Nelson Mandela died last Thursday Dec. 5, 2013. Since then the world seems to be mourning his death and celebrating his life. It's remarkable how so many people with various ideologies and values revere and honor Nelson Mandela. And that is what got me questioning...
Who was Nelson Mandela? And how can it be that everyone loves him? Why?
I had grown up in the '80's as a typical American kid who knew that apartheid was evil and Mandela was the hero-leader of a South African movement to end it, and hence wrongfully imprisoned by the apartheid South African government.
Then 27 years later he reappeared upon his release from prison and subsequent election to become South Africa's President. Real story book stuff... from prisoner to president.
About 20 years later the world mourns his death. Seeming every dignitary attends his funeral. Interested in the outpouring of love and admiration, I decided to start reading about Nelson Mandela. But most articles seemed hagiographic. Was Nelson Mandela a saint? But even saintly characters like the Dalai Llama are hated (i.e. Maoist Chinese.)
So I googled Nelson Mandela truth... just to see what would pop up. I couldn't resist going down that rabbit hole. Then I listened to some South African people who lived in South Africa in the 50's and 60's.
Turns out I had reason to be suspicious.
He and his (ex)wife, Winnie, are thought of as terrorist by some.
As one blog commentator wrote in response to the Blaze's article celebrating Mandela:
In his book, ”Long Walk to Freedom”, Peace Laurette, Mandela writes that as a leading member of the ANC’s executive committee, he had “personally signed off” in approving these acts of terrorism :
1981 – 2 car bombs at Durban showrooms
1983 – Church Street Bomb (killed 19, wounded 217)
1984 – Durban car bomb (killed 5, wounded 27)
1985-1987 – At least 150 landmines on farm roads (killed 125)
1985 – Amanzimtoti Sanlam shopping centre bomb Dec 23 (killed 2 white women and 3 white children)
1986 – Magoo’s Bar bomb (killed 3, wounded 69)
1986 – Newcastle Court bomb (wounded 24)
1987 – Johannesburg Court bomb (killed 3, wounded 10)
1987 – Wits command centre car bomb (killed 1, wounded 68)
1988 – Johannesburg video arcade (killed 1 unborn baby, wounded 10)
1988 – Roodepoort bank bomb (killed 4, wounded 18)
1988 – Pretoria Police housing unit, 2 bombs (wounded 3)
1988 – Magistrate’s Court bomb (killed 3)
1988 – Benoni Wimpy Bar bomb (killed 1, wounded 56)
1988 – Witbank shopping centre bomb (killed 2, wounded 42)
1988 – Ellis Park Rugby Stadium car bomb (killed 2, wounded 37)
Late 1980s – numerous Wimpy Restaurant bombs (killed many, wounded many)
Now, what is the context in which this excerpt is taken? I don't know. What does the writer mean when he says "personally signed off"? Again, I don't know. I would need to read the book to find out more details.
So, then I started reading older articles like this own from the New York Times in '97:
So it seems irrefutable that Mandela was a communist. Fine, I disagree with his politics. So what? I care how a person behaves, not their politics.
Ultimately I am left unsure about Nelson Mandela. I spoke personally with a historian here in Houston regarding Mandela. I wanted to know a more objective view about the man, his history, and his actions. She said simply... "We won't know that for probably another 10 years... at least."
I called (as did others) Dennis Prager to get his opinion on Mandela and he said the best assessment of his life was from the Wall Street Journal:
Prager's on-air answer was this:
"The fact of the matter is, starting out as a Marxist, pro-communist, pro-soviet, and retaining very immoral views with regard to much of the world situation - He did magnificent good inside of South Africa. One can walk and chew gum at the same time with regard to Nelson Mandela. Recognizing the good that he did in his own country, he was personally a man of tremendous forgiveness, and is to be owed great credit for that living after 27 years in prison and a lousy prison experience at that...
All I need you to do to understand the good he did in South Africa is to look at neighboring Zimbabwe... Where you have the massacre and torture of political opponents, where you had a currency that didn't exist, where you had endemic corruption, where you had a country rich in food and then unable to feed its own people, tremendous racism against whites. You did not have that [in South Africa] because of Nelson Mandela.
On the other hand the loyalty to people like Moammar Gaddafi, tyrants of other peoples was a terrible flaw.
So, you have to compare in life people to their surroundings not to what we wish they would be..." - Dennis Prager: Dec. 09, 2013
Then Prager wisely referenced the Genesis line: "Noah was a righteous [and unblemished] man in his generations..." ~ Gen. 6:9
And why did the verse include "in his generations"? Because you must compare people with their time and surroundings.
It is precisely because of that kind of profound insight that I call Dennis Prager "my rabbi" (though not ordained, he is the man who taught me Torah, and he is also a great teacher of life and wisdom. Hence, the reason I called to get his opinion on Mandela.)
Who among us does not wish to be judged based on our surroundings? As I have said in other posts... CONTEXT MATTERS. A thousand years from now, our descendants who may derive all their sustenance through some sort of synthetic process may consider us barbarous heathens, because we actually eat food that requires destruction of plant or animal to obtain. Their judgement would be unfair, as our way of gaining nutrients is limited to the times and surroundings of our current existence. So just as you would want to be judged contextually, so we should judge others contextually.
This reminds me of the arguments I heard while in college that George Washington should not be considered a great man because he owned slaves. So what? Slavery was a ubiquitous practice among all nations in the past. Don't judge George Washington based on today's standards, judge him based on his surroundings. On the contrary, it makes him all the more remarkable that in his generation he desired a nation without slaves. In fact he was the the only southern slaveholder among the founding fathers to emancipate his slaves (Northerners, Franklin and Jay also owned slaves who they freed.) Also, he was opposed to the institution of slavery and expressed support for the gradual abolition of slavery. Again, compared to his surroundings Washington was a great man.
To be clear I am not comparing Mandela to Washington. Nor am I stating that if Mandela did in fact murder he should be absolved from his actions (again if he did them.) Murder is abhorrent regardless of surroundings. At this time it seems unclear the level of Mandela's activity (if any) in the ANC's immoral behavior.
Was Mandela a righteous man by many of our standards? Perhaps not, but to consider his life out of context reflects a poor ability to judge appropriately.
Was Nelson Mandela a man worthy of praise, honor, and respect considering his time and surroundings? At my current level of understanding and knowledge about the man, it would seem so.
Thoughts or arguments? Please respectfully post below. Thank you!
