Opinion

Why calls for a global blasphemy law must be resisted

Editorial Comment originally published in barnabasaid Violent protests against the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims have sparked renewed calls for an international law banning the defamation of religion, chiefly Islam. These have come from unsurprising quarters, such as Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. […]

Crime statistics: downward trend continues but at slower rate

[notice]Peter-John Pearson, director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Committee, comments on the latest crime statistics released by the Government.[/notice] On 20th September, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa released the crime statistics for the period 1st April 2011 to 31st March 2012. Despite a certain cynicism about their value (and the often-quoted […]

The tip of the iceberg of Christian persecution

Originally published in Aina Two Christians living in the Islamic world under arrest and awaiting execution–the one charged with apostasy, the other with blasphemy–were just released. According to a September 8 report on CNN, “A Christian pastor sentenced to death in Iran for apostasy was reunited with his family Saturday […]

Please edit-undo what I just said!

[notice] A fortnightly column by Anna Heydenrych[/notice]I spend a lot of time working on a computer. When I make a mistake, I use the edit – undo function. This is a wonderful tool, you probably know it too. Control – Z and your errors disappear before your eyes. Sometimes, I […]

In search of our common heritage

I hope you are patriotic enough to know that the month of September is a Heritage Month in South Africa. This is the time of the year when we should pause and reflect on our rich and diverse heritage with planned festivities leading to the official heritage day, which is […]