Nelson Mandela's Example and Why We Should Follow It

[TemplarKormac]

He wasn't operating in a vacuum.

What?

He said what he said because of what the other guy said, i.e.: He wasn't operating in a vacuum.

Oh. I see.

 

[Pogo]

Blacks are over their heads in a civilized world, they should be be set free in the jungles of Africa

uh- "set free" huh? That's illustrative.

 

[Sallow]

You know, I just thought of something. It's frankly a rather disturbing realization I came to. Nelson Mandela practiced something that we as Americans embroiled in politics and political parties are at the moment incapable of. Forgiveness. His enemy was racial segregation, not other human beings. His goal was freedom and equality, not the ruination of his rivals. Unlike us, he didn't let his party run him or speak for him, he spoke for a peoples united in a great cause. He wasn't just a politician, he was a leader.

While racial segregation ended here in America nearly 50 years ago, a new form of segregation is taking root. I see Democrats and Republicans labeling each other stereotyping each other simply because of their political ideals. Instead of just black and white, it's also red versus blue. Mandela united a nation all by his lonesome. We as hundreds of millions of individuals cannot be united on any single given day. Instead, they are being taught to despise fellow countrymen for their beliefs, their backgrounds or their race. Not since 9/11 have we ever been truly united.

Our political system has engendered within us each a deep seated hatred of one another, making unity in America an impossible feat to accomplish. Nelson Mandela didn't see enemies, he saw opportunities. Whereas opposed to us, who seemingly see opportunities to make enemies. Mandela sought the chance to kindle understanding among his own people. Conversely, such understanding here in America is lost to petty political infighting in a supposedly united nation.

In a figurative sense, a sort of Apartheid has taken root here. On top of our petty political infighting, we seem to be doing the very same thing Mandela fought against with every fiber of his being. Racism. I don't really know if it has ended in America or not, to be honest. Because in the political world, someone's race can be his strength or his weakness. On this board, I see many examples of it daily. Normally, the merit of a man's ideas were what made him. Not his race, nor where he came from. How pathetic are we, that we as a nation can have our own principles of freedom, unity, and equality so easily demonstrated to us by a nation across the sea?

Perhaps we have it all wrong, maybe we should follow his example, Mandela's example. Call him a terrorist, or a hero if you like. Regardless, he taught the world to be free, again. Perhaps his example will help lead America back to what made it the land of the free, and home of the brave. Perhaps my friends, we can shed the chains of political bondage and learn to forgive again. Mandela once said, "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." To me that's unity; a unity we so often lack. He also was quoted as saying "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness." To me, that signifies that the capacity for forgiveness and understanding still exists in the hearts of men.

He was a real leader and a hero for his country like George Washington was for us.

He learned and grew over the course of his life and he set a high standard that has not been followed either in SA or here in the USA.

 

[Pogo]

Ben-

That was way out of line. I don't care who you are. Wishing that someone would die in an act of genocide or ethnic cleansing is wrong. I'm utterly shocked by the lack of civility you displayed here.

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

 

[TemplarKormac]

Ben-

That was way out of line. I don't care who you are. Wishing that someone would die in an act of genocide or ethnic cleansing is wrong. I'm utterly shocked by the lack of civility you displayed here.

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

 

[BDBoop]

Ben-

That was way out of line. I don't care who you are. Wishing that someone would die in an act of genocide or ethnic cleansing is wrong. I'm utterly shocked by the lack of civility you displayed here.

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

My post stands. Two wrongs don't make a right - but don't have the nerve to act surprised when somebody returns fire.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Ah, you commented that Mandela was wrong about the comment that the Iraq war would usher in a "holocaust." Hyperbole to be sure, but we got ethnic cleansing with all the associated butchery, and somewhere around 500K Iraqi dead. At the time, cheney was suggesting they'd throw roses and embrace capitalism.

Somewhere around 500k? I hope so...

What do you mean "you hope so"? You hope 500,000 people died? You and ben both need to rethink your mindsets here. No, it's not right to suggest or hope that 500k people are slaughtered, but isn't as equally disturbing to wish death on the person who said it? I mean come on. This is what Mandela strove against.

 

[TemplarKormac]

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

My post stands. Two wrongs don't make a right - but don't have the nerve to act surprised when somebody returns fire.

If I were afraid or surprised when someone returned fire, I wouldn't be here.

 

[Pogo]

Ben-

That was way out of line. I don't care who you are. Wishing that someone would die in an act of genocide or ethnic cleansing is wrong. I'm utterly shocked by the lack of civility you displayed here.

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

Not the point. I noticed you chose to highlight only the second one.

Until now that is.

 

[TemplarKormac]

-- and the post he referred to wasn't?

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

Not the point. I noticed you chose to highlight only the second one.

Until now that is.

No, I didn't notice the first one. Posting on a smartphone kinda does that. I was running errands at the time for my grandmother. Now that I'm at my desk again, I can properly investigate and respond accordingly. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Satisfied?

 

[Pogo]

Two wrongs don't make a right, Pogo.

Not the point. I noticed you chose to highlight only the second one.

Until now that is.

No, I didn't notice the first one. Posting on a smartphone kinda does that. I was running errands at the time for my grandmother. Now that I'm at my desk again, I can properly investigate and respond accordingly. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Satisfied?

Obviously an oversight. Just a thought, I try to never comment without knowing the background. Gets you in sticky situations.

I can't even imagine posting on this board over a phone though. Must be limiting.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Correct, there are racists in the democratic AND Independents as well.

But that's like telling me there is a snake loose in my backyard...WHILE a robber has broken into the living room, and has a loaded gun to my head robbing me.


Both problems need to be addressed immediately, yet one is a TAD bit more pressing.


Thus, my commentary focused on the scumbag with a Gloc™ at my dome.


Can You Dig It?

the guy with the glock can be a Democrat as well as a Republican....it all depends on what the situation is at the time....

 

[Zona]

We should sing about killing white people and throw burning tires around people!? Nah no thanks.

STFU tank 2.


OH and god bless.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Not the point. I noticed you chose to highlight only the second one.

Until now that is.

No, I didn't notice the first one. Posting on a smartphone kinda does that. I was running errands at the time for my grandmother. Now that I'm at my desk again, I can properly investigate and respond accordingly. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Satisfied?

Obviously an oversight. Just a thought, I try to never comment without knowing the background. Gets you in sticky situations.

I can't even imagine posting on this board over a phone though. Must be limiting.

Well not as much as you think, but yeah, I tend to agree. I hate repping people and not being able to leave a comment. Takes me to some random page when I try. The refreshing gets old after a while, too. Even then I don't see all of the posts.

 

[JimH52]

Mandela did, though, allude to a symbiotic relationship with the Communists in his bestselling biography, The Long Walk to Freedom. "There will always be those who say that the Communists were using us," he wrote. "But who is to say that we were not using them?"

Mandela wrote a book. How to be a good communist. It is still available.

I guess you watch the news with the sound off. It must be a pain to see him recognized as a great man, huh? Funny Sh*t

 

[deltex1]

Ah, you commented that Mandela was wrong about the comment that the Iraq war would usher in a "holocaust." Hyperbole to be sure, but we got ethnic cleansing with all the associated butchery, and somewhere around 500K Iraqi dead. At the time, cheney was suggesting they'd throw roses and embrace capitalism.

Somewhere around 500k? I hope so...

What do you mean "you hope so"? You hope 500,000 people died? You and ben both need to rethink your mindsets here. No, it's not right to suggest or hope that 500k people are slaughtered, but isn't as equally disturbing to wish death on the person who said it? I mean come on. This is what Mandela strove against.

Are you chagrined that 3 million Germans died in ww2? War is hell, junior...so be careful who you attack/piss off.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Somewhere around 500k? I hope so...

What do you mean "you hope so"? You hope 500,000 people died? You and ben both need to rethink your mindsets here. No, it's not right to suggest or hope that 500k people are slaughtered, but isn't as equally disturbing to wish death on the person who said it? I mean come on. This is what Mandela strove against.

Are you chagrined that 3 million Germans died in ww2? War is hell, junior...so be careful who you attack/piss off.

Is that a threat, mister?

Yes, I know war is hell, most of my family has been in the military at some point in the past century. Some of them never made it back. But if this is how you react to criticism, I feel very sorry for you.

I am very chagrined at any losses of life. Frankly I detest violence. But on the flip side violence is necessary, per the example of Nelson Mandela. As it has been said, "speak softly and carry a big stick."

 

[Amelia]

Mandela practiced Second Amendment solutions when he saw no other recourse.

 

[Unkotare]

Somewhere around 500k? I hope so...

What do you mean "you hope so"? You hope 500,000 people died? You and ben both need to rethink your mindsets here. No, it's not right to suggest or hope that 500k people are slaughtered, but isn't as equally disturbing to wish death on the person who said it? I mean come on. This is what Mandela strove against.

Are you chagrined that 3 million Germans died in ww2? War is hell, junior...so be careful who you attack/piss off.

The Iraqi people were suffering under saddam before we came in. They were not our enemy. The terrorists who fomented unrest in the aftermath of saddam's swift defeat? Sure. But not the common Iraqi people.

 

[Yurt]

You know, I just thought of something. It's frankly a rather disturbing realization I came to. Nelson Mandela practiced something that we as Americans embroiled in politics and political parties are at the moment incapable of. Forgiveness. His enemy was racial segregation, not other human beings. His goal was freedom and equality, not the ruination of his rivals. Unlike us, he didn't let his party run him or speak for him, he spoke for a peoples united in a great cause. He wasn't just a politician, he was a leader.

While racial segregation ended here in America nearly 50 years ago, a new form of segregation is taking root. I see Democrats and Republicans labeling each other or stereotyping each other simply because of their political ideals. Instead of just black and white, it's also red versus blue. Mandela united a nation all by his lonesome. We as hundreds of millions of individuals cannot be united on any single given day. Instead, we are being taught to despise fellow countrymen for their beliefs, their backgrounds or their race. Not since 9/11 have we ever been truly united.

Our political system has engendered within us each a deep seated hatred of one another, making unity in America an impossible feat to accomplish. Nelson Mandela didn't see enemies, he saw opportunities. Whereas opposed to us, who seemingly see opportunities to make enemies. Mandela sought the chance to kindle understanding among his own people. Conversely, such understanding here in America is lost to petty political infighting in a supposedly united nation.

In a figurative sense, a sort of Apartheid has taken root here. On top of our petty political infighting, we seem to be doing the very same thing Mandela fought against with every fiber of his being. Racism. I don't really know if it has ended in America or not, to be honest. Because in the political world, someone's race can be his strength or his weakness. On this board, I see many examples of it daily. Normally, the merit of a man's ideas were what made him. Not his race, nor where he came from. How pathetic are we, that we as a nation can have our own principles of freedom, unity, and equality so easily demonstrated to us by a nation across the sea?

Perhaps we have it all wrong, maybe we should follow his example, Mandela's example. Call him a terrorist, or a hero if you like. Regardless, he taught the world to be free, again. Perhaps his example will help lead America back to what made it the land of the free, and home of the brave. Perhaps my friends, we can shed the chains of political bondage and learn to forgive again. Mandela once said, "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." To me that's unity; a unity we so often lack. He also was quoted as saying "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness." To me, that signifies that the capacity for forgiveness and understanding still exists in the hearts of men.

TK's main points are the truth folks. this is what we need to do. we have become so divisive in this great nation that we rarely have civil discussions about politics anymore. you're a nazi, you're a reactionary....etc..

we can do better. we should and must come together and continue to make this country great. we will never always agree on everything, we are a republic, we have a vote, we have a voice, let us exercise that voice in a responsible manner. in a manner you would treat your neighbor. not your enemy. the longer we continue to treat each other as enemies, the sooner we become enemies of the ideals of this great country.

we can disagree, but we are not enemies. we are a society and we must work together to keep this great country............great.