Union confronting Members in Civil  Supreme Court: Some useful expressions

by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

5 September 2009

Between September 7 and September 11 2009, the Union and Congregations of South Africa will meet each other as opponents in the Civil Supreme Court.

Race is a factor, although not a stumbling factor; wealth is relevant; spiritual shallowness and secularism (or a result of it) is a factor; personality types and psychological make-up do contribute; political ideology (neo-marxism, egalitarianism, left-libertarianism, keynesianism, liberation theology, social-gospel, prejudice, stereotypes. slogans, political jargon) do contribute as a dominating and polarizing factor.

van wyk notes biblically

1. The Bible is not favorable to let matters of religion be placed before the civil elders of Israel to decide.

2. The elders of Israel and the gate were the civil judges that tried cases and honored contracts.

3. Nowhere in the Bible do we read of religious differences been tried by the elders at the gate.

4. Hosea 4:4 states:

"Also, do not judge a man, and do not accuse a man, and your people are like those who judges a priest".

It is very evident that civil procedures for religious matters is not popular in this verse.

a. Do not accuse.

b. Do not judge.

c. It is not good to judge a pastor. This is what the verse is saying.

d. What if the pastor or pastors are tongue in the cheek aligning with the evil? God sees them and vengeance will proceed from Him. Let Him take care of it.

Some useful terms will be provided here to understand the context of the players better.

Kleptocracy

"Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from Greek klepto (theft) and kratos (rule), is a term applied to a government [religious or secular] that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials [or ecclesiastical power of church clergy] and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) [or church leaders] at the expense of the population [or members of the church], sometimes without even the pretense of honest [or spiritual] service.

In the Catholic church all lesser powers under the Supreme power of the Papacy and the Curia has to follow the rulings from above whether they agree or disagree.

In the Seventh Day Adventist church, certain matters of minor importance or minor consequence need not always the mandate from below, but some issues that directly affect the members seriously, cannot be done in isolation from their imput.

Kleptocracy in a religious sense would be when church leaders rule contrary to the wishes of members of the church ignoring their requests, requests that are not immoral, not unspiritual, not heretical and not out of step with the guidelines of the Bible, Spirit of Prophecy or the Church Manual.

Characteristics

Kleptocracies are often dictatorships or some other form of autocratic and nepotist government, or lapsed democracies that have transformed into oligarchies. A kleptocratic ruler typically treats his country's treasury as though it were his own personal bank account.

Sometimes certain boards of the Church can pose to be autocratic and transform into oligarchies (group power). They then treat the church budgets as though it was their own personal bank account. Of course, sometimes provision is made for expenses in an appropriate way following the guidelines, but Kleptocracy will be cases that fall outside the perimeters set by the church rules or laws.

Effects

The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state's economy, political affairs and civil rights.

The effects on a church and its members by a kleptocratic church leadership is also adverse. If the church leaders take on a "Robin Hood syndrome" and attempt to  take from the wealthy to give to the poor through a series of social gospel sermons, liberation theology lectures, tainted by a neo-marxistic push drive, then the Bible can become a kind of machine god that is used to fulfill selfish gain, even if it is for the poor.

Kleptocracy in government often vitiates prospects of foreign investment and drastically weakens the domestic market and cross-border trade. As the kleptocracy normally embezzles money from its citizens by misusing funds derived from tax payments, or money laundering schemes, a kleptocratically structured political system tends to degrade nearly everyone's quality of life. In addition, the money that kleptocrats steal is often taken from funds that were earmarked for public amenities, such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and the like - which has further adverse effects on the quality of life of the citizens living under a kleptocracy. The quasi-oligarchy that results from a kleptocratic elite also subverts democracy (or any other political format the state is ostensibly under)"

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocracy"

van wyk notes biblically

1. God does not want offerings from unwilling payees.

2. Hosea 6:6 states "For kindness I desired and not sacrifice, and a knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings".

3. Forcing anyone, even if it is towards the good of that person or a larger group of people or to everyone, is not the method of God.

4. Judas Iscariot was guilty of kleptocracy since he was in the functional power position, elected to be so, of the treasury of Jesus and His disciples.

a. The interesting thing is that Jesus may have known about his kleptocracy activities but we are not given insight of a admonishment in this direction.

b. Judas was treasurer and from this purse he "secretly drawn for his own use" (DA 559).

c. He had an extra bag and when he thought they are wasting money he would insist that they put it in the bag of the poor that he kept (DA 559).

d. Judas objected Mary's activity of honoring Christ and insisted loud and clear, why the money was not spent better on the poor. He tried to feed his own selfishness.

e. When the ointment would have been sold and put in his bag he would have taken of the money and it would not have reached the poor.

f. As a financier of them all, Judas thought himself of more importance than all his fellow disciples (DA 559).

g. Judas only professed to be sympathetic to the poor [lip service] and he made an artful insinuation that impressed the disciples so much that they were skeptical of Mary (DA 559-560).

h. The kleptocrat Judas suddenly had an kleptocratic oligarchy supporting him. One church-leader can bring many others into a skew pattern that is actually against the plan of God. We need to be very careful.

i. Jesus knew about this deed of Judas but He did not take him to a civil court or Roman court to be tried for theft. Why? Jesus is the Final Judge that Judge all Judges also. 

Land grabbing

A similar problem is when a government think that egalitarianism should be quantified on the basis of race geo-morphologically. Socialistic ideals are set in which they want to take land from the few and give to the many. The "Robin Hood syndrome" takes control of their operations and systematically they quantify the agricultural sector racially and then insist that racial quantification should also be enforced to represent the ethno-morphology of a region better. Merits and ability to farm is overlooked and so-called training programs are suggested but are hardly ever effective and prone to much corruption.

Zimbabwe have given the world an example of what landgrabbing amounts to. Taking farmers land without compensating them for their land or taking any private ownership away from owners without proper compensation, especially when it is forced upon the farmers or owners of land, is not seen favorable in the Bible.

The eschatological picture of the Bible portrays a period of great trouble ahead when the have nots are going to take away from the haves in great landgrabbing phenomena (see especially Habakkuk 2). It is a signal of the Time of Trouble like there never was (Daniel 12:1-2).

Civil courts will become the product of the people's evil design making hermeneutical circles of interpretation of events, thus echoeing social gospel, liberation theology, anti-colonization sentiments, neo-marxistic schemes that the people cherish to help them gain overnight, like someone who won overnight a lotto, and Daniel 12 says that when the power of the holy ones are broken, all these things will be fulfilled.

van wyk notes biblically

1. Habakkuk 2:6-7 says

"Woe to him who increases what is not his, for how long - and makes himself rich with loans, will not your creditors rise up suddenly and those who collect from you awaken?"

2. It is a risk to use loans for everything. In times of good economic circumstances, there are no problems but when the world economy fails, problems arise.

3. The Bible is against taking what is not ours. It is treated as theft.

4. A case of landgrabbing is mentioned in Amos 3:12 predicting that dwellings of the sons of Israel would be "snatched away" in Samaria.

5. God is against the Ammonites who ripped open pregnant women in Gilead in order to "enlarge their borders" (Amos 1:13).

Territorial alignment

Territorial alignment is practical and in modern times or from time to time necessary. Industrial development or other developments sometimes makes readjustment necessary. A cat that is just looking in your yard to drop her four kittens and then to take off again to the streets abandoning her kittens, is definitely not honoring territorial alignment for practical purposes.

Territorial alignment is a mutual agreement.

van wyk notes biblically

1. Galatians 2:9 speaks of the territorial assignment of Paul for the ministry away from his specialty: Rabbi Paul to the heathens and Fisherman Peter to the Rabbis of Jerusalem:

"and recognizing the grace that has been given to me, James and Cephas [Peter the fisherman] and John who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised". Practically, it seemed a very unwise thing to do but the Spirit of God led that way.

2. Paul was a pharisee and learned Torah teacher and thus the best equipped to teach Rabbis and Jews in Jerusalem but the church administration of Jerusalem sent him to the Greeks and Heathens.

3. Paul took his territorial assignment very serious and said in Romans 1:14

"I am under obligation (opheiletees) to the Greeks and also to the Heathens (Barbarois), the wise and the unlearned (anoetees)".

4. As a result of this territorial assignment or allotment by the headoffice of Jerusalem Paul said:

"Thus, according to me, I am eager also for you in Rome  to evangelize" (Romans 1:15).

Liberation theology

"Liberation theology is a school of theology within Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church. It  emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism. Its theologians consider sin the root source of poverty, the sin in question being exploitative  capitalism and class war by the rich against the poor. It has a range of meanings: broadly, especially in the  media, it may refer to any politically-activist Christian thought, but the technical sense is narrower.

Liberation Theologians use political theory, primarily Marxism, to help understand how to combat poverty. Some elements of certain liberation theologies have been rejected by leaders of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church over the last 30 years. At its inception, liberation theology was predominantly found in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. It is sometimes regarded as a form of Christian socialism, and it has enjoyed widespread influence in Latin America and among the Jesuits, although its  influence diminished within Catholicism after liberation theologians using Marxist concepts were harshly  admonished by Pope John Paul II (leading to the curtailing of its growth)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Theology

"Liberation theology is popular with the following entities, actions or events:

Black theology ; New Monasticism; Process theology ; Christian socialism; Dependency theory; Feminist theology; Marxism; Maryknoll; Spiritual left; Social gospel; Raul Prebisch; World systems theory."

van wyk notes:

1. The Bible does not support any of these ideologies.

2. Marx and others wanted to get rid of the Bible simply because it did not support their activism fitting to their ideals.

3. The Bible described many men and women with these ideals but they were considered operating outside the parameters of God's commands.

4. Civil activism, no matter how important the issue, is nowhere supported in the Bible.

5. The disciples, Judas Iscariot in special, wanted to set up a political king and had ideals of Jesus in that way, namely a political Messiah that would overthrow the Romans and set them politically free. Jesus gave no support to these ideas.

6. Jesus picked up a coin, showed the head of the coin and said to them that they need to render to the oppressor or enemy that is owed to him. Why? Because nothing happens without God knowing it. God is in control and can change the situation at His own will and time.

7. God will pay the evil with the wrath that is due to them in His own time and in His own way.

Neo-marxistic trends

Socialistic theories

Socialistic theories overlaps egalitarianism, marxism, liberation theology and other similar theories. It attempts to focus on utilizing power in all its forms to benefit so-called society. However, that definition is only defined from one corner and never represents the very essence of society. Some elements are bound to be affected negatively by such definitions. It operates with a Robin Hood syndrome of taking from the haves and give to the have nots.

van wyk notes biblically

1. The Bible does not support any form of violence, mandatory taking of someone's property to benefit another group or another individual whether in lower ranking or not.

2. The early church of the book of Acts did not coerce anyone in giving up their ownerships and share everything in egalitarianistic manner.

3. The Bible is clear, as we have shown from Hosea above, that if the offerings are not willingly, God does not want it.

4. Someone who is donating to the church without God as goal in his or her life, is not fulfilling the biblical  demands for gifts.  

Egalitarianism

"Egalitarianism (derived from the French word ?al, meaning "equal") has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights, or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people. Throughout history, people have been divided into an upper class and a working class (in Ancient Rome, the respective terms were patricians and plebeians); the rise of a third estate or middle class led philosophers to question the assumption that class divisions were natural and necessary. Egalitarianism asserts that all people are of equal value and should be treated the same irrespective of their birth."

Christian egalitarianism

"The Christian egalitarian view holds that the Bible teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all racial and ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all age groups, based on the teachings and example of Jesus Christ and the overarching principles of scripture."

Political egalitarianism

"The framers of various modern governments made references to the Enlightenment principles of egalitarianism, "inalienable rights endowed by their Creator," in the moral principles by which they lived, and which formed the basis for their legacy."

Broadly egalitarian philosophies

"At a cultural level, egalitarian theories have developed in sophistication and acceptance during the past two hundred years. Among the notable broadly egalitarian philosophies are Socialism, Communism, Anarchism, Left-Libertarianism, Progressivism, and Human Rights, which promote economic, political, and legal egalitarianism, respectively. Several egalitarian ideas enjoy wide support among intellectuals and in the general populations of many countries. Whether any of these ideas have been significantly implemented in practice, however, remains a controversial question. For instance, some argue that modern representative democracy is a realization of political egalitarianism, while others believe that, in reality, most political power still resides in the hands of a ruling class, rather than in the hands of the people."

Criticism and support

"A society that meets the meritocratic goal of equal opportunity might still be a harsh environment for those who lack the physical or mental capabilities to compete. It has been argued that policies that go beyond the meritocratic ideals are ineffective. Political correctness has been criticised for establishing a "petty word" society.

Various other anti-egalitarian views have been brought forward, among others in the discussion on the distribution of income. To the contrary, John Rawls has argued that the welfare of a society depends on the welfare of the worst-off individual because society is better off if one improves the welfare of others." Common jargon used by supporters of egalitarianism are:

"All men are created equal"; Asset-based egalitarianism; Basic income; Deep ecology; Discrimination; Equality of outcome; Equal opportunity; Gender equality; Gift economy; Harrison Bergeron; Inequity aversion; Jock Tamson's Bairns; Liberalism; Libert? ?alit? fraternit? Reciprocal altruism; Redistributive justice; Social equality; Socialism.

Meritocracy

"Meritocracy is a system of a government or other organization wherein appointments are made and  responsibilities assigned based on demonstrated talent and ability (merit) rather than by wealth  (plutocracy), family connections (nepotism), class (oligarchy), friendship (cronyism), seniority  (gerontocracy), popularity (democracy) or other historical determinants of social position and political  power. In a meritocracy, society rewards (by wealth, position, and social status) those who show talent and  competence as demonstrated by past actions or by competition."

Technocracy

"Technocracy is a form of meritocracy, whereby appointments for positions are made based on  demonstrated technical expertise."

Criticism of meritocracy

"The Peter principle, "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence" notes  that meritocracy promotes individuals based on the ability to perform their prior assignment, not the new  assignment.

The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (1988, p. 521) presents the following uncharming definition:

A word coined by Michael Young (The Rise of Meritocracy, 1958) for government by those regarded as  possessing merit; merit is equated with intelligence-plus-effort, its possessors are identified at an early  age and selected for an appropriate intensive education, and there is an obsession with quantification,  test-scoring, and qualifications. Egalitarians often apply the word to any elitist system of education or  government, without necessarily attributing to it the particularly grisly features or ultimately self-destroying  character of Young's apocalyptic vision."

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s6818.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy

van wyk notes:

It is true that Amartya Sen criticized meritocracy as a fluid idea since we cannot exactly define what merit  is (see Amartya Sen, "Merit and Justice"

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s6818.html). However, merit has at least this pragmatic meaning when one select the opposition or enemy to define  merit. If China think it is meritorious then one should really ask her enemies and opposing powers whether  they agree. That would be a better picture of merit. When positive appears from the negative source, that  is merit.

In group bias

"In-group bias is the preferential treatment people give to those whom they perceive to be members of their  own groups."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroup_bias

"Analyses of how coveted central-government resources in Africa are shared have shown widespread  patronage, ethnic cronyism..."     (Afua Branoah Banful,  'Do institutions limit clientelism?'  2009http://www.ifpri.org/publication/do-institutions-limit-clientelism)

Mandate

"Mandate (international law), an obligation handed down by an inter-governmental body

Mandate (criminal law), an official or authoritative command; an order or injunction

Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate

van wyk defines mandate:

Mandate (ecclessiastical law), depending on the nature of the church, catholic, episcopalean or  congregational the power will be derived from different sources:

a. catholic and episcopalian is an instruction or obligation handed down

b. congregational is an instruction or obligation set forth by the members to the clergy

Episcopalian vs. congregational  organizational style

van wyk notes:

1. In the Seventh Day Adventist overall administrative structure there is a tendency to move away from the episcopalian organizational style.

2. The popular view is that the Seventh Day Adventist style is more of a congregational style.

3. One actually wonders if it is not a hybrid of both? For trivial matters that will not affect the local church seriously the style is episcopalian for example the design of the Sabbath School books are not submitted for approval to the congregations.

4. On the other hand, all actions that affect the local congregations radically in any aspects, calls for a mutual discussion and mutual agreement or consensus before any action. However, the churchboard who is elected to represent the people may sometimes decide on issues trivial that is not necessary to consult the broader congregation (painting of the toilets for example).

top-down system vs broader-narrow system

van wyk notes:

1. The Seventh Day Adventist organizational system is by nature not a top-down system like the papacy or Islam.

2. It is not a case that the higher up the larger the powers will be.

3. It is rather a broader-narrow system so that the powers are all equal but they operate in a larger zone or narrow zone.

4. Because one is not above the other, mutual discussion on serious cases is a matter of mutual consideration.

Keynesianism

"Since 2007 with financial crisis (Obama's paradigm)

Keynesian economics (also called Keynesianism and Keynesian Theory) is a macroeconomic theory based on the ideas of 20th-century British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and therefore advocates active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle." The theories forming the basis of Keynesian economics were first presented in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936; the interpretations of Keynes are contentious, and several schools of thought claim his legacy.

Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy—predominantly private sector, but with a large role of government and public sector—and served as the economic model during the latter part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war Golden Age of Capitalism, 1945–1970, though it lost some influence following the stagflation of the 1970s. As a middle way between laissez-faire capitalism and socialism, it has been and continues to be attacked from both the right and the left.

The advent of the global financial crisis in 2007 has caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought. Keynesian economics has provided the theoretical underpinning for the plans of President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other global leaders to rescue the world economy

(see Chris Giles in London, Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt and Krishna Guha in Washington. "The undeniable shift to Keynes". The Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4cf37f4-d611-11dd-a9cc-000077b07658.html. Retrieved 2009-01-23). 

There is one who scatters yet increases all the more

and there is one who withholds what is justly due

but it results only in want (poverty).

The generous man will be made fat

and he who waters shall himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:24–25

Stereotypes

In all societies people develop stereotypes. Stories, anecdotes, newspapers all help to create stereotypes. The problem with stereotypes is that humans and societies are fluid and developing. What may hold true five years ago, may not be true as far as stereotypes are concerned today.

Stereotypes gives rise to jokes so that your Koos van der Merwe jokes are self-incriminating jokes the Afrikaner has about himself and his culture and his stereotypes. Stereotypes serves a survival role for people who has an inner anxiety. Giggling over the stupidity of Koos they compare themselves and feel better amid some inner conflict in their own contexts.

Prejudice

Prejudice is the result of an imperfect world. Sometimes a bad experience or anecdote create a prejudice which is a barrier for people to attempt communicating across a divide. As strange as it may sound, God actually invented or placed prejudices in people's make-up to separate them from each other for if all were like machines thinking and liking alike, the same problem that was in the days of Noah before the Flood will repeat itself. Secular prejudice is thus God's way of  keeping a world distant from each other. However, from a religious point of few, the biblical view, prejudice should be set aside since in Christ all are one.  Christians are permitted under the banner of the Cross only, to integrate and in fact it is necessary for proper evangelism. There is no such thing as Christian separatism in the Bible. All Christians will agree on this. Those involved in Evangelism deal with the non-Christians who are sometimes integrated for selfish purposes, humanistic enterprises, networks of power-play, pluralistic lifestyles who uses liberation theology, social gospel and other humanistic structures to promote their own selfish gains. On the other hand, other non-religious people are separatists also for self-gain. They prefer to be left alone to their own culture, language and race. Why? Newspaper reports of violence, anecdotes, stories all contribute to these prejudices. Prejudices is a wide topic that may include barriers between haves and have-nots even within the same race. While some integrate easily they still harbor prejudice between wealthy and poor. While some are fully pluralistic they still have prejudice against anyone who falls in these categories. There are people who are integrated, pluralistic, ecumenical but they hate the police of their own race or the government or the tax-collector. Events, anecdotes, stories create prejudices and repeated events, repeated stories and repeated anecdotes create stereotypes which is channelled and kept alive through jokes.

Nepotism

"Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives, without regard to their merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos (meaning "nephew" or "grandchild")."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepotism

Ethnic nepotism

"Ethnic nepotism describes a human tendency for in-group bias or in-group favouritism applied on the  ethnic level. It was coined by sociologist Pierre L. van den Berghe in response to Belgian oppression of  Africans he witnessed as a Congolese-born European in the Belgian Congo. The theory of ethnic  nepotism developed by van den Berghe views ethnocentrism and racism as nepotism toward extended  kin, real or fictive, and products of kin selection. The concept has been applied and extended by figures  such as Tatu Vanhanen and Frank Salter."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_nepotism

"Tatu Vanhanen (born 1929) is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Tampere,  Tampere, Finland. Vanhanen is a co-author of IQ and the Wealth of Nations (2002), IQ and Global  Inequality (2006), and author of Ethnic Conflicts Explained by Ethnic Nepotism (1999) and many other  works. His son, Matti Vanhanen, is the Prime Minister of Finland. From 2002 to 2004, he was investigated  for incitement to racial hatred by the National Bureau of Investigations. An interview he had given with a  magazine, in which he contended that whites and Asians were more intelligent than blacks for evolutionary  reasons and should therefore be given many of the top political and financial positions in Africa, had  apparently been the object of complaint by Finland's Ombudsman for Minorities Mikko Puumalainen, who  said he feared the former professor's remarks would boost racism. "Whereas the average IQ of Finns is  97, in Africa it is between 60 and 70. Differences in intelligence are the most significant factor in  explaining poverty," Vanhanen had said."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatu_Vanhanen

Cronyism

"Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority,  regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy.  Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is  inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints  individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer.

It is not unusual for a politician to surround him- or herself with highly-qualified subordinates, and to  develop social, business, or political friendships leading to the appointment to office of friends, likewise in  granting government contracts. In fact, the counsel of such friends is why the officeholder successfully  obtained his or her powerful position — therefore, cronyism usually is easier to perceive than to  demonstrate and prove."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism

Crony capitalism

"This is termed crony capitalism, and is an ethical breach of the principles of the market economy; in  advanced societies, crony capitalism is a breach of market regulations, e.g. the Enron fraud is an extreme  example of crony capitalism.

Given crony capitalism's nature, these dishonest business practices are frequently (yet not exclusively)  found in societies with ineffective legal systems. Resultantly, there is an impetus upon the legislative  branch of a government to ensure enforcement of the legal code capable of addressing and redressing  private party manipulation of the economy by the involved businessmen and their government cronies.

The economic and social costs of cronyism are paid by society. Those costs are in the form of reduced  business opportunity for the majority of the population, reduced competition in the market place, inflated  consumer goods prices, decreased economic performance, inefficient business investment cycles,  reduced motivation in affected organizations, and the diminution of economically productive activity. A  practical cost of cronyism manifests in the poor workmanship of public and private community projects.  Cronyism is self-perpetuating; cronyism then begets a culture of cronyism. This can only be apprehended  by a comprehensive, effective, and enforced legal code, with empowered government agencies which can  effect prosecutions in the courts."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism

pragmatism guided by reliance on humanistic systems rather than on spiritual norms

van wyk notes:

1. When Adventists take each other to a civil court of law, they are relying on humanistic systems rather than on spiritual norms.

2. The Bible is not in favor of us relying on any humanistic norm, no matter how sober they may sound.

3. Normally in spiritual context any meeting is opened with a prayer, not as a matter of habit but in the very essence of decisions to be made, the Holy Spirit are asked to be present throughout.

4. The question is whether spiritual parties taking each other to courts will ask the judge to close his eyes quickly so that they can pray the Holy Spirit will be present to guide the events and also the judge? If the answer is negative, then they do not belong there.

In thoughts biblical but in actions secular

van wyk notes:

1. If we are good Bible readers but our actions are very secular we do not follow the precepts of the Bible.

2. The Bible does not support a situation that we can think very holy ideas on Sabbath but live a secular life during the week.

3. The book of James in the New Testament for example  talks about words and actions that need to correlate.

Consensus

"Consensus in the English language is defined firstly as unanimous or general agreement; and secondly  group solidarity of belief or sentiment.

Ideally, achieving consensus requires serious treatment of every group member's considered opinion.  Those who wish to take up some action want to hear those who oppose it, because they count on the fact  that the ensuing debate will improve the consensus. Action without resolution of considered opposition will  be rare and done with attention to minimize damage to relationships.

Consensus usually involves collaboration, rather than compromise. Instead of one opinion being adopted  by a plurality, stakeholders are brought together (often with facilitation) until a convergent decision is  developed. If this is done in a purely mechanical way it can result in simple trading—we'll sacrifice this if  you'll sacrifice that. Genuine consensus typically requires more focus on developing the relationships  among stakeholders, so that they work together to achieve agreements based on willing consent".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus

Tribalism

Tribalism is one of the biggest problems in Africa since it is a stumbling block to creativity of its youth. The geronti and older generation has all the power and even if a young person has a good idea, it will be suppressed to give sway to the older opinion and rules. The Chief has the greatest say and power and has autocratic overtones in decision-making. The Cultural Romantic will approach the subject with a respect for the concept of tribalism but a Cultural Revisionist has to admit that shortcomings must be addressed and trees have to be pruned.

Poligamy

The openness to have more than one wife is a big problem to the psychology of a leader engaged in it. Because he is use to swindling his ways around jealousy of one wife to another and trying to be kind to all, he is particular to none and relationships are very artificial and on the surface. This ontology affects his epistemology and his political praxis reflects this swindling "short-cut" style of operation. He appears to satisfy all but fall short of satisfying any one.

Slogans

There are slogans that are like wearing old shoes. They are of yester-year but the old shoes are still conveniently put on when needed.

Superstition

Superstition still plays a large part in the minds of people. Sangomas and fortune-tellers are still operating in the society. Sometimes politicians wants to bring ecumenism in to the point of mixing religion and superstition, Protestants, Catholics, Sangomas, Fortune-tellers to bring their prayers together [hoping probably that one of the 'gods' will help the government, whichever one is the strongest?].

Racial nepotism

Racial nepotism is the attitude that only whites or only blacks should be used for a certain function or certain position in society, company, religious organization and other areas.

Mandatory quantification of ethnic morphology

Sometimes governments come up with an artificial construct that tries to mathematize equality in a forced manner and insist that all institutions, organizations, companies must have the ratio of races represented that makes up the ethnic morphology of the country. Merits are sacrificed for creating an artificial elite that become overnight high-ranking individuals. Whether they have the ability precisely for the function, is not important. The negative effect is the role it plays on clients. Image of a company in global affairs is part of the success of the company and instead of demonstrating themselves on an international level to be competent interactors, the quick elitism suffers sometimes from effectively gaining confidence and support from highly professional and competent overseas players. To give one example, the black i-report for CNN anchor is not placed in that position by mandatory quantification of ethnic morphology, but because he is very able in what he is doing. Instead of insisting that more of a certain race should be in the top positions, it is better to insists that more of a certain race group should be "groomed" or trained in future to be able to take up the position, provided any other race is not on merits better. They are thus shadows in those circles until they can prove themselves to be able. 

Capitalism

There are many kinds of capitalism. One often heard slogans in marxistic and socialistic manner decrying capitalism but the very same marxistic and socialistic countries are involved in some form of capitalism listed below.

Anarcho-capitalism

Consumer capitalism

Corporate capitalism

Creative capitalism

Crony capitalism

This is a case of gathering wealth for only me and my close friends.

Democratic capitalism

Eco-capitalism

Finance capitalism

Global capitalism

Humanistic capitalism

Inclusive capitalism

Late capitalism

Laissez-faire capitalism

Liberal capitalism

Merchant capitalism

Mixed economy

Monopoly capitalism

Neo-Capitalism

Philanthrocapitalism

Technocapitalism

Factories even in a communistic state or marxistic state follows this kind of capitalism otherwise they cannot continue.

Regulatory capitalism

China has a strong regulatory capitalism.

Rentier capitalism

Social capitalism

Social market economy

State capitalism

In most countries the state is involved in capitalism since it is the only way a country can survive globally.

State monopoly capitalism

A state monopoly capitalism is where the state claim that they have monopoly over all capital enterprises, products etc.

Welfare capitalism

van wyk notes:

1. The Bible ask us not to worship mammon.

2. Wealth should not be our target in life as Christians.

3. Money, according to the Bible has no lasting benefits.

4. When money and meaning are placed before us, as Christians meaning is of greater value.

5. It is better to gain the kingdom of God than to gain wealth and fame on this world.

Conclusions

Any multi-national, multi-racial society has friction on a secular level. Christians work hard to reduce or cancel any friction. Christians who abide by the Word of God is daily baptized by the Spirit of God and this helps them to come up with the attitude and spirit of accommodation. One needs to be very creative to step forward with positive solutions for friction rather than evasive and negative about it. Walking away from problems does not solve them one needs to walk to them and pray that God will lead one to keep to the Christian ideals as set forth in the book of Galatians as the fruits of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul in the book of Corinthians asks us to minister to a culture in their language and not try to sidestep their language context with all kinds of secondary motifs. When a person speaks to people in their own language, the speaker can address them on needs of a deeper sub-conscious level that a second-language speaker cannot. This prevents the message transfer to be only superficial and artificial. If a second-language speaker only wants to speak to get his gas-money or salary then he is not called for the ministry. Maybe some churches in future will have to be built in a V shape to accommodate differences in language and culture from one pulpit situation in the location  near the bottom of the V.

Dear God

You make me understand that if I am white and another is black, I owe him the same respect that I owe myself and those near me. Help me to accommodate the other than myself without shrinking from my Christian duties or Christian character as outlined in the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. Amen