Nelson Mandela has passed away>>>MOD WARNING<<<

Why should someone be respectful to a man who was on a terror list of many countries for decades!

Should we be respectful to Osama Bin Laden and other killers too?

 

This part of what you said I agree with.

 

Yeah, because we know that race wasn't a big issue in South Africa.....Give me a break.

 

Thanks for posting that.

 

He looked beyond that and took the attitude of all humans should be respected. He didn't hold animosity and started them out with a tabula rasa.

Mandela was a firm believer in Democracy, and would abide by the decisions of a democratic process even if he was deeply opposed to the result personally. He helped craft the South African Constitution of 1996, which is a very straightforward document. That the implementation of the Constitution is flawed shows how far the country still has to go.

Look at his attitude out of prison. He brought Apartheid to an end without tearing the country asunder with a civil war. He reconciled with his enemies and advocated that there be fairness even to those who advocated Apartheid. You don't see that attitude from most people.

 

Nope. His administration was filled with corruption and his wife Winnie was involved in some very shady dealings even when they were married; South Africa's crime rate during his term was one of the worst in the world; and he turned a blind-eye to HIV/AIDS. He did very little to actually advance blacks in SA. He did not suffer because of his cause--he was imprisoned because he was a militant who was trying to overthrow the government by force. He was not MLK or Ghandi. He was a politician, not a saint.

 

That's pretty much all of humanity though. Greeks, Romans, Asians, Africans, Europeans and so on and so forth. We've all done it to one another at one point or another throughout history.

 

Yet he himself was uncorrupted, the crime rate was to be expected, AIDs in Africa is a widespread cultural problem and he was an old man by the time he got to be President. Blacks were advanced hugely by the end of apartheid. He was imprisoned because an evil government was trying to continue an evil policy, which he fought against, and yes he certainly did suffer in prison. Indeed, he never claimed to be a saint, nor does anyone else. That's just something you've made up.

 

Condoleezza Rice on the passing of Nelson Mandela.

"Throughout history, a few special people have been able to transcend differences and change the world for the better. Nelson Mandela was one of those people who had a vision for human rights and equality. Those beliefs made him the father of multi ethnic democracy in South Africa. All freedom loving people will miss him but we will never forget his sacrifice and his achievements. My prayers and my thoughts are with him and with the people of South Africa."


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Photograph: Condoleezza Rice greeting Nelson Mandela in the Oval Office.


Video: Condoleezza Rice on overcoming painful history, building democracy, compassion, x 4 aid in Africa, making a better world.


[video=youtube;_hUbhMHqHoM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hUbhMHqHoM&amp;list=PLC88 B108ED71F35D4[/video]

I've enhanced (I trust) this video with a backdrop to give the impression of Condoleezza Rice speaking to us from Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, as if she has been to the mountain top, and from and with that vantage point, with her far-sighted vision, she leads the world into a better future, in a way most worthy of the vision of Nelson Mandela.

 

South Africa's murder rate for all races peaked in the period during and following the transition to democracy and the murder rate in South Africa peaked at 62.5 in 1994. But it had fallen to less than 43 murders per 100 000 by 2003/4 and it has continued to decline to 30.9 for 2011/12, which is lower than the murder rate documented in 1970 under apartheid. Coloured victims are over-represented in homicide statistics, while Indian and White victims constitute a smaller proportion (less than 0.5%) of homicide victims than their shares of the population.

http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/cvi_second_review_ch7.pdf

 

This is the greatest loss for humanity. It was obviously expected that he would not live much longer, but his peaceful influence on racial injustices and on moving his country into the right direction without bloodsheds will always be remember by all those of good will.

I am not sure what his religious affiliation (if any) was, but in my eyes, he would be just as (maybe more) worthy of sainthood than ANY of the Catholic saints in many centuries!

 

Wonder never cease!

I actually am grateful to you for posting this quote. >>>MOD EDIT: INSULT<<

 

Mandela was a Protestant......You've got a better chance at winning the lottery by far than him being canonized by the Catholic Church at least.

 

Because you really believe that injustice and oppression that have lasted centuries can be redressed and forgotten in 20 years?
How unrealistic is that?

I wonder WHICH leader you would be willing to look at at praise for his achievements. . . Please let us know!

 

Mandela was a well read man. He will be missed...

 

First, let me say that I do not have much knowledge or any special "respect" for most of the Saints.

So. . .whether or not the Catholic Church would even think of canonizing Mandela, is a moot point to me. . .it certainly doesn't take away from his greatness.

That being said, I believe that, when Pope Francis comes around to make a statement about the death of this world leader, it will be in the most positive, heartfelt way possible. . .

Basically, my comment was just met to demonstrate that I do not believe that any world leader, or any religious leader in the last few hundred years deserve more recognition for furthering the goals of freedom, justice, equality and the best characteristics of true democracy than this man.

If he was an atheist, a Buddhist, a Muslim, or a Catholic. . .I would feel EXACTLY the same way about his achievements and the way he overcame the tragedy of his long and unfair jail time.

 

I think Nelson Mandela received a lot of negative press because of Winnie's pro-statements about necklacing of white collaborators by the ANC however, his basic story of forgiveness for his jailers is inspiring.

 

south africa has huge social problems there was no one who would've done any better correcting that...uniting a racial divided country avoiding civil war was an immense achievement it all could've ended up very badly...after spending 23years in prison most people would've come out bitter and set on bloody revenge and not reconciliation...

 

notice there are whites joining in?...my south afrikan friend used to sing it to me he thought it was hilarious because a relative of mine was the first Apartheid Prime minister...had I been a coloured south african and not a white boer I would have sung it too....

 

I&#8217;d love to pose what I think to be a fair & honest question to your point (that I whole-heartedly agree with)

Does your same logic (of what the white South Africans did to the Black native South Africans) apply to the pilgrims that came to these shores and literally ran off people that were here before them, who were perfectly willing to share the land??

Before you answer&#8230;&#8230;my answer would be a big fat whopping YES!!!!

Regarding Nelson Mandela, I agree with the president, we'll probably never see another one of his likes ever again, sadly........

 

This.

And I think it is important to note that at the end of his first term- he chose to step down and allow the democratic process to work.

While the transition from a racist apartheid government to a Democratic government for all has not been without lots of problems, his efforts in the transition are inspirational.

 

A fool to criticize Mandela? Do you know anything about the man at all? If you are interested in learning the kinds of things he did before he became a "celebrity", read on:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/africa/item/15888-saint-mandela-not-so-fast
http://americanfreepress.net/?p=11873

Needless to say, it doesn't surprise me at all that Obama idolizes him, even flying the American flag at half-staff for Mandela, even though this is supposed to be an honor reserved for American citizens! But, hell, who knows... maybe Mandela was born here, too... (?)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/obama-flags-nelson-mandela_n_4394988.html

 

I totally agree! In fact, I have a little anecdote that stays in my mind anytime the 1994 democratic, peaceful elections that brought Mandela to power in South Africa is discussed.

In 1975, we lived near Versaille, in France, in an area where a lot of foreigners from all over the world lived (Parly II). One of my neighbor was a young woman with two children, who was born and raised in South Africa and was part of the White elite there. While her husband was still in South Africa, he had insisted that she leaves the country of her birth because they were so much in fear of a potential Black rebellion. She told me how she feared that, any night, Black people would enter her mansion and massacre her whole family. She wanted to stay with her husband, she wanted to go back to her home country, and was HOPING that something would happen to defuse the risk of bloodshed that would result from a rebellion.

A few months later, instead of going back to South Africa has she had planned, she moved to England with her children, hoping that her husband would join them there.

Several years later, we connected again in England. By then, she WAS on her way back to South Africa. That was AFTER Mandela's election and, by then, she was reassured that, AT LEAST, she would no longer have to fear the massacre that she had spent so many years expecting to happen any day!

 

do you have statistic of the white farmers´ murder rate ?

 

some irony here, my coloured south african friend can't even persuade his wife and kids to even to return to visit. they say it's gotten far to violent...