I was humbled by a tone of Dumisani Hlophe's an open letter to Jonathan Shapiro
- "Zuma asked, and deserves forgiveness" (Sowetan, January 30). Until
Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya, without any appreciation of Hlophe’s plea, smuggled his
personal view to contradict the value system of this paper with claims that
"We're free to love or hate as we please" (February 2). I doubt if this view is
shared by other practitioners in the media fraternity.
Ironically, on this day the paper quoted a verse from the bible on its words of
faith section which read: 'Dear friends, let us love one another, for love
comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.' (1 John
4:7). Yet Moya tells readers that as journalists they are allowed to exercise
their own hatred towards others. That's absurd and not nation building.
In fact, hatred is a personal choice which can be abused if not exercised
within ethical and professional limits. Much as journalists are allowed to
exercise their own freedom of expression, it's expected that their first
obligation is to their personal conscience and care about others.
Moya is within his right to hate others but he must be alert to the fact that
as long as he sojourns on this earth he shall always be vulnerable to personal
sin, and he must be ready to confess it whenever he become entangled in the
"sin which so easily besets us." And we will forgive him like we forgive those
that trespass against us. Martin Luther King once said "Hate destroys a man's
sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as
ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the
false with the true." Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our mistakes. -
Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni
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