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28 December 1994
Dear Sirs
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.
Yours sincerely
Rev Peter Hammond
Director
28 December 1994
Dear Sirs
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.
Yours
sincerely
Rev Peter
Hammond
Director
28 December 1994
Dear Sirs
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.
Yours sincerely
Rev Peter
Hammond
Director
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