When ‘torch bearers’ make mistakes

I was with my two sons when I went to see someone I owed money. I gave him the cash. After he counted the money, it transpired that I overpaid him by K4 000. He returned the extra cash and I thanked him for that. For the purpose of this article, I am not going to talk about my arithmetic skills. I am not also going to talk about what message I sent to the children when I ask them to be good in arithmetic. That is for another day.
As we returned home, the older son remarked that the individual who returned the K 4000 was an honest man. That was true. But I took the opportunity to ask the boy what he would have done if he were in the shoes of the good man. “Would you have returned the money?” The boy said he would not. I did not judge the boy, but I often take these discussions seriously as learning or teaching moments. So, I asked what, then, would he have done? “I would give the K4 000 to charity.” Well, a supposed noble goal from stolen money is not. Then, I went on to ask both boys whether an individual can be both good and bad. “Yes”, they chorused. “It is like Dr Victor Von Doom.” And the children were right. The cartoon character, Dr Victor von Doom from Latveria is both a good and a bad person. Quite patriotic sometimes, especially to his nation Latveria, he can also be the embodiment of pure evil. It is possible to be both good and bad and many of us are like Dr von Doom.
Two stories have touched my heart. One is the story about a civil society officer, whose work involved the promotion and protection of other people, being accused of sexually molesting a minor. Another of a pastor who was arrested for impregnating his niece. Let me state that since both cases are before the courts, we should restrain ourselves from treating the involved adults as guilty. That aside, there are a few comments we can still make.
The public disgust and outrage associated with both cases is understandable. However, the public sentiments targeting the NGO, church or religion as a group is not. NGOs and churches do not preach such practices and errors. Its members are defective humans who end up abusing children despite all what they know or what they preach.
Despite the fact that church leaders are required to be exemplary, a Christian church would be led astray if it modelled its behaviour on pastors instead of Jesus. As for NGOs, the Republican Constitution will be the standard and not individuals. While this is sad and we would have wished its members and officers were the standard, unfortunately this is not always the case.