Washing Feet

South African former minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok has apologized for his past atrocities. He did this by washing the feet of Reverend Frank Chikane, who used to be an anti-apartheid activist and member of UDF.

This act of reconciliation has not been well received by everyone. The columnist Malala in the newspaper the Sowetan writes "That Chikane allowed this man to wash his feet was the sickest thing ever heard in this new South Africa."

In this The Sowetan is wrong. They are not wrong in expressing their feelings. They would not be wrong in saying "we feel sickened by this." That would be perfectly justified. Malala is not wrong in writing "This is the sort of infuriating, condescending rubbish that we have listened to from the assorted apartheid killers over the past 12 years and I am sick of it." But it is completely wrong to write that it is sickening.

Whether you accept an apology or not is a deeply personal thing. It is one of the things neither man nor God can judge over. Other people can say that they would not have done it. They can say that it should not have been done. But only each individual can decide what they get upset by. Each has his own feelings. Neither God nor the Sowetan has the right to change that.