{"id":42103,"date":"2025-09-16T05:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42103"},"modified":"2025-09-16T05:15:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:15:45","slug":"fears-and-anxieties-of-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/fears-and-anxieties-of-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears and Anxieties of South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Historical Fear<\/span><\/h3>\n

Anxiety, worry, and fear, these are concepts presented in the Scriptures over 100 times.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Microsoft Copilot states that the phrase Fear Not<\/em> appears 71 times, 57 Old Testament, 14 New Testament.[2]<\/a> They are normal human emotions, however when they reach certain levels the \u201creptilian brain takes over.\u201d[3]<\/a> Edwin Friedman suggests that during this time the cortex can do the bidding of the reptilian brain to the point that \u201cunhealthy ways of thinking and relating\u201d actually intensify.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

I believe this helps explain why historically Christians have engaged in policy that serves to reduce their fear and anxieties including those related to a loss of power and status.\u00a0 This I believe can be traced back to what N. T. Wright and Michael Bird call the \u201cChurch\u2019s unholy alliance with the Roman Empire.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 They write \u201cChristendom did not make the world the kingdom of heaven. Often it was the opposite: it manufactured a merciless hell for many on the margins.\u201d[6]<\/a> Patti Waldmeir\u2019s book Anatomy of a Miracle<\/em> suggest that fear and anxiety were the reason behind South African apartheid instituted by Afrikaners, which I would argue created a hell for many citizens.[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Afrikaners are White descendants of Dutch, French and Germans settlers, who arrived in South Africa during the 1600 and 1700\u2019s; many of whom were Calvinists who believed they were living in a new promised land.[8]<\/a>\u00a0 In 1902 after a war that lasted just under three years, the British took control of South Africa until South Africa declared its independence in 1961. Waldmeir writes that apartheid actually began in 1948 after the Afrikaner Nationalists won an election. Waldmeir suggests the reason for apartheid was fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite South Africans were a small and declining minority in their country. Afrikaners were terrified that blacks would do what the English had done: render them a subject minority in the land of their birth. Their answer was apartheid. Its aim was to guarantee the prosperity and security of Afrikaners, through white domination.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Like the United States government did to Native Americans by placing them on reservations, Afrikaners removed black Africans from all but 13% of South African land, forcing between 3 \u2013 4 million people to move.[10]<\/a>\u00a0 Over the next forty plus years the African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela and the National Party would butt heads over proposed policy and sometimes even exchange gunfire. Slowly the Afrikaners began to question the morality of apartheid, how to treat the mixed-raced people and how to solve economic issues plaguing the country. Between 1990 and 1993 many talks took place about developing a new South African government. In November 1993 a new temporary constitution was agreed up and an April 1994 election date had been determined. During this same time and leading up to the election, fear and anxiety continued to show itself including the National Party resistance in giving up its rule to a simple majority vote and a massacre of 45 Africans on July 17, 1992.<\/p>\n

Fourteen years after the advent of the new South Africa fear was still a dominant emotion in the country. Alec Russel writes that Desmond Tutu commented in 2008 that whites and blacks still reside in two different worlds.[11]<\/a> This was evident at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The vice chancellor, Malegapuru Makgoba talked about how suspicion and fear between white, African, and Indian students kept them segregated.[12]<\/a> Russell also talked about how African workers were forbidden by white workers to talk in their African language because \u201c\u2019they are afraid we are talking about them.\u2019\u201d[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

South Africa Today<\/span><\/h3>\n

In preparation of our upcoming trip to Cape Town, I wondered if the fear and anxiety levels have improved since it has been thirty years since apartheid.\u00a0 I asked Microsoft Copilot about fear in South Africa today. \u00a0Here is its visual response[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was also led to two resources that express the levels of fear and anxiety in South Africa today.\u00a0 First, Nicky Falkof\u2019s 2022 book titled Worrier State: Risk, anxiety and moral panic in South Africa <\/em>details how a \u201cpervasive culture of fear\u201d often highlighted by the media impacts life and meaning for people throughout South Africa.[15]<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>Secondly, just published in May 2025, Vusi Shongwe writes \u201cToday, South Africa is engulfed in anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.\u201d[16]<\/a> \u00a0This fear is also evident in the 67,042 South African requests for resettlement in the United States as refugees.[17]<\/a><\/p>\n

Have fear and anxiety reached levels in South Africa where the cortex is doing the bidding of the reptilian brain? Besides fleeing the country in fear how are South Africans dealing with their fears and anxieties.\u00a0 A more important question might be what are South African leaders doing to address the root causes of the fear and anxiety?\u00a0 I am excited to journey to Cape Town, to interact with South Africans and hear from leaders about how they picture the future of the nation and how they believe the nation\u2019s fears and anxieties should be addressed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Amanda Williams, \u201cHow Many Times Is Anxiety Mentioned In The Bible?\u201d Christian Website, January 14, 2024, https:\/\/www.christianwebsite.com\/how-many-times-is-anxiety-mentioned-in-the-bible\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Microsoft Copilot, \u201cHow Many Times Does The Bible Say Fear Not? September 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>, (New York: Seabury Books, 2007), 121.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Friedman, 121.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> N.T. Wright and Michael Bird, Jesus and the Powers:<\/em> Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies, <\/em>(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 30.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Wright and Bird, 31.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Patti Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa<\/em>, (New York: Norton, 1997).<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Waldmeir, xii; Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind<\/em>, (London, UK:Little Brown, 2019).<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Waldmeir, 10.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Waldmeir, 11.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Alec Russell, After Mandela: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa<\/em>, (London: Windmill, 2009), 43.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Russell, 44-45.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Russell, 43.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Microsoft Copilot \u201cWhat are the main fears and anxieties expressed in the people of South Africa today?\u201d September 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Wits University Press, Worrier State: Risk, anxiety and moral panic in South Africa, <\/em>(Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2022). https:\/\/witspress.co.za\/page\/detail\/Worrier-State\/?K=9781776147885<\/a><\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Vusi Shongwe, \u201cFacing hard truths: South Africa’s anxiety and the need for leadership,\u201d Sunday Independent, May 20, 2025, https:\/\/sundayindependent.co.za\/dispatch\/2025-05-20-facing-hard-truths-south-africas-anxiety-and-the-need-for-leadership\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> SA Chamber USA, \u201cNews: SACCUSA Hands Over Details of 67,000 South Africans to U.S. Embassy for Refugee Resettlement Request \u2013 SA Chamber USA,\u201d March 19, 2025,\u00a0 https:\/\/sachamberusa.com\/saccusa-hands-over-details-of-67000-south-africans-to-u-s-embassy-for-refugee-resettlement-request\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Historical Fear Anxiety, worry, and fear, these are concepts presented in the Scriptures over 100 times.[1]\u00a0 Microsoft Copilot states that the phrase Fear Not appears 71 times, 57 Old Testament, 14 New Testament.[2] They are normal human emotions, however when they reach certain levels the \u201creptilian brain takes over.\u201d[3] Edwin Friedman suggests that during this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3477,3479,2967],"class_list":["post-42103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-russell","tag-waldmier","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42105,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42103\/revisions\/42105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}