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HIGHWAY COMMUNITY CHURCH
SERVED BY SAREPTA
MINISTRIES
22nd March 1995.
On behalf of the elders and
deacons and the congregation of the Highway Community Church I submit the
following proposals for inclusion
in the New Constitution:-
- The
following words could be included in the Pre-amble to the
Constitution.
"In humble submission to Almighty God who is judge
over all the universe, and whose principles we uphold, we, the people" of South
Africa declare that............
- The
following words should be included in the Preamble to the Bill Of
Rights:-
"All human beings are created equal in that they are
endowed by the Creator with equal dignity and inalienable rights. It is not
the
prerogative of the government either to grant or to withhold them. The
government is ordained by God to preserve these rights,
to establish justice and
to maintain peace and order within the framework of God's moral standards."
- The
submission of proposal H by the A.N.C. that South Africa shall be a "secular
state" is conflict with the wishes of the overwhelming
majority of the
electorate.
- The
constitution shall recognise that national morality can prevail only through the
recognition and upholding of religious principle.
The state has spiritual
accountability and is not secularistic.
- Not
withstanding paragraph 4, the constitution shall provide for the separation of
church and state whilst recognizing that the church
may challenge the state if
it falls short of its divinely ordained responsibilities.
- The
constitution shall provide for religious freedom both in belief and practice and
for the autonomy of religious bodies over their
theological and ecclesiastical
affairs.
- In
consequence of paragraph 6 there shall be no established state religion nor a
state Department Of Religion.
- The
right to freedom of thought, conscience, belief and religious practice includes
the right to change ones religion or belief or
practice, and the freedom to
disseminate ones religious beliefs either alone, or in community with others, in
public or private.
- Religious
communities shall be entitled to establish and maintain their own educational
institutions at all levels. Such institutions
shall have the right to financial
support by the state provided that they comply with recognized academic
norms.
- The
constitution shall recognize that respect for human rights depends both on the
rule of law and on moral and spiritual values.
- In
article eight (2) of chapter three of the Interim Constitution the words "sex"
and "sexual orientation" should be deleted in the
new constitution. The word
"gender" provides complete protection against discrimination in this
context.
- If
a clause such as "sexual orientation" is included in the constitution, citizens
young and old, will not be protected from abuses
such as paedophilia,
bestiality, necrophilia, sadomasochism, sodomy and other unnatural, abnormal and
immoral activities, contrary
to natural and biblical law and the created
order.
- Freedom
of expression (article 15 in the Interim Constitution) must be defined in the
new constitution by those internationally recognized
limitations which protect
the individual from denigration, invasion of privacy and corruption of
minors.
- The
new constitution will provide for the freedom from exposure to violent
pornography obscene and offensive material on the media.
- The
right to equality will ensure respect for women which may not be undermined by
degrading pornographic publications.
- The
right of children to a healthy environment will be defined to include physical,
moral and spiritual spheres.
- The
sanctity of human life shall be recognized from the moment of
conception.
- The
right of every person to have his/her life respected shall be protected by the
law from the moment of conception.
- The
constitution will affirm that there can be no human rights without accompanying
responsibilities.
- The
constitution should emphasize the principle of proportional representation.
Consequently, the New Constitution must require that
this principle will be
observed in the compilation of judicial bodies such as the Constitutional Court,
Appeal Courts, High Courts
and Regional Courts. In this respect the
constitution must require that the compilation of judicial bodies reflects the
principles
of proportional representation particularly with respect to religion
and gender. Obviously this requirement will be expressed in
broad terms rather
than precise mathematical calculation.
J. M.
Leach
Senior Pastor for elders and deacons and on behalf of this
congregation.
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