R.I.P Nelson Mandela

[SuperSheep]

Died tonight at the age of 95, if you ever wanted a defenition of a hero look no further; a truly wonderful man who made the whole world a better place.

RIP

[DCFC_17]

Top man, stood up for what is right 

[sage]

Greatest politician of all time.

[uttoxram75]

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

 

Nelson Mandela.

[froggg]

Goodnight Nelson........Top fella..... :cool:

[eddie]

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner."

 

Rest in peace, the greatest man of my lifetime.

[PrivateDerby]

He certainly led an interesting life.

[derbydan]

Stopped apartheid but also was the head of an organisation that blew up a shopping centre, banks ect certainly not a saint / hero but each to their own 

[eddie]

Stopped apartheid but also was the head of an organisation that blew up a shopping centre, banks ect certainly not a saint / hero but each to their own 

 

Not a saint or hero?

 

Which was the lesser of two evils - apartheid or a few power lines?

 

"At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force.

This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961, which is exhibit AD, we said:

'The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.'

Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or take over the Government. We chose to defy the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the Government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer with violence."

 

As far as 'each to their own' is concerned, who are yours - Eugene Terreblanche's fine upstanding white boys?

[Leon the ram 2009]

He got to 95 which is no mean fete.......Paul walker died when he reached 90....

[Grimbeard]

So if Mandela was a hero, does that also mean that I.R.A. leaders or the leaders of other terrorist groups are heroes too?

 

Greatest polititian of all time? Why?

[PrivateDerby]

Stopped apartheid but also was the head of an organisation that blew up a shopping centre, banks ect certainly not a saint / hero but each to their own

Necklacing...

[uttoxram75]

So if Mandela was a hero, does that also mean that I.R.A. leaders or the leaders of other terrorist groups are heroes too?

 

Greatest polititian of all time? Why?

The South African government banned peaceful protest and massacred unarmed people who had the temerity to ask for a say in how their own country was run.

Should the ANC have just not bothered and left the murderous whites in charge for ever?

 

The africans got their country back because of the immense personal courage of Mandela and others like him. For him then to renounce violence and forgive the people who had treated blacks worse than they did their animals, is indeed heroic.

 

Saint? No

Hero? Yes

[smiffy]

So if Mandela was a hero, does that also mean that I.R.A. leaders or the leaders of other terrorist groups are heroes too?

 

Greatest polititian of all time? Why?

Mate look at your history, those Paddy's took some serious sh it from us before they started to fight back, we were real barstewards

[Grimbeard]

The South African government banned peaceful protest and massacred unarmed people who had the temerity to ask for a say in how their own country was run.

Should the ANC have just not bothered and left the murderous whites in charge for ever?

 

The africans got their country back because of the immense personal courage of Mandela and others like him. For him then to renounce violence and forgive the people who had treated blacks worse than they did their animals, is indeed heroic.

 

Saint? No

Hero? Yes

To an extent I agree with the above, but my question was, apart from being sent to prison for plotting acts of terrorism, what did Mandela actually do to warrent such adulation?

 

Mate look at your history, those Paddy's took some serious sh it from us before they started to fight back, we were real barstewards

We? I wasn't a barsteward to any Irishman. And in any case would that excuse blowing up women and children in Birmingham or Warrington? Also, don't forget that it was the Republican/Catholic section of the Ulster population that demanded that troops were put on the streets in the '70s.

[smiffy]

To an extent I agree with the above, but my question was, apart from being sent to prison for plotting acts of terrorism, what did Mandela actually do to warrent such adulation?

 

We? I wasn't a barsteward to any Irishman. And in any case would that excuse blowing up women and children in Birmingham or Warrington? Also, don't forget that it was the Republican/Catholic section of the Ulster population that demanded that troops were put on the streets in the '70s.

You are only on about Northern Ireland , what about in the years leading up to the war of independence just after the first world war ?, Black and Tans mean anything to you?, they were nice pleasant individuals, so I have read.

[Grimbeard]

So events that happened a hundred years ago can be used to justify slaughtering innocents in a Birmingham pub?

Strange morality you have there.

[PrivateDerby]

Listening to a few lads chatting about it yesterday, saying how he was mates with certain people... I'd use that as a reason if it weren't for the fact we funded them.

Basically, which ever way you look at it, it's fooked up and always will be and we don't really know anything.

[ladyram]

His sense of what was fair and his amazing capacity to forgive were just two things that made him the brilliant man and the best humanitarian there was.

What the world needs is more people like him.

[SillyBilly]

Mandela was a great man, no doubt about it, his autobiography was one of the best and greatest reads of my life. However, some of the methods shouldn't sit well in anyones stomach and it has always tainted his aura in my opinion.

 

If there was a such a thing as an undisputable hero of recent times (depending on age) then it has to be Mahatma Gandhi. A man that lived a simple life and practiced non-violence at all times.