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City of Saints

RUCC turns

60

Commems

inner beauty

160 years of

the Cathedral

Edition 1October 2013 Every Religion, One Paper

2 43

HSS show brings Bollywood to Grahamstown

The annual Hindu StudentsSociety (HSS) once againpresented their annual cultural

show on Saturday 24 August atthe Monument. For the rst timethe show was able to present toits audience a famous Bollywooddance troupe Taare.All the way from Cape Town,

Taare is a group of experienceddancers who specialise in arange of different dances fromBharatanatyam (a classical dancefrom South India) to Hip-hop,Bollywood and folk dance. Startedin 2012, the group is still fairlynew, but HSS president, GitikaManilal, says Everyone was solooking forward to this group, whowas also seen on television. Iknow they were who I was mostexcited for, she added.

After months of hard workand planning, all of which hadbeen ongoing since the startof the second term, paid off asaudiences were rewarded with avariety of performances includingsingers, dancers and comedyperformances. There werevarious types of performanceswhich kept people glued to theirseats, says Manilal. ShanniceNandhoo, a second year Bcomstudent who performed in thisyears show, explained that theshow was not only based onIndian performances.

The aim of the show is tocelebrate diverse cultures and alsocreate awareness about the Hinduculture and traditions, Manilalsays. However, she went on tosay that one of the aims of theshow is to bring people together,despite cultural differences. Ourmain goal is to cultivate and fostercross-cultural dialogue on issuesthat pertain to Hinduism and inthe process interact with diversecultural groups.The show offers an exciting and

unique experience for audienceswhich Leah Dube, a second yearBA student, believes is important.A fan of the Indian culture, withits colours and dancing, she saysThe whole point of living is thatone should try new things.Tickets included a three course

Indian meal which was popularwith the audiences. Dube believes

it is little things like that whichpeople should make the mostof. The show offers a changefrom the usual Saturday night inGrahamstown. And we can still goout afterwards, she said.The event was an overall

success with a good turnout. Itwent off without any problems andthe audience seemed to enjoythemselves, Manilal said after theevent. And despite the cold, manypeople who attended the eventstayed afterwards to socialise andtalk about the show.

The show is centred around Hinduism and gives students and audiences an opportunity to learn about and

enjoy Indian culture. Shannice Nandhoo, a Rhodes student, will be performing in the show for the secondtime this year. PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

Buddhism centre sees numbers spike

Emma Paterson, one of the many practising Buddhists at Rhodes Uni-versity, meditates in her at.

PICTURE: Sarah Ward

There has been a signicantspike in student attendance atthe Tibetan Buddhist MeditationCentre in Grahamstown on West

Street. This center is in fact aproject run by a lecturer in RhodesUniversitys Drama DepartmentAnton Kreuger.

Kreuger is one of the foundingmembers of the center along withAlexandra Johnson who explainedhow Buddhism has been a growingdenomination in Grahamstownsince she was a Rhodes studentover twenty years ago, when sheconverted.

Rhodes University is hometo a large and diverse group ofstudents. An increasing number ofstudents have started to exploreBuddhism as an alternative to thebeliefs that they grew up with.

Alexander Tucci, a third yearlaw student and Emma Paterson,

a third year Fine Arts andPsychology major at Rhodes, arestudents who began to adopt theBuddhist practices and beliefsabout a year ago.

Tucci said that students cometo Rhodes to nd themselves.Despite the spiritual aspect ofBuddhism, it is an appealing

practice, which promotes positivelifestyles without the element ofbeing controlled as well as the

appeal of being alternative. This isprobably the main reason so manystudents are starting to practice oracclaiming to be Buddhist.

Johnson commented on how thenumber of students that participatein both the non-religious andreligious meditation uctuates, asmany simply use it as a means of

de-stressing as well as openingthemselves to enlightenment.

The Grahamstown Tibetan

Meditation Centre is open from5:00pm - 7:00pm on West Streetand offers both spiritual andBuddhist meditation as well asnon-religious meditation.

It is open to all Grahamstownresidents and Rhodes students,regardless of their individualdenominations.

Sarah Ward

Ashleigh Morris

Safety trumps religion in resBoitumelo Masihleho andSarah Ward

Some students in RhodesUniversitys residencesystem are being prevented fromperforming certain religious ritualsin their rooms as the rituals areconsidered to be re hazards bythe University.

Abongile Xhantini (20) is a rst-year student who is a TibetanBuddhist. Meditation is a crucialpractice for Buddhists and theburning of incense sticks is anessential part of this.

Unfortunately, due to the ruleswhich clearly state that no rehazards such as the lighting of

candles or using matches orliquid lighters may be done withinresidences, Xhantini has notbeen able to full this part of hermeditation.

I dont get how it is a rehazard, says Xhantini, asincense has no burning ame andcompletely extinguishes once it is

nished.Kelly Goldstuck (22), who

is Jewish, knew there wasno big Jewish community inGrahamstown. However, she didnot expect to not have accessto a shul as the Grahamstownsynagogue has been closed down.

Goldstuck has had to purchasebattery-operated candles analternative for the real thing, whichshe lights every Friday night, asper her religion. It does kind oftake the meaning away. You geta sense that something is missingalthough its better than havingnothing, says Goldstuck.

Rhodess Religion Policy is notintended to favour or preference

one single religion, but rather aimsto be all-encompassing. However,the institution privileges the safetyof students over their need to fullall the tenets of their religion.

I understand why the policy isin place but it would be nice tosee some recognition from theUniversity, said Goldstuck.

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Rhodes University studentWilliam Walters has launcheda new religious society on campuscatering to secular humanists.

Secular humanism is aphilosophy that embraces reasonand social justice and holds thateach religious belief be weighedand tested by an individual beforebeing accepted. Look, it reallyis just a nice kind of atheism,says Walters, who grew up as aChristian but rejected his religiousbeliefs when he met science.

While many students have

expressed excitement about thesociety, some more religiousstudents are sceptical. His PeopleChurch cell leader Lucille Molekosaid, The secular humanist thingsounds like a great idea, butIm worried it will become just aplatform for anti-religious vitriol.

Walters is aware of this possibility

and wants to prevent it fromhappening. We want to stay as faraway from dogma as possible andthat includes political and atheistdogma, he says. It should bea safe space where people cancome together and discuss theirbeliefs with one another.

The society, named the RhodesSecular Humanist Forum, willlaunch next year. In the meantime,it exists only as a Facebook groupof around 60 members who havealready had numerous spiriteddebates around multiple issues.

Currently, Walters is the headof wargaming at popular gamingsociety GameSoc and is condentin his ability to run this newsociety.

Dont ignore

Shoot the Jew

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In a recent protest by theBoycott, Divestment andSanctions (BDS) South

Africa campaign on the Wits

University campus, whatwas supposed to be an

anti-Zionist protest againstthe illegal occupation ofPalestine by the Israeli stateturned abruptly to a clear

example of anti-Semitism.Protesters gathered out-

side a performance by an

Israeli jazz quartet begansinging Dubul iBhunu, thecontroversial struggle songthat translates as shoot the

Boer. Within a few minutesthe lyrics changed to DubuliJuda or Shoot the Jew.

With the exception of asingle column in Daily Mav-erick by Rebecca Hodes,this issue has largely been

devoid of any sort of properanalysis.The editorial staff at this

paper, it should be stated,are largely against the Is-raeli occupation. This doesnot necessarily mean we

are pro-Hamas or that wecondone violence on eitherside of the conict; we do

not.However, there is a mas-

sive difference betweenanti-Zionism or anti-Israel

sentiment and anti-Semi-

tism.The South African Consti-

tution provides for the right

to freedom of conscience,religion, thought, belief andopinion and freedom from

persecution based on onesreligious beliefs.Dubul iBhunu was never

actually used as an incite-

ment to kill Boers, except byJulius Malema and his cro-nies. It was used to identify

the enemy: the apartheidstate. If we apply the samethinking to the revised ver-sion, our enemies must be

the Jews.All the Jews? By nature of

which god they choose to

pray to, does someone be-come our enemy necessar-ily? The answer is no andthe Constitution protects all

South Africans from this.The revision of the song is

an incorrect conation of all

Jewish people with peoplewho are pro-Israeli occupa-tion. It is similar to sayingall Muslims are automati-

cally terrorists or all Catholicpriests sexually abuse choirboys. It is simply a statistical

improbability.

This essentialist logic isdangerous and cannot beignored. The struggles of

the modern world require farmore nuanced thinking.

Ndikhokhele Bawo ndikhokhelemmeli wam ezensizini zalomhlababawo [Lead me Lord, Im inthis strange world] sang SaraCrowther , a second year Englishstudent, in a beautiful soprano atthe Inauguration of the StudentRepresentative Council (SRC)of 2014 held at Eden Grove onWednesday night, 28th August.

Dressed in their traditional all-black attire, Rhodes UniversityChamber Choir (RUCC) gracedthe Vice-Chancellors, the Deanof Students, previous SRCpresidents, the SRC of 2013, thosein the student forum and otherhonoured guests.

One member of this lovely choiris Lerato Kortjass, a 19 year oldwoman from Pietermaritzburg,

who joined the RUCC this yearas a rst year student, during theSocieties Sign-Up held every yearin the Great Hall. She had alreadymade the decision four years ago,when the RUCC came to sing ather school, Epworth High. I was apart of the chamber choir at schooland I knew after hearing themsing so beautifully, I had to be apart of the choir, says Kortjass.She joins the choir for rehearsalevery Monday and Thursdaynight for two hours, conductedby Peter Breetzke and assistedby the head of the choir, JessicaSmith. Although it is really time

consuming, it is a lot of fun. Peterand Jessica are really helpful andthe choir has a very relaxed vibe

where if you dont feel comfortablesinging a solo, its okay and askingfor help is never a problem, saysKortjass with a smile.

After beginning in the 1950s,RUCC celebrated its 60thanniversary on the weekend ofthe 23 and 24 of August. Currentmembers of the coir with alumnipractised for two days and thenperformed at the beautiful Chapelof St. Mary and all the Angels,which is commonly known as theRhodes Chapel. The chapel,which is in the middle of St PetersLawns, was packed with a diversegroup of people to celebrate the

anniversary of the choir. The choirsang a variety of songs, which areall held in the RUCC folder, lled

with choir books of different songsmore along the classical andhymn-like genre.

From small Grahamstown in theEastern Cape to the sunny Durbanin Kwa-Zulu Natal is where RUCCwill be doing a tour this comingSeptember vacation. The nalstop will be an old age home inUmhlanga, showing the choirssoft side, participating in somecommunity engagement.

With so many performance andtours, it is very clear that RUCCwill only continue to grow its 60year legacy from here on out.

The Rhodes University Chamber Choir performs regularly. PICTURE: RUCC

Rhodes University Chamber Choir: 60 Years Of SongBoitumelo Masihleho

Stuart Thembisile Lewis

Secular Humanist Forum coming to Rhodes in 2014

Walters grew up as a Catholic, but has since converted toatheism. PICTURE: Stuart Thembisile Lewis

It really is just a nice kindof atheism. - William

Walters, Secular HumanistForum founder.

Ashleigh Morris, BoitumeloMasihleho, Michaela Weiffenbach,Sarah Ward and Stuart Thembisile

Lewis

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God is bigger than just Sundays

Ashleigh Morris

A

soft breeze danced with the

gentle, early morning rays,

lightly enveloping the still sleepy

Grahamstown. The roads were

quiet except for the chirping of the

birds in the trees and the laughter

of a group of girls as they walked

along the dappled pathway.

Simphiwe Duze, a fourth year

BCom student, was part of the

group. Enjoying the beautiful

morning, she laughed and chatted

with her friends on her way to

the His People church. Not far

from her res, the girls had just

come from breakfast, their usual

Sunday morning routine.

While Duze and her friends

settled down for the service,

back in res, second-year BAstudent, Ciske Uys, remained

stubbornly asleep. It was not that

Uys had over slept, or that she

had chosen not to go to church

today, it was that she had given

up her faith altogether. Early in

her rst year, Uys used to be

one of the girls walking to the His

Peoples Sunday morning service.

However, as the year progressed,

Uys found herself distancing

herself from both the church and

her religion.

I joined the His People Church,

His Little People [for the children]

and cell group [a weekly meeting

in her residence]. I thought it

would keep me on the straight

and narrow, said Uys. In the end,

the pressure to keep up to date

with work and her commitments

to the church as well as making

time to see and spend time with

her friends became too much.

I needed to be at church and

prepare lessons for His Little

People. I decided to drop my

commitments to the church, she

said.

Uys is not the only Rhodes

student to move away from her

religion after leaving home. Senior

Pastor from the His People,

Tendai Chitsike, explained how

he always sees a huge number

of students who stop attending

services. Its too much for them

to live here [at Rhodes] and be

Christian, he said, They feel

intimidated, like they just cant do

it.

Born into a conservative

Christian family in Zimbabwe,Chitsike recalled the surprise he

felt when he arrived at Rhodes

in 1997: I was in Smuts [an

all-male residence] with my

brother and, you know, we were

drinking buddies and all that. But

it was a shock to the system.

He explained how throughout his

degree he felt that Christianity

was not something which was

seen in a good light, despite

the universitys liberal attitude.

Socially and intellectually I felt

bombarded. Christianity wasnt

something which was welcomed.

I got the impression it wasnt

something that was important on

campus, said Chitsike.

Able to relate to the pressures of

university, Chitsike explained that

it is important to not only have a

strong group of friends, but to be

able to connect every aspect of

your life. One needs to connect

work, friends and religion to see

that God plays a huge part in all

of it, he said. As a church, we

get to connect with students and

show them that God is bigger

than just Sundays.

One of those people who has

realised this and embraced it is

Duze. For her, religion is about

making a conscious decision to

want God in your life: Its about

a personal relationship with God.

For me, its been a journey of

discovery, not only what I am, but

who he makes me. According to

her, being able to remain true to

your religion all depends on why

you call yourself religious in the

rst place.But getting to university does

more than simply test the strength

of your faith. For Ian Currie,

a second year BA student, it

allowed him to challenge his

beliefs and nally nd the right

questions to ask. I havent

dropped my religion, Ive altered

it. Ive always followed the

Catholic way, he says, adding

that his subject choices enabled

him to face the questions hed

had for some time. The tendency

to move from what you know to

what you dont know is not easy

to do at home. Philosophy gave

me the coherence to questions

that I always had in my head.

It is tough balancing everything

and being able to remain strong

enough to keep standing amidst

the tumbling ideas and beliefs.

Chitsike says it takes courage

to be able to admit that one is

having difculty holding onto

their faith. People who actually

speak about their problems

are only the tip of the ice berg.

About 90 per cent just quietly slip

away, he said. In the end, he

and Duze both agree it is about

relationships and having the

strength to keep pushing on.

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Ciske Uys gave up her re ligion shortly after coming to Rhodes butfeels the decision did little to change who she is.

PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

One of the iconic featuresof Grahamstown is thedistinctive outline of the Rhodes

University clock tower and

the rising steeples of its many

churches. Bearing in mind howsmall Grahamstown is, the

nickname City of Saints is well

deserved.

However, Christianity isnt theonly religion to leave its mark on

the town. Grahamstown is home

to over 50 different religious

institutions, each of whichcontribute to the cultural melting

pot of the historical town. One

of the most photographed and

widely known of all the religious

establishes is the Cathedral ofSt George and St Michael. This

landmark holds an immense

amount of African history.

The cathedral is located on

Church Square, and has the

tallest spire in South Africa over53.6 meters tall. However, the

current spire is not the original

one. It was replaced when theoriginal spire was deemed to be

a danger, due to the instability

caused by the combination of

heavy materials and the spires

height. This year Grahamstowns

unmistakable place of worship

celebrates its 160 year

anniversary.

The idea behind the celebrationis to show people that we are

still here. We are still a part of

Grahamstown. It is a place to

meet, a safe place, for anyonewho feels like coming. SaysNomonde Eunich Ncwadi,

Cathedral caretaker.

In 1814, Grahamstown which

was intended to become amilitary outpost - was named

after Colonel John Graham. The

St George half of the Cathedral

opened its doors to the public in

1830. The cathedral became thereligious center of the community,

a refuge and sanctuary for

women and children during the

amaXhosa Wars. In 1912, John

Oldrid Scott designed the NewNave section of the Cathedral. It

is Victorian neo-gothic in style,

with a granite and sandstone

exterior, plastered interior wallswith marble pillars. In 1952, the

building was at last nished with

the building of the Lady Chapel

that seats 500 people.

The history of Grahamstown asa frontier post can be found at the

lectern, pulpit, road screen and

organ, recorded in memorial

The spire of St. George and St. Michael Cathedral.PICTURE: Michael Weiffenbach

Cathedral celebrates 160 years

Michaela Weiffenbach The Church has been here,and will be here for times

to still come. We wantto remain a safe place, a

home. - Nomonde Ncwadi,

Cathedral Caretaker

tablets. Some of these tablets

have been censored with smallmarble strips hiding the word

kafr.

The organ is still the original

instrument that was used duringthe rst religious ceremonies.

It was the rst to house such a

heavy organ and became the rst

Cathedral on the continent to ring

the full 8 bells. These bells werecast in London, in 1878, from the

original material of the 3 bells that

hung in the rst spire.

One is also able to view a piece

of the original wall, which wasbuilt in 1830. Ncwadi who is a

repository for the long history

of the Cathedral, is intimatelyfamiliar with the intricacies of thearchitecture and freely welcomes

visitors. We are here for the

people of Grahamstown. The

Church has been here, and will

be here for times to still come.We want to remain a safe place,

a home.

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Commem - inside our Methodist Church

3. For the rst 120 odd years of its life, Commem acted as the ofcial place of worship for many scholars

from various local boarding schools. PICTURE: Stuart Thembisile Lewis

1. Commems stern, ve-towered stone faade rst catches the eye when walking past but the churchs

true beauty lies inside, with light pouring in from the stained glass windows. PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

2. Invisible from below, generations of Kingswood College scholarshave carved their names into the pews. PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

5. The massive silver organ, which sits behind the pulpit, is six timesthe size of the original 219 piped instrument and is regarded as one ofthe best of its kind in the country. PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

4. In 1872 a special constable was appointed to watch over the boys, according to church records, but thisdid little to dissuade the grafti. PICTURE: Ashleigh Morris

When most people think ofchurches in Grahamstown, therst image that comes to mind isthe towering spire of the Cathedralof St Michael and St George.

The cathedral was consecratedin 1850 and became the heart ofthe Anglican worship in the City ofSaints. The same year, barely 300metres down the street, anotherchurch was opened.Commemoration MethodistChurch, often affectionatelyshortened to Commem, sitsin the cathedrals shadow butis as central to the history ofGrahamstown as its neighbour.Commem was originally

proposed as a replacement forthe original Methodist chapel inGrahamstown and was designedby Grahamstown resident, theReverend Thornley Smith. The

church seats a congregation ofbetween 1200 and 1400 people,which at the time was the entirepopulation of the town.While there have been manyalterations over the years, nothinggoes to waste in Commem: thecommunion rail and kneeler infront of it were built from old pewsand all the uprights in the churchwere made from the originalrectangular communion rail.

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