Whereas we grasp the interior sense in which Gandhi taught to forgive,
the media promoted a false, politicized forgiveness as operating in Mandela’s case. I am of course impugning the aggrandizing press here, rather than Mandela
himself. In claiming that Mandela “insisted
on forgiveness,” John Mahaha uses the following quote from the man himself: “To
go to prison because of your convictions and be prepared to suffer for what you
believe in, is something worthwhile. It is an achievement for a man to do his
duty on earth irrespective of the consequences.”[1]
The suffering being referred to here is neither suffering for its own sake nor suffering unnecessarily. In regard to being willing to suffer for what he believed in, Mandela had Gandhi as a role model, though (and this is crucial) Gandhi's social-moral principle of nonviolence cannot be reconciled with Mandela's prescription of violence.
Nelson Mandela reaching out to a former enemy. Political or religious forgiveness? (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
The full essay is at "Mandela's Courage as Forgiveness."
1. John
Dramani Mahama, “Mandela
Taught a Continent to Forgive,” The
New York Times, December 5, 2013.
2. William Welch, “South Africa’s Leader Transformed Nation, Self,” USA Today, December 27, 2013.
