Anthony Egan SJ's blog

I still think that the money spent on building new stadia was a waste of public resources, even though – in fairness – the public works programme that it created some jobs at a time when the world economy went through a crisis. FIFA and their friends in South Africa have certainly made a fortune even if some of this has ‘trickled down’ to the poor guys who sell flags at stop lights.

Fundamentalists of all kinds (religious and secular) suffer from the curse of certainty – whether in Science or Scriptures, Pastor or Physicist. Having the Truth (capital intended) means those who don’t share this are ‘lost’. The false consolation of always being right has horrible side effects for the rest of us: rigid dogmatism, religious intolerance (particularly if they hold power) and, at the very least, a lack of a sense of humour.

The root of this problem, Calvin Mercer (a Biblical scholar and psychologist) tell us, is a deep sense of insecurity and a feeling of powerlessness in the world.

Should God have a role in public morality? The Jesuit Institute and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) co-hosted a panel discussion in the grand setting of the Council Chamber at UJ on 26th May 2010.  Four distinguished panellists discussed the role that religion should play in the national debate on morality recently proposed by President Jacob Zuma.

The relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux are coming to South Africa in June. If other countries are anything to go by, they will attract thousands of visitors, from devotees of the Little Flower to bemused, perhaps even sceptical, onlookers. Similarly, the remains of Australopithecus Sediba – or ‘the Boy’, as the staff of the Origins Centre at Wits University call him with affection – are the subject of visits by the curious, research and debate by the scientists, reports and articles by journalists, and fascination by the rest of us.

Why are we drawn to looking at bones, whether of saints or ancient hominids?

On Workers’ Day, many of us with a sense of history and justice remember with respect those in the trade union movement worldwide who have struggled for ‘just wages’, better working conditions and – in places like South Africa – for political rights for those not born into the ‘right’ (i.e. upper) social class or with the ‘right’ (male) gender or (white) skin colour. At least since the Papal encyclical Rerum Novarum [Of New Things] in 1891, the Church has been commendably on the side of these good causes.

But what is the meaning of labour today? In many ways we are left in a state of confusion in an age where globalization and a whole new attitude to work has shifted what many of us consider both normal and morally just. In his last encyclical, Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict implicitly accepted that change has happened: he acknowledges that today both partners in a family have to work. The notion of a ‘family wage’ earned by the husband is past.

The Jesuit Institute and the Origins Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand are working in partnership on a project to help children in Catholic schools to see how evolution fits within Christian Doctrine.

Father Anthony Egan SJ will present a talk to learners on ‘Evolutionary Faith’ and explain the Catholic Church’s response to evolution. Dr. Merrill van der Walt will present a talk to learners on Evolutionary Theory covering myths, inaccuracies, founding figures and mechanisms.

The August sessions are aimed at Grades 10 - 12 and will be held on 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 or 13 August 2010 from 9.30 to 12.30 at The Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand. If you know of learners of this age, please do encourage their schools to book in for the programme.

Bookings can be made on 011 717 4707/8 at the Origins Centre. The cost of R30 per learner includes free entry into the museum.

In a whirlwind God finally answers Job’s persistent question: Why do the innocent suffer? The Book of Job, that great work of the Old Testament, rejects all the ‘easy’ answers often trotted out to explain suffering. No, we do not suffer because we are sinners deserving divine punishment, because we have broken divine laws (perhaps laws of which we may even be unaware). We suffer because…we suffer.

There are three Presidential candidates. Candidate A is a non-smoking, non-drinking vegetarian. Candidate B is a heavy smoking, borderline alcoholic with suicidal depressive tendencies. Candidate C is an adulterous chain-smoker (who also likes the odd glass or three). How will you good people vote?

Do you remember February 2nd to the 11th 1990, that ‘long week’ that shook the world, beginning with the unbanning of the African National Congress and other political movements and culminating with Nelson Mandela’s release from Pollsmoor Prison?

I remember a discussion with colleagues in the Religious Studies Department at University of Cape Town the week before February 2nd. Some of us intended to be at the demonstration planned outside Parliament that day. Suddenly, quietly, one of the professors said, “I have a feeling [then President F W] De Klerk is going to surprise us. I think he’ll unban the ANC and release Mandela next week.”