Religion in South Africa During Apartheid

                There were many different religions going around during Apartheid in South Africa. A big influence was Christianity. “Critics of apartheid often blame Christians for its existence claiming that racial oppression in South Africa is the fruit of Christianity.” Even though Christianity was a large influence on them they had other religions come over also. Like Catholicism or the Angelican church. In some Christian churches though, they began to support racial segregation and apartheid. Racial segregation was widely accepted in church in the early 20^th century. The belief in racial segregation was increasing in acceptance with white south Africans.

                The largest domination was the Dutch Reform Church. It arrived South Africa in the 17^th century. The church gained attention as the state religion. Most of the Dutch Reformed churches share similar  beliefs as the Calvinist. They believed that God was wise, eternal, infinite, & the creator of the universe. “He has planned the life and the fate of each individual on earth; the "chosen" are saved, as long as they adhere to the church's teachings. The Bible--both the Old Testament and the New Testament--is the final authority on religious matters.”

                As the blacks began to transition to the religion, the church members discuss the question of racial segregation. Back in 1881 the Dutch Reformed Mission church made a colored church. Then in 1910, when the blacks basically made up 10% of the population of the community, “the synods established the NGK…”

                When apartheid was being questioned, the church leaders were just more committed to apartheid than the members of the church. Some Dutch Reformers were against apartheid though. An example is Reverend Beyers Naude, who actually left his whites only church (1970s) then to join a black parish. The other attempts of the other church leaders who worked to try to reduce the church’s image of being racist were often “constrained”.

                Back in the 1990s, the black South Africans made a large portion of the Christian church. Many became involved in the efforts to reverse to reverse apartheid.

                “Leaders of the Church of the Province of South Africa, the Anglican Church, spoke out in opposition to apartheid, but church members disagreed about tactics for expressing their views.” Many of the African Angelicans became leaders in the antiapartheid movement. The Methodist church (mostly black) quickly accepted the antiapartheid development. Religious alliances also came to be. The most active antiapartheid umbrella organization was The South African Council of Churches (SACC). They also offered encouragement. “Under the leadership of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the 1980s, the SACC also attempted to withhold cooperation with the state, as much as possible, in protest against apartheid.” Most of the leaders of SACC were outspoken with their political views. They made a lot of complaints to government officials and also got together a lot of peaceful protests.

                The Christian League of Southern Africa got together in support of the governments apartheid policies. They had members of the Dutch Reformed and other churches. 

• "South Africa-Religion and Apartheid." South Africa-Religion and Apartheid. N.p., n.d. Web. 
  Reverend Beyers Naude