Professor Thomas Bennett is Professor of Law at the University of Cape Town, and currently lectures in Conflict of Laws, Principles of Public International Law, and International Law on the Regulation of Disputes. He is a consultant and advisor on matters of human rights, customary law and international law to various NGOs and has written extensively on customary law.

Traditional African Religions in South African Law

By T. W. Bennett

Juta and Company Ltd

Copyright © 2011 UCT Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-919895-38-3

Contents

Biographic details,
Abbreviations,
Introduction,
1 A Case of Relevance, Resilience and Pragmatism N M Nyaundi,
2 The Practice of African Traditional Religion in Contemporary South Africa Sibusiso Masondo,
3 Religion vs Culture: Striking the Right Balance in the Context of African Traditional Religions in the New South Africa Jewel Amoah,
4 Umkhosi Ukweshwama: Revival of a Zulu Festival in Celebration of the Universe’s Rites of Passage Christa Rautenbach,
5 The Constitutional Framework for the Protection of Religious and Related Rights in South Africa Lourens du Plessis,
6 Recognition of African Initiated Churches for State Purposes: Doctrinal Opposition or Procedurally Correct? Willemien du Plessis,
7 Superstition and Religious Belief: A ‘Cultural’ Defence in South African Criminal Law? Kelly Phelps,
8 Witchcraft and the Constitution Nelson Tebbe in South Africa Michael Eastman,
10 Towards Harmony Between African Traditional Religion and Environmental Law Loretta Feris & Charles Moitui Tom Bennett & James Patrick,
Table of cases,
Table of Statutes,
Bibliography,

CHAPTER 1

African Traditional Religion in Pluralistic Africa: A Case of Relevance, Resilience and Pragmatism

N M Nyaundi

Thoughts about religion

Religion is as universal as language, and, in one form or another, is found in all human societies. Indeed, because of its universality, it is one of the most examined social activities. In this chapter I show that religion is relevant, resilient and pragmatic, and I argue that this view applies to all religions.

The concept of ‘religion’ is notoriously difficult to define. Disagreements about its meaning often begin with a debate about the etymology of the term, as the original word may give a clue as to how ‘religion’ is to be understood. In this regard, scholars differ as to whether it is the Greek – theosbeia (reverence for God) – or the Latin – religare (to bind together) – that best conveys the connotations.

Although definitions continue to proliferate, no single attempt can be considered conclusive or sufficient. One reason for this failure is that scholars have emphasised in their definitions the aspects of religion relevant to their discipline. Another reason is the problem of capturing the essence of a complex subject in a definition that is expected to be no more than a few lines long.

Definitions concentrating on the relationship between religion and society have been particularly numerous, among them: religion is no more than an ‘opium of the people’ (Karl Marx); religion is the ‘feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude’ (William James); religion is ‘a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things’ (Emile Durkheim); and religion is the ‘universal obsessional neurosis of mankind’ (Sigmund Freud). Contemporary American sociologists Charles Y Glock and Rodney Stark consider religion to be ‘one variety of value orientations, those institutionalized systems of beliefs, symbols, values, and practices that provide groups of men with solutions to their questions of ultimate meaning’ .

The multidimensional nature of religion is apparent in the fact that what is religion to one person is not religion to another. Where one believer reveres the Holy Bible, another looks to the Bhagavad Gita; when a thi