Organisation fights to protect religious freedom in SA

Like all rights, freedom of religion is only guaranteed to the extent that it is carefully guarded.

Rights are never lost in a single day, but rather suffer “death by a thousand cuts” and there is a global trend and an ascendant ideology that is increasingly in conflict with the views and values of people who hold more traditional belief systems and world views.

It is therefore vital that people exercise their constitutional right to make their voices heard in the lawmaking process.

A case in point is the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill — aka “the Spy Bill” — where Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA) has been encouraging people to engage in the public participation process.

The opportunity to make submissions closed on February 15, by which point more than 23,300 submissions had been made, with the vast majority opposing the bill in its current form.

The main concerns were the loss of any meaningful right to privacy and the establishment of an unaccountable and invasive system of state surveillance.

FOR SA has made an in-person presentation to the ad hoc committee to reinforce the concerns of the faith community and will be following this matter closely.

The revised Marriage Bill has also been tabled in parliament and will shortly be opened for another round of public comment.

This bill will bring together the different laws that currently govern different marriage relationships in SA.

FOR SA notes that one of the biggest freedom of religion concerns has been resolved in this revised version.

There is now an express clause that fully protects the religious freedom rights of religious marriage officers, who cannot be forced to solemnise any marriage that conflicts with their conscience or the tenets of their beliefs.

This is a big relief to the faith community, though the concern remains that the same religious freedom protection has not been extended to stateemployed marriage officers.

Another big freedom of religion focus is the school governing body (SGB) elections, which take place in March.

If your child attends a public school, the most important and effective way to ensure that your (and their) values and beliefs are protected and respected is by voting and/or standing for your SGB. SGBs are the watchmen and gatekeepers of public schools, and have authority in the following key areas:

● They guide the school’s culture and climate by deciding its vision and mission, ethos and values. This includes writing policies to allow religious observances to take place;

● They approve teaching materials and policies (admission, language, religion, code of conduct etc). This prevents ideological content from being pushed into the school;

● They appoint and promote teachers, which can prevent ideological activists from pushing their views and values onto children; and ● They determine how school facilities are used. This includes renting school premises for use by religious organisations.

Parents control the governance of their child’s school because by law they must always be the majority on an SGB, and a parent must always be the chair.

The SGB elected this year will set the culture and climate of the education children will experience for the next three years.

It is very easy to get involved in the SGB elections.

Simply ask the school to make sure that your name is on the voter roll.

If you want to stand as a member of the SGB, ask the school to give you a nomination form and the details of the election process.

And even if you are not standing as a candidate, make sure you vote to support another parent who is willing to serve in this role and whose values you share.

FOR SA was founded 10 years ago as a legal advocacy group to uphold and protect human rights.

As an NPO, FOR SA is politically, faith and doctrinally neutral because the constitution guarantees this right to religious freedom to all faiths and beliefs (and to those who choose to have none at all).

They examine all the current legislation, policies, regulations and even the activities of government departments to ensure that this right is upheld, or at least not eroded.

When a threat to religious freedom is identified, they consider the applicable legal framework and present a legal position to counter it.

FOR SA then informs people to help them engage in the public participation process and make a contribution with a greater degree of insight and understanding of the issues.

For more information, go to www.forsa.org.za, follow FOR SA on Facebook at Freedom of Religion SA or visit our FOR SA YouTube channel.