Psalms 13 Imperialism

Improved Essays
good example of how it is important to not forget the past, but South Africa is a different society or at least it is trying to be. I had a discussion with a few of my classmates and somebody suggested that the Rhodes statue should not have been taken down, but a plaque placed on the statue. I thought that was an interesting comment and I am still wondering what happened to the statue that was taken down. I believe I read on the Mail and Guardian how there was another Cecil Rhodes statue near a government building and how it was replaced by Nelson Mandela after his death. I am not sure what the best solution is, but I am glad the college students at UCT were able to do something about the Cecil Rhodes statue because of the imperialism it represented. Pastor Shosana wants the death of white preservation, but I am wondering what that would look like. Is it realistic in the future that everyone has equal status in society? If whites lost their authority would blacks take over? I have also heard many white people talk about reverse racism. After the apartheid the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed providing a healing process, where people were able to admit their wrongdoings. Therefore, the truth of what happened was open to the public, but where is the justice in giving out immunity for people who confessed? Day 13: Cape Town In the morning we had an extensively discussion based class on the article due for class and reactions to the service yesterday at the Way of Life Church. …show more content…
I thought the psalms that were selected to discuss tied in well with the theme of justice and reconciliation. Psalms 13 when it states, “Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” This Psalms is a prayer and someone asking God for answers. There is pain and wanting guidance is something I think is natural through hardships in life. The apartheid obvious created pain and challenges for non-whites. Later on in the Psalms it describes wanting healing and finding salvation in God. In Psalms 35 says, “Fight against those who fight against me… Let ruin come on them unawares… Rescue me from their ravages.” In other words, the text is saying how a person is falsely accused. Then, the question of why God never replies or seems to answer a person’s prayer. Denise Ackermann’s article, “The Language of Lament,” ties in with well with what Psalms 13 and 35 are explaining. According to Ackermann, “It is a desire for vengeance, forgiveness, and healing that beats against the heart of God.” So, God is multifaceted like human beings, with mixed emotions and confusion, like in Psalms 13, which is looking for answers. Also when Ackermann says, “We do not need to use language that masks suffering because we imagine that God is too fragile to cope with our painful realities. Complaint and lament, assurance and praise can come from one mouth.” So, there are moments of pain and moments of joy in life and therefore, our moods change with each new moment. From a South African context the apartheid created a great deal of suffering. Now, in the post-apartheid the way people cope with the past, or present suffering is significant in their faith and how the society will turn into. Then, in the afternoon we took a long bus trip to the Cape of Good Hope. We

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Often times when we hear the word ‘service’ we think of doing something for someone other than yourself. In that moment of kindness, you may not think that your small gesture or the work you are doing for someone could have an impact on someone’s life or even the world. Throughout the text, The Work by Wes Moore, the idea of work has a much bigger meaning that states having a life that matters is important. He believes that living a life full of meaning, purpose, and service are the keys that allow you to become part of a bigger picture.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Timothy Keller Critique

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Timothy Keller does not shy away from the most difficult questions. I suppose that is why this book is written to the critic. That being said, this chapter plunges into the problem of the existence of pain in the presence of an all-good and all-powerful God. This chapter, though short, covered the thought with the help of some truly profound people. He begins by bringing up some points of horror.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Bible and the 500 Years of Conquest, written by Elsa Tamez, articulates the varying treatments of the Bible in the past centuries. The five treatments include use of the Bible for conquest, rejection of the Bible, the "popular" reading of the bible and Indigenous hermeneutics. In this first treatment, the Biblical narrative from Exodus is used to justify the conquest and genocide of non-Christians throughout history. Stating that just as the Israelites took the land of Canaan, so should the conquerors take other land, said to be theirs by the Pope. The second treatment is rejection, tells the response of the Indigenous people of South America.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How bad do you want it? A cry for justice in an unjust world. Psalm 35 Debra Sanders Clark Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? Better yet have you ever made mistakes? We all have!…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mandela Vs Mccandless

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I have chosen Nelson Mandela for my comparison to Chris Mccandless. The reason I chose this freedom rights leader is because I feel like he has a lot of similarities to Chris in many ways. They are very similar in ways that I will explain in this essay. They are both from very different places, they have different situations but they are doing something to reach greater solitude and that’s why I think they are very similar.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    When researching the monuments and historical relics in the surrounding DC area, I figured I would end up writing a reflection on the Martin Luther King memorial in the national mall… But after more thought, I opted out of that. After further review, and walking further down the National Mall, I was intrigued by the Museum of African American History and Culture. The idea of the African American Museum being established within the National Mall has been around for decades, leading all the way back to 1915.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Critical Analysis of Nelson Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son Hendry Mphakanyiswa the tembu tribe chief and South African farmer .Nelson Mandela later became the most prominent figures the leader of the fighting against apartheid. He also was the longest imprisoned member of the African nation Congress (ANC). As a result of his fighting and resisting to the white minority rules in and out of prison he was awarded Noble peace prize.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history, one can find examples of a nation trying to expand its borders and grow stronger, wealthier, and more influential, but during the High Middle Ages the Catholic Church takes on a mission to take back the Holy Land from Muslim Control. The Crusades are a special event that only occur during the High Middle Ages, and in no other era of history does one find the Catholic Church put together a military campaign to take control another land. While some historians look back upon the Crusades as a purely religious expedition, others consider them to be the conquest of new lands in order to grow in power and wealth. Imperialism within the Middle Ages can be seen as both similar to other ages in history and different because the reasoning…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the poem, the speaker is reflecting on the adversities faced in the attempt to cross over Jordan. The speaker also describes his or her lack of protection by earthly garments. One can assume that the garments mentioned in the poem symbolizes African American support in America. Perhaps the speaker is an African American reading the bible and questioning the lack of direct acknowledgement of race as a whole. In the poem the speaker concludes:…

    • 1756 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    One can only imagine what it would be like for the government to only invest around 1 dollar to African students. Apartheid was a system in South African preventing all blacks to have equivalent rights to whites. This system took place around 1960 constituted against 70 per cent of the South African population, preventing blacks to vote or were consulted about a constitutional change. The system is the complete reason blacks were striped from their rights in their own country. Apartheid was a crucial and unfair system responsible for blacks not being able to make money, have a good education, or free speech.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nonetheless, he was absent in the South African struggle for justice and human dignity, due to his captivity, Mandela emerged as a leader of this movement against apartheid (Fluker, 2009, p.165-166). Ethical motivation and resourcefulness were Mandela’s sources of energy. Fluker appreciates Mandela’s aptitude, which helped him to imprint himself and the South African vision in the memory of many, as a lesson for present-day leaders (2009, p.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gone are all the old Apartheid laws, the prohibitions and banning’s, the power to arrest anyone without giving them trial- no more inequality or suppression. There were no “whites only” signs in the communal parks, or at the beaches or any other public venues. The “legal” residential segregation has been terminated. Elections were free, schools have been enhanced and were no longer racially separated. Today we find far more blacks with university level education and professional careers than that of the Apartheid era (Saniei, 2015).…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the 1950s and 1960s, the southern United States was split into two: The whites and the blacks. Restrooms, buses, and even schools were all segregated. This piece of history is fairly well known to American citizens, as Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech still echoes through museums. However, another major figure stepped up in South Africa decades later, and won rights for his people. It was Martin Luther King Jr. fought to end it here.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Nelson Mandela Analysis

    • 1712 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 8 Works Cited

    Before he went to prison in trial to rule him of dead penalty his word to court became immortalized: “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. “It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die” (“Nelson Mandela”). Mandela stated that he only fought for the right reason for free nation for all to live and achieved and die for freedom as he told the court.…

    • 1712 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 8 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1955, before the subsequent ban on the ANC by the National Party Government, the ANC put forth the Freedom Charter as the framework for an equal, deracialized South Africa. The key attributes of the Freedom Charter was the union of all races; White, Black, colored, Indian and Asian and popular governance as a key factor in post-Apartheid society. The all-encompassing nature of the freedom charter resonated with the disadvantaged racial categories within South Africa, and provided assurance to non-black races towards a better, fairer, future. Co-signed by the colored and Indian national congresses of South Africa, the Freedom Charter expressed the ideals of those discriminated against under apartheid, and bolstered ANC support across a broad…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays