Nelson Mandela has died

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Madiba was a great man, who achieved great things. His kindness and love of his fellow humans should be something every person strives for. Obviously he wasn’t perfect, but more good has come from this one man, then from any other single person alive today. The fact that a few members of this forum feel the need to demonize him is indicative of a serious problem in society. The fact that some of you are so blind to all of the good this man achieved, just because he disagreed with some of your views is astounding.
 
One_point said:
I agree with the poster who complained about those who can’t wait to speak ill of the dead as soon as or just hours after they die.
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The man is not even buried yet!

Me too. I find it uncharitable and unbecoming of Catholics. In the Catholic culture where I was raised no matter how bad the person was that just passed away, people did not speak badly of the person for at minimum nine days. If a word slipped they would pick it up and say: May my words not weigh on his soul. He is being judged as we all are going to be and we should be praying for his soul not condemning him. He is not even buried yet.

In other words, if you do not have prayers to offer nor anything good to say don’t say it. Hold your tongue and consider that a fellow human has passed away. Additionally and in particular to Mr. Nelson Mandela, we know that millions are mourning and we should respect and be considerate.

"The man is dead.” “The guy isn’t even cold yet.” “The earth hasn’t even settled on the man’s grave.”
ncregister.com/blog/steven-greydanus/how-should-we-speak-of-the-dead#ixzz2mjHCGvcq
 
Geist said:
Media did not laud Blessed John Paul the Second; they demonized him as allowing church pedophilia to run rampant, remember?
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I think the point of the picture was to show JPII with Mandela. You said that because the media likes him, we should be wary. Well, what about the fact that the Pope seemed to like him?

Also, JPII was held up as a god on earth by the media when he died. Yes, even secular US media.
 
Mandela was a real terrorist. He was a member the the ANC’s terrorist wing for years. He is responsible for the deaths of men, women and children through a bombing campaign that lasted for several years.

He wasn’t removed from the terrorist list until 2008.

I just don’t understand people’s thought processes here. Is it that easy to forget?
 
Abba said:
The man is not even buried yet!

Me too. I find it uncharitable and unbecoming of Catholics. In the Catholic culture where I was raised no matter how bad the person was that just passed away, people did not speak badly of the person for at minimum nine days. If a word slipped they would pick it up and say: May my words not weigh on his soul. He is being judged as we all are going to be and we should be praying for his soul not condemning him. He is not even buried yet.

In other words, if you do not have prayers to offer nor anything good to say don’t say it. Hold your tongue and consider that a fellow human has passed away. Additionally and in particular to Mr. Nelson Mandela, we know that millions are mourning and we should respect and be considerate.

"The man is dead.” “The guy isn’t even cold yet.” “The earth hasn’t even settled on the man’s grave.”
ncregister.com/blog/steven-greydanus/how-should-we-speak-of-the-dead#ixzz2mjHCGvcq
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Yes, very sad and very unbecoming and very uncharitable of our fellow Catholics. We have the fullness of faith, we receive all the graces known to man via the Sacraments and yet…It’s very disappointing, especially to a good friend who wants to join the Catholic Church.
 
corsair said:
Mandela was a real terrorist. He was a member the the ANC’s terrorist wing for years. He is responsible for the deaths of men, women and children through a bombing campaign that lasted for several years.

He wasn’t removed from the terrorist list until 2008.

I just don’t understand people’s thought processes here. Is it that easy to forget?
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How do you define terrorism?
 
Nelson Mandela will forever be remembered as the man who held out peace and reconciliation as the model to which a society torn by racial strife may finally get beyond all the terrible injustices of the past.
 
Claire091166 said:
Yes, very sad and very unbecoming and very uncharitable of our fellow Catholics. We have the fullness of faith, we receive all the graces known to man via the Sacraments and yet…It’s very disappointing, especially to a good friend who wants to join the Catholic Church.
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I’m very sad to hear that. I was worried about that when I first read through this thread, thinking what non-Catholics would think of the church and the people who populate her should they be surffing the internet about Nelson Mandela and happen to land on this thread.

Please tell your friend that these are simply ill manners. This is certainly not the time, not just from a catholic Christian view but from basic humanity and consideration. It has nothing to do with our faith. Our faith teaches us to have reverence for the departed and to pray for the repose of their souls. It also trains us to acknowledge and rejoice in goodness wherever we find it and goodness was certainly in Nelson Mandela. Our time shall also come. God forbid that our loved ones and mourners should be subjected to the same “reminders” of our shortcomings just as they are learning of and grieving our departure to the one judge of all souls. Lord, have mercy!

Eternal rest grant unto him (The Late Nelson Mandela) O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the soul of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
 
corsair said:
Mandela was a real terrorist. He was a member the the ANC’s terrorist wing for years. He is responsible for the deaths of men, women and children through a bombing campaign that lasted for several years.

He wasn’t removed from the terrorist list until 2008.

I just don’t understand people’s thought processes here. Is it that easy to forget?
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Terrorist or Freedom Fighter, Corsair?

I have no idea what the ANC’s terrorist wing may be. Umkhonto we sizwe, perhaps? Yes, the ANC was classed as a subversive terrorist organisation by the South African National Party government for a long time however it became a legitimate political party in the early '90’s.

It was your country that had all members of the ANC on your ‘terror watch’ list until 2008.

Please read the blog Maxirad links to for a better understanding of this.
Maxirad said:
Check out this blog commentary.
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Remember too that the man at whom you throw a blanket condemnation of being a terrorist stood up to his fellow ANC members against acts of violence until he was forced to conclude that there was no other way to gain basic human rights for dark skinned South Africans.

Also, he was, from his release on 11 February 1990 (and possibly before, I’m at work and can’t check easily) actively involved in the negotiated peace accord that led to our first democratic elections in 1994 which led to him becoming President of South Africa.

The peaceful transition from an oppresssive regime to one that gave the same rights to all citizens is one of Tata Madiba’s greatest successes. Former Freedom Fighter or Terrorist or not.

I notice too that some are trying to blame him for the present state of South Africa. Unfortunately the Presidents who followed him were not of the same calibre, but that is not a topic for this thread.

It would benefit those who are so quick to condemn this amazing and humble statesman if they were to take some time to study and ponder on his life and the circumstances in which he found himself before throwing labels around.
 
Thank you for bringing some sanity to this thread, VivienneJ, with the post just above this one.
 
Vouthon said:
Amen to that 👍 No one is perfect anyway. How many of us can claim to have endured unjustified imprisonment for nearly thirty years because we dared stand up to a racist regime which denied people basic human rights based upon the colour of their skin? For his courage and conviction on behalf of his oppressed people, he deserves full respect and praise. His legendary capacity to forgive and hold no ill will towards his tormentors, is a striding example of Christian grace. As a human being made in the image of God he likewise deserves the courtesy of human kindness now that he has passed from this world, as everyone does no matter what they believed.

That doesn’t mean we gloss over his faults. Nonetheless, they need not be mentioned so soon after his death when we should be committing him to the mercy of God.

May he rest in peace for eternity.
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Agreed. 👍 :gopray:
 
The untold story of Nelson Mandela thanks to Prananatha Prabhu: Nelson Mandela & the Bhagavad Gita.

I thought you might like to know a little bit of the untold side of Nelson Mandela. He came several times to ISKCON’s Ratha Yatra (Krishna religious parade) South Africa while he was president of the nation. The first time Bhakti Tirtha Swami met him, in the course of their conversation, Maharaja quoted a Gita verse. Half-way thru the verse, Mandela quoted the rest of it. Bhakti Tirtha Swami was surprised. He asked “You know the Gita?” Mandela said “Try me.” Every Gita verse Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja knew, Nelson knew as well. Naturally, Bhakti Tirtha Swami asked “How is this?” Nelson Mandela explained that he was imprisoned on Robbins Island along with some of his fellow leaders of their political party, the ANC. One of them was an Indian-bodied lawyer. The South African government tried to break them by giving them mindless labor and routine. Realizing that they needed to keep their minds actively engaged, the Indian lawyer taught Nelson Mandela Gita verses which they quoted and discussed back and forth to transcend their daily drudgery.

Nelson Mandela told Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja that learning the Gita helped keep him sane and did much to infuse his view of the world and his strategies for bringing independence and a better future for the South African people. Bhakti Chaitanya Maharaja…adds: "When Mr. Mandela visited our temple the first time (he came several times thereafter as well) he, with dignity but humility bowed before Srila Prabhupada, and then asked (me) “How did he do it?”, meaning how did Srila Prabhupada spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. We then had a brief discussion about how Srila Prabhupada gave Krishna consciousness to all nationalities and types of people, without discrimination, and Mr Mandela was deeply struck by this, and was very appreciative of Srila Prabhupada.
 
Geist said:
This is precisely what I’m talking about. A violent communist is equivalent to Christ? :mad:
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Mandela was not a communist… He Was a capitalist and so is the ANC. South AFrica is a capitalist nation. Get your facts straight before you slate somebody. Secondly Mandela was not violent at all. He actually all violence even that promoted by the military group of the ANC. Who lied to you about this man? I’m south African and know my history.

Secondly I agree Mandela cannot be compared to Jesus. In fact Mandela was a Christian so its pretty dumb
 
Wandile said:
Mandela was not a communist… He Was a capitalist and so is the ANC. South AFrica is a capitalist nation. Get your facts straight before you slate somebody. Secondly Mandela was not violent at all. He actually all violence even that promoted by the military group of the ANC. Who lied to you about this man? I’m south African and know my history.

Secondly I agree Mandela cannot be compared to Jesus. In fact Mandela was a Christian so its pretty dumb
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My condolences on your loss, which is also the world’s loss. Sorry you had to be exposed to this, but please understand that the word ‘communist’ is used very loosely these days - often simply to denote a person with whose views one does not agree.

We remember with you, we celebrate the good he accomplished with you. Peace. 🙂
 
Many people have brought up the idea that Mr. Mandela was a practitioner of violence, perhaps even terrorism. I can’t speak to whether that’s true or not, but if it’s true, perhaps that’s why he was so forgiving once he became President. Perhaps he felt that it would have been hypocritical to condemn the whites for doing things that he himself may have done.
 
Hypocritical I agree, to consider Mandela’s supposed ‘violence’ in some sort of monocular vacuum that completely ignores the historical fact of apartheid - an obscene and insidiously evil system against which I know not a single American who would consider self defense a morally unjustifiable response.
 
Abba said:
The man is not even buried yet!

Me too. I find it uncharitable and unbecoming of Catholics. In the Catholic culture where I was raised no matter how bad the person was that just passed away, people did not speak badly of the person for at minimum nine days. If a word slipped they would pick it up and say: May my words not weigh on his soul. He is being judged as we all are going to be and we should be praying for his soul not condemning him. He is not even buried yet.

In other words, if you do not have prayers to offer nor anything good to say don’t say it. Hold your tongue and consider that a fellow human has passed away. Additionally and in particular to Mr. Nelson Mandela, we know that millions are mourning and we should respect and be considerate.

Very well said. My prayers are with him, his family and the people of South Africa.

"The man is dead.” “The guy isn’t even cold yet.” “The earth hasn’t even settled on the man’s grave.”
ncregister.com/blog/steven-greydanus/how-should-we-speak-of-the-dead#ixzz2mjHCGvcq
Click to expand...
 
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