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Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa (an event accompanied by the implementation of a democratic constitution that declared the country to be a secular state),1 there has been statements that presuppose that religion has nothing to do with society - and, most especially, nothing to do with the political component of society. By way of background to the preceding statement, South Africa has a history of religious manoeuvring and slander. As part of this history, Christianity was applied in a way that would justify, legitimise and ordain the policies of apartheid. For the purposes of this specific presentation, however, I want to argue that the action of not mixing religion and society (politics) was influenced by the interpretation that religion (specifically African religion) could not be aligned with the "newly discovered" way of life that Christianity brought with it. In other words, Christianity represented a European way of living and of interpreting society - these behaviours were prescribed by the missionaries and labelled as "civilisation". Tutu (quoted in Mofokeng 1988:35) argues this point stating that:

"To tell the truth, Moruti, ngwan'ake, the missionaries have not taught us nothing new about God and his working with man and the world". This was the reply of an old Motswana woman to my question after a long discussion concerning Tswana herbs which she used to cure children's illnesses. The question I had asked was: "What do you see as unique in what the missionaries have brought to us?", all the time my purpose and aim being to assess Tswana Christianity today. "All they have taught us; the only thing they have introduced to us", she added, after a slight pause, caused perhaps by her realisation of my astonishment at her first statement, "is tlhabologo" (civilisation, meaning in fact, material progress in the style of the West). This old lady was a full member of the Methodist Church in that Southern Botswana town. She was well-renowned for her zeal in the faith and her witness to the saviourhood of God through Jesus Christ, to which she was known as a powerful witness in evangelical campaigns and Easter rallies. But she secretly practiced as a herbalist, specialising in the treatment of Children's and infants' illnesses. "Secretly" is not quite right: in fact, it was a secret only to the local minister, who was a young man and a stickler for the "Methodist Laws and Discipline", and who would have dragged her before the Church courts to strip her of her membership. She prized her membership. She was also a class leader and a committee member of the Methodist Women's Prayer and Service Union (Manyano). At first she had withheld against me, suspecting that I was a "spy" from the Church officialdom. Now that she was relaxed and able to call me "ngwan'ake" (my child), even though she still respectfully called me "Moruti" (minister, padre) she could even sadly express her disgust at the short-sightedness of the Church officialdom which was not able to see that this now "secret" activity of hers was, in fact, a form of prayer life for her and the fulfilment of her Christian commitment. For, like the other dingaka (medical practitioners) I had met before her, she understood her knowledge of healing and its successful practice was a "gift of God", and not just an acquired skill or wisdom (Setiloane, nd:28).

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According to Mokgethi and Motlhabi (2001:80), worldview is "one main point of reference for all our lives, providing a perspective to all our existence and our deeds". Thus, a worldview is an everyday, ordinary-language description of the world. It shapes and guides our lives, helps us to understand, explain and explore the world around us and everything in it and it shows us how these are all related to each other by giving us a way in which we can see them. Furthermore, it shapes how we think and act at every moment. If one's worldview includes a belief in the sovereign God, then one will be more inclined to seek and to obey the will of that God than to follow one's own intuition. One's worldview tells one what is real, what is important, what is right, and what is wrong. Thus, those with a religious worldview might live according to a much higher moral standard than those without such a worldview. Charles Kammer's (1998:20) argument clarifies the preceding statement when he states that we obviously:

The conversation between Setiloane and Mmemogolo exposed the African worldview that religion cannot be understood outside of the society in which it is practised. This is typically African - in the African's worldview, religion cannot be divorced from society and there is thus no space for a "war of worldviews". The physical world is not the opening point or concluding objective but just a provisional existence. The real home is the spirit world, which souls periodically step out of to come to earth. Life is visible yet all too often invisible. It is physical yet profoundly spiritual. Eventually our prime abode is not here but in the spiritual realm. As I have indicated, the African worldview imposes a high extent of communication involving the spiritual and physical world. Communication between the different worlds is regular. The physical calls upon the spiritual through invocations, sacrifices, prayers and the aid of witchdoctors just as the spiritual calls upon the physical through signs, dreams, visions and witchdoctors. Some of the spirits are good and some are bad, just as some people are good and some are bad. In everything - accord must be maintained. Accord must be maintained with the spirits. It must be maintained within family units. It must be maintained within tribes. Everyone must be responsible in this; nothing is more important than honour. There is nothing worse than seeing family or spirits dishonoured. In this solidarity with one another is incredibly important. Ellis and Te Haar (1998:177) expose this when they argue:

The African worldview has a strong influence and shaping power on the African in that it unifies his or her thoughts and life. It exists at the foundational level of culture and at the core of the same cultural expressions. This means that it permeates everything that a people think and do by redefining reality, truth and values. Based on this conclusion, it becomes evident that society in Africa cannot be fully understood without reference to the religious ideas that serve as the basis for the African worldview, even though "... many reviewers and other readers choose to describe such ideas as manifesttations of 'superstition' or 'the occult'" (Ellis & Ter Haar 2007:386). In addition, failure to take a worldview into consideration leads to a failure to understand that a worldview bridges the gap between the objective reality outside people's heads and the culturally agreed-upon perception of that reality inside their heads. It is for this reason, then, that we need to take the advice of Ellis and Ter Haar (2007:386-387) that: "We argue for a different point of departure. In order to understand the relationship between religion and politics [society] in Africa, we suggest, it is more fruitful to take Africans' own views of reality as a starting point. Generally speaking, these include both material and immaterial realms".

No one can dispute that religious expression and influence in public life is diminishing. Steve Hayes (2012:1) exposes this arguing: "Religion is in decline, according to a global survey. The study found only 59 per cent of the world's population identify themselves as religious. The study found 13 per cent identified as atheist, with a further 23 per cent as 'not religious'." Religion is becoming more privatised,2 compartmentalised, and separated from the real world. Religion in general, but mostly African-religion,3 has been boxed as uncivilised, outdated, and irrelevant. The South African government, politicians, and courts have become increasingly hostile towards religious convictions and expression in public places. Public prayer is forbidden in public institutions like schools. Freedom of religion has become freedom from religion. Separation of religion and state has become separation of God and society. And then people are surprised by the day to day corruption, especially of our politicians and public officials4. In his farewell address to the people of the United States of America, President George Washington stated: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports and great pillars of human happiness. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."5 For this explication it will be important to understand society in dialectical terms (Dialectics as a method of thinking and interpreting the world of both morality and religion) because it is a human product, and nothing but a human product, that yet continuously acts back upon its producer. It has no other being except that which is bestowed upon it by human activity and consciousness. Yet it may also be stated that human beings are a product of their society. It is within a society, and as a result of social processes, that the individual becomes a person, that he or she attains and holds onto an identity, and that he or she carries out the various projects that constitute his or her life. Human beings together shape tools, invent language, adhere to values, devise institutions, and so on.

The failure to not approach God or ancestors directly and present their case, it becomes difficult for them to break ties with the system. Those who seek to make it on their own without this established hierarchy do not have a chance. In addition, not remaining in the system is seen as the highest immorality. It is for this reason that:

As I have indicated, an immoral act produces evil as its consequence6. Death in the spiritual life is synonymous with material poverty. Past and present, good and bad - as well as emotion and reason - are all part of a whole reality, "The main point here is that the African's 'world' of witchcraft (I use this word without the derogatory sense it often carries in the literature of Western scholars) and related ideas concerning the cause and cure of illness, does not leave him when he enters the city" (Setiloane nd:35). 17dc91bb1f