The indefatigable South African fighter for human rights died today at the age of 90.
His achievements are well known and the many, many obituaries and articles that will be written in the next few days will review them. What I liked best about him was that he used his eminence to speak out boldly, not caring about taking on sacred cows or tribal allegiances. He criticized the ANC after they took power, for which they retaliated by initially not inviting him to nelson Mandela’s funeral. He was one of the earliest major figures to label Israel as an apartheid state. That carried immense weight since who would know better than he what apartheid looked like? That outspokenness did not endear him to the apologists for Israel and it is suggestive that the Guardian article linked to above or the obituary does not even mention that particular stance of his, highly impactful though it was.
On a personal note, my daughter and son-in-law visited South Africa for a college friend’s wedding at which Tutu was to officiate. At an informal lunch, they met him. He was wearing a Morehouse College t-shirt and they said that he was playful and mischievous, joking around. I have a photograph of just the three of them and you can see the wide grin and the twinkle in his eyes. He was clearly someone who was serious about his work but did not take himself too seriously. He is the kind of person that one would enjoy just hanging out with.
Tutu clearly was a religious person, the kind who believes that his faith requires him to fight for justice for all. That is the best kind of religion.
Though not as well publicised, Tutu was as staunch a supporter of LGBTQIA rights as he was on other human rights issues.
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/27/archbishop-desmond-tutu-lgbt-law-apartheid-ghana/
I can’t remember even once seeing him on the wrong side of any moral issue. A life well lived.
Nice article, thanks.
Do you suggest that the Guardian supports Israeli apartheid?
Another Guardian article from today links to one by Tutu himself:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/26/south-africa-battle-legacy-moral-compass-desmond-tutu
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/31/joe-biden-us-pretence-israel-nuclear-weapons
And e.g. this Guardian article I read just a week ago: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/dec/19/the-state-of-israel-vs-the-jews-review-sylvain-cypel
I don’t know why it’s the religion that gets the credit, rather than the person.
(What, he wouldn’t have been nice had he not been religious? I doubt that)
I too had the privilege of meeting
Dr Desmond Tutu who was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of Asia, Middle East and Africa Zonal Bridge Championship Tournament held in
Cape Town . I was representing Sri Lanka and he spoke to all our team members in his jovial friendly manner and we took some pictures with him. He was one of a kind and an honour.to have met him.
I also met him! My father was the minister of the larger Unitarian Universalist church in Rochester when Tutu was to deliver the commencement address at the U of R. My father got a call from a minister friend saying that Tutu would be arriving at the private airport and we could go meet him. My brother and I put down our homework and we all piled into the car. We were among about 12 people there to greet him. Such a big presence for such a small man! He is exactly as Mano and others here have described. A great loss for humanity and those who care about humans.
@JohnM: of course you don’t know, because religion doesn’t get the credit: the religious person gets it.
( You could as well wonder if he wouldn’t have been nice were he Chinese -- it makes no sense either)
mnb0: “religion doesn’t get the credit”
Post title: “Desmond Tutu represented the best of religion”
No, Desmond Tutu did NOT represent the best of religion.
.
Desmond Tutu was an opportunist who followed without fail the whims of the Western Left.
.
Desmond Tutu did NOT care about human rights violations in the Islamic world.
.
Desmond Tutu did NOT care about human rights violations in the Socialist/Communist world.
.
Ah!!!
.
Desmond Tutu DOES CARE about human rights violations in Christian world.
.
Desmond Tutu DOES CARE about human rights violations in Israel.
.
Israel is an apartheid state in reverse: there are areas -- in Israel -- accessible to Arabs and not to Israelis and no location the other way around.
.
Desmond Tutu is driven by anti-semitism for anti-semitism is fashionable in the woke world.
[the fish is found]
@ 8 friedfish2718
Yes it’s so unfair they won’t put the Israelis in the open air prisons with the innocent Arabs.
P.S. You owe me time Googling to fact-check:
How am I supposed to get those full five seconds back? Hmm?
Adding to #2:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/30/desmond-tutu-palestinians-israel
Weaponising the “anti-Semite” charge at its best.