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28 December 1994
RE: COMMITTEE IV: AN ENTRENCHED BILL OF RIGHTS
Thank you for your invitation to make submissions regarding the new
Constitution.
The member organisations of United Christian Action believe that freedom has
to be based upon and in accordance with the 1 0 Commandments.
Adherence to the
10 Commandments would ensure true religious freedom - freedom to worship and
serve the one true God - the Creator
and Sovereign Lord of the Universe - the
only source of freedom. And it would protect worship, speech, time, families,
life, love,
property, truth, reputation and conscience (Exodus
20:3-17).
We also hold that it is not acceptable to justify evil in the
name of freedom. There should be no freedom for cruelty to animals,
perversion,
blasphemy, rape and child abuse (such as occur in Satanism) in any civilised
country. Nor can the murder of human life
in the womb (abortion) or the
exploitation of women's bodies for profit (pornography) be
tolerated.
True religious freedom must include freedom for parents to
educate their children according to their religious convictions - whether
through state schools, independent Christian schools or home schooling.
Religious freedom must include the freedom to proclaim the God of the Bible
to be the only true and living God, and to objectively
point out the errors in
other religions Any attempt by the state to register or regulate churches,
missions or Christian organisations
would be an intolerable breach of religious
freedom. The proposals to establish a Department of Religious Affairs must
therefore
be rejected as unacceptable interference by the state in religious
matters and a step towards state control of the church. We also
hold that true
freedom comes from within. The foundation of a truly free nation can only be
laid in characters, minds and lives
changed by the Grace of God and built upon
the Word of God.
We accordingly recommend that the Bill of Rights clearly protect freedom of
worship, freedom of speech, freedom for parents to educate
their children
according to their religious convictions, the right to life of unborn babies,
the protection of women from the exploitation
of pornography, the right to
property, the right to freedom of the press, and freedom of movement and
association.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Should you require, we will be
available to present documentation in support of our position.
RE: FINANCIAL AND FISCAL COMMISSION
Thank you for your
invitation to make submissions with regard to the new Constitution.
The
member organisations of United Christian Action support a free market economy
based on the private ownership of property, and
individual free enterprise. We
maintain that any taxation of 1 0% or higher is oppressive, and only leads to
wastage and corruption.
We further hold to the Biblical principle that property
and inheritance may not be taxed. Furthermore, those institutions and
individuals
involved in full-time religious service should not be taxed. Their
support is provided by the spontaneous free will giving of people
who have
already been taxed.
We also hold to the Biblical principle that unjust
weights (unbacked currency) and measures (inflation) is a hidden tax.
Throughout
the Bible, money is spoken of by weight. God's law requires that
financial transactions be made in terms of honest measures. Inflation
is the
theft of wages and the destruction of savings by devaluing the currency. This
is the result of counterfeiting - printing
more "money" than there is gold to
back it. It is essential dishonesty - a hidden tax - where "silver has become
dross". The devastating
impact of unbacked currency/inflation on pensions and
savings - is criminal. Biblical Law requires that we use honest scales and
honest weights; in other words, honest money backed by real constant
value.
The members of United Christian Action hold to the
"KwaSizabantu Affirmation" which declares: "We affirm that the Bible is clearly
against oppression of the poor by the rich. It is also very clear about the
right to own land and property: 'You shall not covet
your neighbour's house; you
shall not covet your neighbour's wife ... nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor
anything that is your neighbour's"'.
(Exodus 20:17); "While the land remained,
was it not your own?" (Acts 5:4); (Matthew 20:15).
Based on the commandments "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not
covet”, we reject any form of nationalisation and forced
redistribution of
wealth and land. It is an observable fact that wherever this Biblical Law has
been violated, as in Socialist countries,
the result has been starvation,
wastage and death of millions."
Thank you for your time and
consideration. Should you require us to present documentation in support of our
position, we would be
glad to do so.
RE: COMMITTEE 1:
DEMOCRACY CHARACTER OF STATE
Thank you for your invitation to make
submissions regarding the new Constitution.
The member organisations of
United Christian Action strongly recommend that the new Constitution provides
for a constitutionally lirnited
Republic - where law rules. We recognise that
civil government needs to be powerful enough to restrain the evil impulses of
criminals.
However, believing that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely, we hold that rulers cannot be trusted with absolute
power either.
We maintain that the solution is not the pagan/Greek utopia of democracy - where
man rules - but a constitutional
Republic - where law rules.
We hold that
society should be rebuilt upon the unchangeable law of God's Word - the Bible.
Instead of rulers, we need to elect servants
‑civil servants - bound down
with the chains of the Constitution. And in keeping with the American and Swiss
systems, we recommend
a !system of checks and balances to divide the power and
responsibility into a Trinitarian model of executive, legislative and judicial
branches of civil government.
We would hold to a bicameral national
legislature, where one house is composed of representatives elected by the
people. And a second
house which is composed of senators representing each
province. We would support an executive officer directly elected by the people
and not by the ruling party. A written Constitution based upon the principles
of the Word of God is essential. This Constitution
must clearly define and
restrict the power of government. The main purpose of a Constitution should be
as a restriction to prevent
rulers from abusing power.
We would
recommend a federal system where most responsibilities
and powers rest on
the local and provincial governments with only minimal powers delegated to the
central government (including: National
Defence and Foreign Policy).
We
would recommend a Constitution which protects the rights for a free-market
economy, based upon the private ownership of property
and individual free
enterprise. In order to prevent corruption, wastage and the abuse of power, we
would recommend that the Constitution
expressly limits the taxation powers of
central government to less than 10% of the total earnings of the citizens.
Furthermore,
any taxation of property or of inheritance needs to be strictly
forbidden. Those institutions and individuals involved in the full-time
religious service should not be taxed. There should also be no taxation on
Bibles.
The education system needs to be controlled by the parents and
aided by the church, but independent of the state. One cannot entrust
the state
with the moulding of the minds of future voters. The control of education
should be in the hands of parents and the content
of education must be moral,
character developing and Bible-based.
We believe that a decentralised
constitutionally limited state with separation of powers and checks and balances
would be the best
system to meet the needs of South Africa.
Thank you for
your time and consideration. We would appreciate any opportunity to present
documentation in support of our position.
Rev Peter
Hammond
Director
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