THE DEVIL DRIVES
ROMAN Catholic and Anglican theolo- gians, 150 of them, have banded together to declare that apartheid is the Antichrist. The `Kairos document', reported in the Times on Monday, says that `From the theological point of view the opposite of the God of the Bible is the Devil, Satan. The God of the South African state is not merely an idol or false god, it is the Devil disguised as Almighty God — the Anti- christ.' It is rather surprising to find theolo- gians who normally fight shy of old- fashioned words like 'Devil' taking to this task with such obvious relish, until one realises that this sudden interest in tradi- tional theology enables opponents of South Africa to justify to simple, fundamentalist blacks the most extreme forms of violence in the name of religion. The Times also reported that the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches had withdrawn their chaplains from the South African armed forces. In this they show an attitude markedly different from that of the found er of their religion, who ministered to the
forces Of the power that occupied his country, and commended the exemplary faith of the centurion.
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