It will be a funeral for all time. A funeral for the world like no other. We are told that a thousand or more will attend. Millions around the world will be watching..
Leaders of countries from around the world, present and past, will be invited and attending. Who? And what will the world be thinking as it watches?
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Will Vladimir Putin be there? The Chinese president? Robert Mugabe? The president of Ukraine? The leaders of repressive regimes?
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From this side of the Atlantic, we hear that Barack Obama will be there with former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. That Stephen Harper will be going along with former prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell and Jean Chrétien. Joe Clark has been visiting the Ivory Coast and will travel from there.
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Like it or not, they will all be measuring themselves against the gold standard of leadership, the man they come to honour: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
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How will they see themselves, and how will they be seen?
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And what will the future hold, when they are all back home?
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PJ and Rosalind Robertson
Morrisburg
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(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
Robertson writes – “Like it or not, they will all be measuring themselves against the gold standard of leadership, the man they come to honour: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela”. “The gold standard of leadership” – not so fast. The rest of the story needs to be heard too before you make Mandela a god/Saint –
“By contrast, even in the late 1980’s, shortly before the Apartheid regime surrendered to overwhelming global pressure to hand over power, Western leaders saw Mandela and his “African National Congress” in a very different light. “The ANC is a typical terrorist organization,” explained former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. U.S. President Ronald Reagan put Mandela and the ANC on the American terrorist list in the 1980s”.[http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/africa/item/17106-in-death-as-in-life-truth-about-mandela-overlooked]
“Mandela signed one of the world’s most liberal pro-abortion laws, supported same-sex “marriage,” and was a member of the South African Communist Party”. [http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-life-leaders-urge-caution-while-pope-and-bishops-praise-controversial-n].
Ah yes… Nelson Mandela = Satan himself.
No surprise here.
Attitudes and opinions change as time passes. Yesterday’s heroes are suddenly seen as flawed humans and people find a way to sympathize with villains. Discrimination in the 19th century was a fact of civilized nature but in the 21st century it is a crime. People of conscience may be characterized as terrorists at first but then hailed as great humanitarians.
It is the status quo that is villainous. Change is necessary for civilization to advance.
Furtz: Are you not going out on a limb agreeing with me?
Yes I know, Mr Newton. Pieter Willem Botha was more to your liking. A true humanitarian who worked tirelessly for Christ and people of South Africa.
Mandela was a terrorist. All the high-fiving and jumping on the funeral pyre is PC nonsense run amok.
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Obamy weeps a salty fuccen tear.
@Reg Coffey
Nicely stated sir and too true.
Furtz writes -“A true humanitarian who worked tirelessly for Christ and people of South Africa”.
Is this what you mean Furtz “In some ways, Botha’s application of the apartheid system was less repressive than that of his predecessors: interracial marriage and miscegenation – both completely banned since the late 1940s – was legalised, and the constitutional prohibition on multiracial political parties was lifted. He also relaxed the Group Areas Act, which barred non-whites from living in certain areas. In 1983, the above constitutional reforms granted limited political rights to Coloureds and Indians. Botha also became the first South African government leader to authorise contacts with Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned leader of the African National Congress. However, in the face of rising discontent and violence, Botha refused to cede political power to blacks and imposed greater security measures against anti-apartheid activists. Botha also refused to negotiate with the ANC”.?
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._W._Botha.%5D
In Wikipedia, it does not mention Botha’s religious affiliation, so if you have a link to your statement Furtz, to prove it, it would be nice to see. Wikipedia goes on to say -“Thousands were detained without trial during Botha’s presidency, while others were tortured and killed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found Botha responsible for gross violations of human rights.[6] He was also found to have directly authorised ‘unlawful activity which included killing.’However, Botha refused to apologise for apartheid. In a 2006 interview to mark his 90th birthday, he suggested that he had no regrets about the way he had run the country.”
“Former President Nelson Mandela was reported as saying “while to many Mr Botha will remain a symbol of apartheid, we also remember him for the steps he took to pave the way towards the eventual peacefully negotiated settlement in our country.”
Doesn’t sound like what you allege – “A true humanitarian who worked tirelessly for Christ and people of South Africa”. Seems you would say the same thing about Hitler, Stalin, and yes, Mandela.
@ Newton. Went right over your head, as usual.
Nobody is saying Mandela was a saint, but after twenty seven years in prison, he came out without bitterness or seeking revenge. He in fact managed to turn SA into somewhat of a democracy and put an end to apartheid. And most important, he steered SA through the process avoiding an all out civil war and all the bloodshed that would entail. And, of course, you consider him evil because he supported gay and women’s rights, and as a young man he belonged to a communist organization.
@Furtz
All that.
Nelson Mandela also did more stir positive political consciousness and reduce apathy among young people around the world than any other political figure of the last century.
Sometimes it’s the symbolism of the individual’s struggle that touches the masses not the details of their personal life.