revealed their bias as they clambered to interview SWEAT. The secular media gave a one-sided view of the proceedings, hardly commenting on the diverse inputs from the Christian community, including legal enquiries into the Constitution and other legislation such as the Film and Publications Act; international studies citing the negative harm caused by sexually orientated businesses on legitimate business (the economics of the area), safety and security, tourism, quality of life, value of property, urban blight, increase in crime, etc. Not only did the secular media, for the most part, ignore all these valuable inputs (presumably because their truth might awaken the public and thus limit the industry), but they also badly misquoted and misrepresented Errol Naidoo of His People Christian Church and Transformations Western Cape. Errol Naidoo was claimed to have said, "Banish sex industry to Karoo" and several other inflammatory comments. This got a reaction from four Karoo Dominees to this inaccurate report. Errol Naidoo complained to the Cape Times, his letter was published, but with the arrogant response of the reporter claiming in a footnote that his article did not infer Mr Naidoo wanted prostitutes banished to the Karoo, even though it was in quotation marks. The Cape Times then revealed further anti-Christian bias by printing the words: "Prostitutes are likely to find a degree of understanding and compassion from Karoo dominess which they would not get from a group of fire and brimstone Cape Town 'pastors'". Errol Naidoo then appealed to the press ombudsman for justice. Despite their defence, the Cape Times were found guilty of contravening "the press code of professional practice". Mr Naidoo argued that this inaccurate reporting reflected badly on him because of his church's active ministry to women involved in prostitution and implied a double standard on his part. The Press Ombudsman ordered The Cape Times to "retract and apologise for the innuendo in the first paragraph of the report of May 29 that Mr Naidoo lacks understanding of and compassion for prostitutes and that there is doubt as to his standing as a pastor." They did so and printed their apology on 16 July 2003. "I am glad justice was served," said Errol Naidoo, "Christians must be encouraged to speak up boldly and clearly for justice and mercy. The secular press should respect us and reflect truthfully and fairly what the Church is saying. There is only one institution given a clear mandate from God to transform our society and that is the Church. We need to "engage our culture" and see it transformed to the glory of God." The Director of Africa Christian Action, Charl van Wyk, commented, "I am glad that Errol pursued this slander all the way to the press ombudsman. His perseverance has brought about justice. We can all learn from that. However, I still think it sad that the Cape Times sought to slander Christians instead of reporting accurately on the fantastic Christian inputs. The secular bias is not going to go away easily. Perhaps someone should consider starting newspapers with a Christian worldview instead of secular humanistic one." "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11
Rob
Mc Cafferty _______________________________________________ Please read our disclaimer |
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