Book Reviews
1/15/2004
If you have read the history of a Third World country and watched it emerge from periods of repression and conflict, you will certainly appreciate this work on South Africa. This country confronts a legacy of deep social, economic, and political division, which also has a significant racial overlay. How it deals with its past and yet embraces with hope a new world, a transformed world, is portrayed in this book.
The book provides a unique resource for those interested in the process through which parties in a divided society can work toward reconciliation. In particular, it points to the roles religious leaders can play and offers a case study of how theory can be applied to real education, often with surprising results. Perhaps the success of this book is in its honest sharing of the views of all those involved. It does not cover over in any way the struggles that still exist in South Africa. Rather it reveals very openly what some perceive as the failure to deal with the past and the weakness still present in the society. The TRC was not a perfect instrument, but, as many would say, it was a beginning. It laid a foundation for reconciliation through providing truth and a space for dialogue.
At a time when there is so much conflict and division among social, political, and religious groups, this book would serve as a valuable resource. In sharing the experience of one nation and its progress through reconciliation and renewal, it has aided other nations and, therefore, the world. For any course in the area of justice and peace, this book would be very appropriate. I would strongly recommend that this book be in the library of every college/university and school of theology. —Eileen M. Fagan
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Scientific and Medical Network, The - Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
12/21/2003
Some readers will recall my review of Desmond Tutu’s "No Future without Forgiveness" in the last issue - in it he recounted his experiences with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Here is a wider canvas with a range of voices expressed in interviews with religious leaders from different traditions and denominations. These include African Indigenous Churches, Jewish and Muslim leaders, although with a predominance of Christian leaders. A number of real issues are raised: Kevin Dowling (a Catholic) remarks that for him "the objective of the truth being revealed as a means to reconciliation was not attained" - justice was sacrificed through the amnesty process. Franz Auerbach makes a similar point from a Jewish perspective after an excellent analysis of the concept of reconciliation: "the more truth we discover, the less likely we will be able to reconcile. Exposure may well prove divisive". This is where forgiveness comes in as a necessary precursor to a new future.
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