[Vision2020] A Tribute to Nelson Mandela (1918-2013): A Devout Christian and a "Master of Forgiveness"

[Nicholas Gier]

Greetings from Chilly Edmonton,


I'm up in Northern Alberta visiting my daughter.  It was -21 F. this
morning.  Needless to say, I've been out only twice--to buy groceries and
to pick up sushi take-out.  Too cold to x-c skiing, so I've been on a
rowing machine instead.


To entice you to read the long version, I've given you this teaser from the
text:


*No Communist Take-Over and No End to Christian Civilization*

The white South African government was able to gain the support of
conservatives around the world by declaring that black rule would mean a
Communist take-over and the end of Christian civilization in South Africa.
Sadly, President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
stoked the fears about Communism and stood against the application of
sanctions, which, in the end, were the principal reason de Klerk gave in.



Reagan vetoed the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, calling it “immoral" and
"utterly repugnant,” but both the House (313-83) and the Senate (78-12)
overrode the President. Reagan argued that South Africa was a strong
anti-Communist ally, and, instead of sanctions, he offered “constructive
engagement,” which meant expanding trade with South Africa.  Thatcher
joined her good friend in rejecting sanctions, but she had very personal
reasons as well: her husband had business interests in the apartheid
country.  Conservative MP Teddy Taylor said that Mandela “should be shot,”
and, until embarrassed party leaders banned it, members of the young wing
of the Conservative Party wore stickers  that declared “Hang Mandela.”


May this great man rest in peace and continue to inspire us,


Nick


*A Tribute to Nelson Mandela (1918-2013):*

*Devout Christian and a "Master of Forgiveness"*



       In his autobiography *Long Road to Freedom* Mandela maintains that
there was far more good than bad in the education he received from the
Christian schools and colleges he attended.

As he wrote: “The missionaries built and ran schools when the government
was unwilling or unable to do so. The learning environment of the
missionary schools, while often morally rigid, was far more open than the
racist principles underlying the government.”  He adds that “virtually all
of the achievements of Africans have come about through the missionary work
of the Church.”

 In his book Mandela relates that he “was a member of the Students
Christian Association and taught Bible classes on Sundays in neighboring
villages.”  He has remained a devout Methodist all his life, and he claims
that his religious views prevented him from joining the South African
Communist Party.  He explains that “the party's antipathy to religion put
me off.”

Many South African black activists were initially suspicious of Communist
support for their cause, but the Communists proved to be sincere and
courageous allies.  American Communists, such as Bayard Rustin—the  man who
organized the 1963 March on Washington and recently given a posthumous
Medal of Freedom—played a similar role in the civil rights movement.

The African National Congress (ANC), the current majority party in South
Africa, was established by Christian Africans in 1912. The founders were
both educated in mission schools, and the ANC’s religious orientation
prevented it from allying itself with the South African Communist Party
until the 1940s.

South African Communists were key in persuading Indians, mixed race
Coloreds, and Blacks to overcome their differences, on which the racist
government had capitalized, and form a unified front against apartheid.

Apartheid is the Afrikaans word “separateness,” which the white South
African government used to divide their people. This was a brutal policy
that dictated that blacks could not vote and they were citizens only in
their “homelands,” 13 percent of the country's worst land set aside for
them.

Most of the work was in the cities, and the integrity of black families was
undermined as alienated single males stayed in hostels at their places of
employment.  Blacks not carrying an official “pass” were arrested and
thrown in jail.

On September 13, 1989, Bishop Desmond Tutu and colored Dutch Reformed
theologian Allan Boesak organized a protest march that drew 30,000 people
to Cape Town .  The protest inspired thousands of others to rally across
the nation, and it eventually led to the release of Mandela from prison on
February 11, 1990.

One week earlier President F. W. de Klerk had stunned the nation and the
world by unbanning the ANC, freeing all political prisoners, and ending the
state of emergency.

            In 1996 President Mandela appointed Bishop Tutu to chair of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of the most successful experiments
in overcoming national wounds ever attempted.

In his book *No Future Without Forgiveness,* Tutu explains how his fellow
commissioners rejected the Nuremberg trial model. Tutu reasoned that “while
the Allies could pack up and go home after Nuremberg, we in South Africa
had to live with one another.”  Long, costly trials would have built up
resentment and would most likely have led to violent reaction by heavily
armed whites.

As a student of Christian theology, I can say with confidence that the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission—led by black and white religious
leaders, attorneys, and civil rights leaders—embodied Jesus’ ethics
compassion and forgiveness more than any other religious institution in
human history. I agree with Marcus Eliason of the Associated Press that
Mandela, and I would add Tutu, were "masters of forgiveness.”

            Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of
Idaho.  His book “The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective”
will be published by Lexington Books in 2015.



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