Dr. Alveda King, niece of the great Martin Luther King, comments on the death of President Nelson Mandela. You can read the full text here.
“President Nelson Mandela paid a heavy price to stand against apartheid while campaigning for human justice and human dignity. His message still resonates though his weary, battle worn body has gone the way of those gone before him,” she said. “Long may we remember his courage.”
However, John Smeaton, of the British pro-life group SPUC had this to say:
“May God rest Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa who died last night, but … leaders have a duty to stand up to public figures with anti-life and anti-family records, however praiseworthy their record may be on other issues. The sanctity of human life and the dignity of the family are the foundation and guarantee of all other human rights.”
It is tragic that Mandella signed into law abortion on demand in 1996.
South Africa is the country of my birth and I have followed Mandel’s life with interest. But I have to recant my initial praise of him. I stood in his jail cell on Robben Island in 2005, and marveled at the resilience he must have had to withstand 27 years of imprisonment and hard labour. Since his death, however, I have begun to learn more about this man. He fought a brutal regime, but he also aligned himself with high ranking communists. His view on abortion and other social issues indicates that he had questionable values that in the end may tarnish his legacy.
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Great leader or terrorist? A fellow South African, Dr. Peter Hammond, wrote the following:
The fact is that even Amnesty International refused to take on Nelson Mandela’s case because they asserted that he was no political prisoner but had committed numerous violent crimes and had had a fair trial and a reasonable sentence.
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. He had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.
South African President P.W. Botha had, on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do.
Dr. Hammond seems to understate the unbelievable barbarity of the Apartheid regime.
All attempts at peace and equality on the part of black South Africans were met with systematic brutality, unlawful imprisonment, torture and murder. For Mandela, I believed he saw drastic measures as the only option; he intended to sabotage government property to get a fair hearing. But it seems there is more to this story.
It must be noted, however, that Botha’s offers to Mandela were about capitulation, in order to protect Apartheid. Mandela knew he was more powerful behind bars than free.
I did find this interview with Dr. Hammond enlightening and definitely worth viewing (both parts 1 and 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTFhaUYmzV0.
Know a bit about Ghandi. Know a bit about Martin Luther King Jr. Both were effective in defeating opponents. Method: Non violent protest.
More food for thought:
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/on-mandela-some-conservatives-get-it-and-others-quite-obviously-dont/
Good link Andrea.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was one of the greatest things that ever happened. I think it was Kissinger who, in leaving South Africa, said there was no chance of things working out – then along came this Commission. Some of Mandela’s jailors were on the stage at his inauguration. This is truly stunning. Is violence ever justified? Apartheid was unacceptable.
And another interesting take:
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/eon1209gs.html