ZCC Bishop BE Lekganyane is right in calling on parents to bring up their children to accept God. God-less children are likely to become rascals without values and perpetuate the evil of many of their elders.

ZCC Bishop BE Lekganyane is right in calling on parents to bring up their children to accept God. God-less children are likely to become rascals without values and perpetuate the evil of many of their elders.

The bishop's call in Mmabatho, North West on Sunday, coincided with the message of the national launch of our party, the Alliance of Free Democrats, the day before. Our message to parents and communities was: Protect the children, develop the youth.

Protecting children by instilling the acceptance of God, the embracing of Christian values and respecting elders is vital in a world bent on a God-less path.

But for parents to "teach their children to accept God" implies that they themselves must not only be God-fearing, but must also accept Christian values of love, ubuntu, charity, respect, honesty and truthfulness. Parents without such values cannot teach their children morality and their children will assume the fate of a stray dog: running unnoticed.

But what can mothers who dump babies in toilets teach anybody anything of value? Or fathers who deny paternity or rape their own daughters? Is the man who brutally hacked a five-year-old boy worthy of being called a father, let alone a human being? Long live Bishop Lekganyane's message, long live!

Professor Themba Sono President: AFD