In memory of Nelson Mandela

[Menolly]

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika ~ Perpetuum Jazzile

Southafrican anthem Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica, performed in 5 languages (Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Africaans, English) by an XL vocal group Perpetuum Jazzile (Slovenia). Performed at Vokal Xtravaganzza 2010.

"Dear Southafrican friends, honouring the big and immeasurably important steps you and your compatriots have taken in the last decades towards finding the great strength of ethnic and cultural diversity of your beautiful country, we - Perpetuum Jazzile vocal group, where tolerance and multiculturalism stand at the forefront of everything we do - would like to say a big thank you for all your humanity, wisdom, and courage, which blended into one of the brightest contributions to the history of mankind, let alone its future.
Moreover, we would kindly ask you to accept a brand new rendition of your beloved Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica as our gift of gratitude to you! Finding rhythmic pulse and rich harmonies using our vocals only, we hope the song, created in our homeland of Slovenia, finds a special and harmonious place in your hearts for many years to come."

[Avatar]

It's a sad day as we mourn the death of a great man.

--A

[Savor Dam]

So say we all.

A thoroughly remarkable life lived by a man who made a difference...not by wealth, power or any of the usual trappings; solely by the influence of the principles he stood for and would not recant.

[Iolanthe]

It's a sad day as we mourn the death of a great man.

--A

As you say. One of the greatest, perhaps the greatest, leaders of our time.

[Avatar]

Oh, this should be rich. Apparently Westboro plans to travel to SA to picket the funeral: news.iafrica.com/worldnews/890192.html

I could almost hope they do. The first amendment is not going to help them here...

(Not that we don't have freedom of speech...but people are likely to take a very dim view...and in SA, the disapproval of the masses often takes a very physical form...)

--A

[Iolanthe]

I keep hearing about this Westborough Baptist Church but didn't know what it was so I looked it up on the internet. Couldn't make much of the website. They seem to be a "pick a verse from the bible and interpret it literally and out of context" type of group. What on earth will they be protesting about at Nelson Mandela's funeral?

[Wildling]

Westboro hates everyone who isn't them. For example, They picket military funerals because they claim that the military guy is dead because God hates gays, so therefore the dead kid is gay or a sympathizer.

I imagine they have similar reasons for picketing at Mandela's funeral.


I can't think of very many people less deserving of this form of post-dead abuse. I always had the greatest of respect for the man, his beliefs, and his courage to stand up for them no matter the cost.

[I'm Murrin]

I keep hearing about this Westborough Baptist Church but didn't know what it was so I looked it up on the internet. Couldn't make much of the website. They seem to be a "pick a verse from the bible and interpret it literally and out of context" type of group. What on earth will they be protesting about at Nelson Mandela's funeral?

They're a racket. They fund their church by taking out lawsuits when their protests succeed in provoking people into violating their rights (their pickets are always run to the exact letter of the law. Most of them are trained lawyers). No idea how they'll pitch this one, but it's probably mostly for the publicity.

[Savor Dam]

...it's probably mostly for the publicity.

Indeed. Witness how they, without doing anything other than apparently planning to go to SA for Mandela's funeral, have managed to completely divert our attention to them, when it ought to be on the memory and legacy of this towering figure who was to the latter half of the twentieth century what Gandhi was to the first half of that century.

[deer of the dawn]

To paraphrase--

Has anybody here, seen my old friend Nelson -
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he's gone.

Yes, I know he wasn't young but it still seems to soon to lose him.

God help us, it seems there is no one left on earth who can.

[Avatar]

Nah Deer, we have to help ourselves. We're the only people who can.

--A

[Fire Daughter]

A truly remarkable man. May he rest in peace.

"I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances." ~Nelson Mandela

[Linna Heartbooger]

What a life!

A truly remarkable man. May he rest in peace.

"I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances." ~Nelson Mandela

Good quote.

Nah Deer, we have to help ourselves. We're the only people who can.

Avvvv... the only people, you say? ...are you just daring her (and bystanders like me) to bring up about the Incarnation?

[Vader]

Westboro hates everyone who isn't them. For example, They picket military funerals because they claim that the military guy is dead because God hates gays, so therefore the dead kid is gay or a sympathizer.

Jesus also is dead. God hates gays, so therefore Jesus is gay or a sympathizer.

Nietzsche said "God is dead" - the mind boggles.

[Wildling]

Westboro hates everyone who isn't them. For example, They picket military funerals because they claim that the military guy is dead because God hates gays, so therefore the dead kid is gay or a sympathizer.

Jesus also is dead. God hates gays, so therefore Jesus is gay or a sympathizer.

Nietzsche said "God is dead" - the mind boggles.

I know, right? But I dunno, I didn't come up with their ideas. I'd be quite happy if they stayed in their own little church and condemned each member of the flock as they died off and left everyone else alone.

[sgt.null]

Westboro people are in for a big surprise in the afterlife...

according to the blueprint they are supposed to be following.

why do so many fundies seem to have never read the book detailing what it is they supposedly believe?

[Avatar]

Unsurprisingly, they didn't turn up.

--A