Description
This allegory puts on the scale of human thought two systems – religion and communism – and, while these systems are contradictory in nature, both invoke freedom, peace and love as a cornerstone of better human existence and interface. St John the Divine’s takes on the best method to dispense with the evil that spawns a lot of human suffering on earth, and opts for peace and love, while Marx proposes freedom for the proletarians against exploitation by the bourgeoisie. He argues that the proletarians’ freedom, consequently, leads to peace and a joyful life for all – what St Luke defines as ‘peace on earth and goodwill towards men.’ [Luke 2; Verse 14]. The debate between Marx and St John is quite toxic at times and, in some instances, presents a picture of a street brawl.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles Nqakula was born at a small Karoo town in South Africa on 13 September 1942. After leaving school in 1963, he took up journalism and between 1966 and 1969 wrote a regular column for the Midland News. This weekly newspaper was printed and published in Cradock and circulated in the Midlands region, an area that covered the towns of Cradock, Somerset East, Graaff-Reinet, Adelaide, Bedford, Fort Beaufort and Middleburg. Nqakula later joined Imvo Zabantsundu (1973–76), which was based in King William’s Town, where he covered politics and sport. He left Imvo in mid-June 1976 to join the East London Daily Dispatch, but left in 1981 after being banned by the National Party government in July that year. He was a political activist involved in the underground activities of the African National Congress. At the time of his banning order, he was the Vice-President of the anti-government Union of Black Journalists. He left the country for exile in 1984 and trained in 1985 in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC. After the advent of democracy in South Africa, Nqakula became Minister of Police in 2002 and Minister of Defence in 2008 but left government after the 2009 elections.
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