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Crossing the Divide in South Africa
 
Better together is a collage of personal stories of South Africans who have crossed cultural and racial divides to connect and break down barriers. These stories tell tales of deep hurt and fear, suffering and bondage, as well as great moments of overcoming and freedom. They will not only touch your heart, but also challenge your thinking. Better together provides practical pointers for people wishing to play a role in reigniting the dream of a rainbow nation, one which embodies true racial reconciliation and solidarity.
 
For centuries the story of South Africa could not be told without reference to race, along with its two cousins of tribe and class. The colonial history of our nation, followed in 1948 by Apartheid as a system of ordering society, ensured that racism is a foundational fault-line in the nation. To use biblical language, racism became our national idolatry. Much pain and suffering went into the Struggle to dismantle race as a basis for ordering our national life. The father of the South African nation, Nelson Mandela, is a symbol of how much sacrifice South Africans had to make to end racism.
 
In focusing the search light of Scripture on the foundational sin of our nation, Roger deploys one of the most powerful weapons available to the Christian world to a rather stubborn demon in our national life. There are no slogans, philosophical arguments or worn-out rhetoric in the book. For that, one must look elsewhere. This is rather a book about ordinary folk wrestling before a holy God with the sin of their nation and putting their lives on the line. In this way they have become witnesses, not in words only, but in their daily lives, of the efficacy of the Christian faith to save and redeem us from the tragedy of racism.