How’s this for a plan – South Africa follows the former USSR republic of Georgia and asks some prisoners in our chock-full jails to become monks instead.
How’s this for a plan – South Africa follows the former USSR republic of Georgia and asks some prisoners in our chock-full jails to become monks instead.
A plan has been hatched between government officials and the Orthodox Church which involves jailbirds serving light sentences for petty crimes (think pickpockets and chicken thieves), swapping some jail time for a few months at the monastery.
The citizens of Georgia, like most ex-Soviets (especially Russia) are staunch Orthodox Christians, and the church plays a central role in their lives.
That’s why government is taking this proposal seriously. They want to depopulate their overcrowded prisons, and in the process also fi sh a few lost souls for the good Lord. But just so we’re clear, living like a monk is not a walk in the proverbial park.
For one, there’s being removed and separated from others who do not share your lifestyle. That might explain why monks (and nuns) almost always live in enclosed compounds.
Monks might indeed be happy, but that glow is surely from within; because outside, they’re required to abstain from a lot of things many of us consider routine creature comforts.
For example, it’s generally understood that a monk may not have sex (or babies!), drink, smoke pot, listen to gangsta rap, play karaoke in a bar, or charge for services.
Monks often have one or two changes of clothing, mostly severe numbers made popular by some guy called Jesus H Christ 2 000 years ago.
You don’t have to believe my claims. For a test drive of this lifestyle, take a stroll to Waainek, a touch outside our CBD on the road to Port Elizabeth.
There, a community of Benedictine monks of the Anglican Church live and work at Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery.
If you’re used to any kind material comfort, a life of sacrifi ce and prayer might not be for you. Indeed, the monasteryappears to be very much like a prison except monks are happy (and presumably can leave any time they want), while prisoners are mostly sad and have to do their time.
Plus there is little to zero chance of being jumped in the monastery shower. Such a plan might actually have merit in a country where religion is ingrained in the social fabric, which is probably not the case in South Africa.
While Bishop Desmond Tutu elevated the cassock and spectre to a symbol of great moral courage during the country’s darkest days, not many religious leaders have risen to such great heights since.
Indeed, the most prominent church groups appear to be of the Pentecostal genre, made in America and mostly spread via satellite television.
Sadly, these guys have co-opted many folk, who, for lack of choice (perhaps), are wont to shake with fevers and “speak in tongues” apparently when they’re possessed with the spirit.
These overt displays of spirituality often create the impression that the more discreet worshipers are non-believers.
In my opinion, they are as fallacious as our incarceration philosophy that seeks to rehabilitate, and not punish prisoners.
I believe that what you do with your god is your private business; just as I believe that if you’ve done the crime, you must do the time.
•Sim does not believe in killing, even to defend himself.
