I don’t like that man - I must get to know him more

I was invited to attend the Cape Town Interfaith end-of-year function at the Cape Town Civic Centre on Sunday afternoon last week. Five Springfield Grade Ten pupils were participants in this programme and we are one of eighteen schools playing a role. Since the beginning of the year, our girls have joined pupils of other faiths and they have engaged together in this programme by attending camps and weekly get-togethers.

Created to embrace spiritual understanding and respect among all religions, this initiative works at enhancing an awareness of the richness of the Cape’s diverse religions. Judging by the ease and effortless lack of pretention with which this group interacted with one another, they have certainly shown us adults yet again – the second time in the last two weeks that the lesson has been brought home to me – that there is more that unites us in this country than divides us. I don’t think any South African needs to be reminded of the first occasion!

In her speech, our own Zoe Davids, 16, made this same point strongly: ‘When we respectfully engage with one another, we can see that we have more in common than we have differences.’

What a wonderful lesson to have learnt so early in life.

As I listened to proceedings, my mind kept going back to that well-known quote of Abraham Lincoln, 16^th President of the United States: ‘I don’t like that man - I must get to know him more.’

Sara Oliver, the chief facilitator, told us in her introduction how the awkwardness of their first meeting gradually dissipated over the weeks which followed. By the end of the camp, there was a cohesion and a solidarity amongst them, which obviously grew stronger as the year progressed. Listening to them all talk with such sincerity, I predict that this group will be friends for years and a beacon of hope for our country.

Zoe put it all in a nutshell when she said: ‘By teaching us to break our preconceived ideas of people, religion and society, we have had to reframe our perception of privilege by understanding that it must be used as a tool for change, a tool for good. It is our responsibility – given the privileges we have – to channel our energy in order to make a meaningful impact of our society.’

The 44^th President of the United States, Barack Obama, once urged Americans to aim for their own personal ‘North Stars’. This North Star would be a guiding light to which all should aspire and without it, mankind gives way to meaningless pursuits of irrelevant goals. Zoe Davids clearly knows her North Star as she rung forth this challenge to her audience: ‘When we truly know one another, we find that our judgments and hatred are based on false foundations.’

Wow. Is anyone listening out there?

Keith Richardson