Power and Faith

How evangelical churches are quietly shaping our democracy

Pontsho Pilane

ISBN:

9780624093084

Epub ISBN:

9780624093091

Publisher:

Tafelberg

Date Released:

February 2024

Price (incl. VAT):

R 295.00

Format:

Soft cover, 176pp


About this book:

‘What if I were to tell you that I used to belong to a religious cult? I’d tell you it was one of those evangelical churches, and then leave you to fill in the gaps yourself . . . Did I eat grass? Or maybe a snake? Was I sprayed with Doom?
‘Talking about spending most of my twenties serving in a white-led multi-racial megachurch feels like stepping on a piece of Lego. The pain was, is, obliterating. It demands my attention. It never leaves. It ebbs and flows. I am a former member of what I will call The Family.’
 
Journalist Pontsho Pilane’s experience at a powerful evangelical church changed the trajectory of her life and began her journey of deconstructing her faith. Part memoir, part social commentary, Power and Faith lays bare the myth that our constitutional values are safe from the tentacles of religious power.

Read extract

Readers say

‘Escaping traumatic experiences and seeking sanctuary very often throws one into the arms of a cult. This proves to be yet another illusion of trust, unravelling beliefs and the very notion of belonging.’

– Sipho Hlongwane, writer and journalist


‘Evangelicalism is dangerous and detrimental to sexual and reproductive health rights and access to services guaranteed by those rights. This is not only happening in the US but here in South Africa too. This book shows why the global advocacy for sexual and reproductive rights must continue with vigour.’

– Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, physician and author


RELATED BOOKS

Hunting with the Hawks

Graham Coetzer

Rapport 30 beste Bokke

Dawie Boonzaaier

Tell Me Your Story

Ruda Landman

Stellenbosch: Murder Town

Julian Jansen

The De Zalze Murders

Julian Jansen

Wie de hel is Johnny Joubert?

Dana Snyman

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom, 2nd edition

Johan Fourie

Balance of Power

Qaanitah Hunter

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom

Johan Fourie

Hijackers on Board

Cynthia Stimpel

Met my honde

Hilda Van Dyk, Kobus Olivier

Outopsie

Hestelle van Staden

Gang Town

Don Pinnock

Moord op Pofadder

Charné Kemp

Justice

Edwin Cameron

Behind Prison Walls

Edwin Cameron, Rebecca Gore, Sohela Surajpal

Moord op Stellenbosch

Julian Jansen

The New Apartheid

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh

The President's Keepers

Jacques Pauw

Confessor Cop

Jonathan Morris, Michael Behr

Firepool

Hedley Twidle

Black Racist Bitch

Thandiwe Ntshinga

Domestic Terror

Nechama Brodie

Dirty Tobacco

Telita Snyckers

Our Poisoned Land

Jacques Pauw

I Will Not Be Silenced

Karyn Maughan

Great Johannesburg

Nickolaus Bauer

The Enemy Within

Mpumelelo Mkhabela

The Thabo Bester Story

Marecia Damons, Daniel Steyn

The Shadow State

Jeff Wicks

The Future

Dion Chang, Bronwyn Williams, Faeeza Khan

Blood has a voice

Hestelle van Staden

Nuclear

Karyn Maughan, Kirsten Pearson

The Murder of Deveney Nel

Julian Jansen

Wit issie 'n colour nie

Nathan Trantraal

Soul of a Nation

Oyama Mabandla

Skatryk

Johan Fourie

Capture in the Court

Dan Mafora

The Lie of 1652

Patric Mellet

Not without my dogs

Hilda Van Dyk, Kobus Olivier

Die moord op Deveney Nel

Julian Jansen

Eight Days in July

Kaveel Singh, Jeff Wicks, Qaanitah Hunter