Marriage in Africa

When the law of the state collides with the law of God, there is bound to be trouble for both state and church. Presumably, the racist Malan government of South Africa, when it banned marriages between people of white and Negro ancestry last year, hoped to avoid such complications, but it was clear that they were not to be avoided. South Africa's churchmen declared war on the "mixed marriages" act.

The President of the Methodist Church of South Africa called the law "nonChristian" and said: "We believe that all peoples of God's family have an equal right in His sight." The Roman Catholic Apostolic Delegate in Natal said: "I can see nothing which can scripturally forbid mixed marriages." The Anglican Bishop of Natal denounced the law as "utterly stupid and completely unworkable."

Some of the churchmen put their protests into action. In Capetown, Roman Catholic Father Thomas L. Gill went ahead" and married a white man and a "slightly colored" woman, was convicted and fined $56. An Anglican priest in Natal resigned his appointment as a marriage officer and surrendered his license to the government as a protest against the act. Last week ministers in South Africa were considering a call from Anglican Father Trevor Huddleston of Johannesburg to follow suit.

On such a united front there was one notable exception. The Dutch Reformed Church, dominant in South Africa, supports the "white supremacy" attitude of the Malan government.

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