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I am a white, Afrikaans man of irrelevant religious persuasion and I am ashamed to belong to the same cultural group as the majority of the objectors to the Valhalla masjid. I have the privilege to stay in Buccleuch, Johannesburg surrounded by people of different religions and cultures – and what a fantastic, eye-opening experience it has been!
Shortly after moving in, I became aware that we were also facing a “Mosque-situation” where a very vocal group of people where vehemently against the construction of a masjid in the area – to the extent that it ended up in High Court. Their objections? The “noise” and “disruption” of the adhaan, parking & traffic…. Sound familiar?
Another striking similarity is the lack of engagement prior to complaints – in the case of the Buccleuch masjid the call to prayer & parking were also being internally addressed by the Muslim community – even before complaints were coming in they were already aware of potential issues & working on solutions.
So the Masjid went ahead and has been operational for about 2 months now – no adhaan to be heard, no ISIS infiltration, no parking or traffic issues – just groups of friendly people congregating to honour their god in peace.
The level of disinterest, ignorance and intolerance shown by objectors from Valhalla in their placards and their comments to the media and on social media makes me ashamed to be Afrikaans – no, it makes me ashamed to be a human being – if that is the level of intolerance that we embody when things do not go “our way”.
Unfortunately, because it seems to be predominantly white, Afrikaans people objecting it further perpetuates the Afrikaans = racist stereotype, which plays beautifully into the hands of some people who have it as their primary motive to segregate South Africans on race for political gain. It’s not a race-thing, it’s an ignorance-thing, and those are not the same!
Live and let live, not only for the sake of your own conscience, but also for the sake of nation-building, decency, humanity and tolerance.
