Let's not ruin the thread. Daniel is entitled to his opinion regardless of how unpopular it is. Mandela wasn't everybody's hero :)
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Let's not ruin the thread. Daniel is entitled to his opinion regardless of how unpopular it is. Mandela wasn't everybody's hero :)
He is indeed entitled to it (although I doubt he'd ever stand up for himself to defend such rights). And here's mine: he has a pathetic baditude.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Mandela can not be faulted. Yes he did bad things in his younger years, but who doesn't when they are fighting against oppression? He did what he had to back then. What he said, did and achieved after his release from jail was quite remarkable. I would not have been able to show the restraint and forgiveness that he did, he was a far bigger man then I could ever wish to be.
For a time the ways and means were questionable and morally dubious.Quote:
Originally Posted by webberf1
Those who do use aggression and terrorism justify it for a greater cause. As the saying goes one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
When it is Martin McGuiness or Gerry Adam's time the commentary and opinions will undoubtedly be much more colourful.
BTW - Why is it most have to be ultra-respectful to the deceased as most people's lives aren't exactly black and white?
Quote:
Originally Posted by webberf1
and here's my opinion of you, you're a ignorant person who comes from a country which is more or less 100% ignorant to what went on in SA as long as it happened to a white person.
http://thebackbencher.co.uk/3-things-yo ... n-mandela/
Thanks for defending my right to an opinion Henners :)Quote:
The apartheid regime was a crime against humanity; as illogical as it was cruel. It is tempting, therefore, to simplify the subject by declaring that all who opposed it were wholly and unswervingly good. It’s important to remember, however, that Mandela has been the first to hold his hands up to his shortcomings and mistakes. In books and speeches, he goes to great length to admit his errors. The real tragedy is that too many in the West can’t bring themselves to see what the great man himself has said all along; that he’s just as flawed as the rest of us, and should not be put on a pedestal.
I completely agree with everything other than that he shouldn't be faulted. History should be an honest account of what happened and not simply a collection of facts that only tell one side of the story.Quote:
Originally Posted by 555-04Q2
You know what I learnt in school in Australia? That the Boer wars were fought over "miners rights" :rolleyes: Oh how I laughed at the teacher and refused to take part in his revisionist lesson.
555, in SA you all know what went on, for some reason in the UK and particularly in Australia, there seems to be a belief that Mandela was locked up because he was black and part of a political movement opposed to Apartheid. You and I both know this isn't true.
The worst thing we can do with this mans life is to act as if he were perfect and never did any wrong.
Also, why the hell did WebberF1 say I was bitter? Bitter about what?
Few outside SA care to know/realise that Mandela was a poor President who left an awful legacy especially for the ANC.
Similar resentments can be said of Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma has deep internal divisions, sectarianism, between Muslim minority and Buddhists.
This more or less sums up the thoughts of the rest of the world when it comes to white South AfricansQuote:
Originally Posted by wedge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeDk6ZeGNnU
Says the kettle.Quote:
Originally Posted by webberf1
Wedge, I share your sentiments entirely. Would the same people who hailed the death of Bobby Sands be as sentimental to his cause as they are to Mandela? A rhetorical question.Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge