Posted on 12/10/2013 6:47:13 AM PST by Lazamataz
Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, died recently at the age of 95. Senator Ted Cruz is attending his funeral today, and is likely to speak of Mandela in positive terms.
This is causing many of my conservative brethren (and cistern) much consternation. Some have even gone so far as to abandon him, politically.
I ask that those who are concerned, and especially those who have 'crossed him off their list', rethink their position. I suggest that Mandela is a complicated figure, and one that defies simple analysis. There is an evil side to Nelson Mandela, no question. There is also a good side to him. He faced a really heinous and oppressive system, and sometimes good men must do evil to achieve good results.
Let us say our system continues the slide to tyranny, and a few people you personally know, love, and respect need to stoop to the tyrant's level to re-acquire freedom. This is a probability, at this point, not just a possibility, so it's less of a thought-experiment, and more of a situation you will need to face.
Apartheid was not acceptable. Neither, too, is the creeping tyranny we find America drifting into. Horrible acts may be committed by good men who have good motivations. It is unpleasant, but it is reality. You cannot fight some tyrannies with a vote and a protest sign. Sometimes it gets deeper than that.
Those men, these actors, who acted against evil, are they themselves evil because of their actions? To an extent, yes. But they are also good, because of their motivations.
So it goes with Mandela.
I give Cruz a pass here --and suggest many of us do the same -- because he is recognizing the good. If Ted Cruz was pressed on the particulars of Mandela's uncivilized and horrible actions during the course of his life, I am certain he would disavow the evil acts of Mandela in the same breath, as he praises him for the good that Mandela wrought.
Submitted for your consideration.
What good? There was no good in Mandela. He laid the groundwork for his own apartheid state.
Submitted for your consideration.
Bump!
You gotta pay lip service to this sort of thing.
Like saying nice things about JFK a couple of weeks ago.
Just one of those things you have to do :/
Not Saying I necessarily like Cruz going to Mandela's funeral, but my opinion of either hasn't changed because of it.
I would not blacklist the most conservatives guy to enter the senate in almost a century because of some historically ignorant remarks on the most airbrushed character in modern history.
Some might, but those are the people who then complain when a Mitt Romney gets our presidential nomination thanks to them.
Nah, I’m still on board the Cruz ship. Will defer to the Paul submarine if Cruz doesn’t run though.
Thank you for posting this and for your comments.
This Mandela saga (this week) shows me that conservatives have been duped by academia/media nearly as much as have the gullible libs.
Submitted for your consideration.
Cruz is going to run for president, this is a good move to put him on the world stage. Remember, 99% of the earth believes Mandela is an angel so if Cruz disses this funeral, it will be used against him later.
Once you've overcome evil, don't you have a duty to point it out elsewhere rather than give aid and comfort to those who perpetuate it?
Like any system that restricts human freedom, Apartheid was bound to fail. The only question was when and how. Yes, Mandela held abominable political views (although he apppears to have mellowed in his politics considerably by the time of his release from prison) but he at least guided Apartheid’s end to a reasonably soft landing. I’m just unhappy that F.W. DeKlerk hasn’t gotten credit for being the Gorbachev to Mandela’s Yeltsin; the former party appratchik who knew his beloved system was coming to an end. Haven’t heard his name mentioned once.
Worrying about “the world” is what gets US presidents into trouble. The imperative is to worry about God, not Satan’s world.
I agree with the content of this post. We have people on this forum who are clueless when it comes to the big picture. For example, some wrote him off because he went on Jay Leno’s show.
We need to be part of the debate and then to direct the debate. Being Barry Goldwater on all issues is stupid.
I’m anxious to hear what Ted Cruz says.
Let’s retake the Senate and then the WH.
Mandela had some very serious issues with communist affiliation. He deserves to be called out on that.
Mandela was not a simple figure, and he defies a simple analysis. For his contribution to the downfall of Apartheid, he can receive some accolades.
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