As you all know, I did post on Nelson Mandela’s death and posted another view on him as well.

Well, The New American has some important facts as well:

This leads us directly to one of the most important issues concerning Nelson Mandela: Was he a Communist with a capital “C,” meaning a disciplined member of the Communist Party, which, in this case means the South African Communist Party (SACP)? In the 1958 treason trial, Nelson Mandela denied being a member of the SACP, a denial he has repeated many times since, and has maintained to the end. His defenders fall into two general categories on this issue, those who believe his denial and those who say, in effect, “So what? What does it matter if he was/is a Communist?” Those who say they believe his denial must ignore an overwhelming mountain of evidence to the contrary, much of which has been available for decades and much which has only recently come to light from: previously unavailable SACP records; government archives of Communist countries; memoirs and biographies of, and interviews with, SACP and ANC members of the period. Those who say “So what?” to the question of Mandela’s membership in the SACP must ignore the well established facts that show: • The SACP was, and remains, a hardcore Marxist-Leninist organization in which all members must pledge unquestioned obedience to the will of the Party, as determined by its Central Committee; • The SACP took its direction from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and, as such, was an agent of a hostile foreign power; • SACP members, including Mandela, secretly took control of the ANC, pushing aside and sabotaging ANC leaders committed to reform and change through peaceful, political means; • ANC and its terrorist arm, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which was also controlled by the SACP, were trained in Soviet Russia and Red China, or in Communist “Frontline States” — Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe — by Soviet, Chinese, East German, Cuban, Czech, and other Communist instructors; • The SACP-controlled ANC and MK exploited the conditions of apartheid, racism and colonialism not to help South African blacks, but to further the objectives of the Soviet Union and the world Communist conspiracy; • The SACP-controlled ANC and MK used the Communist-provided training and arms to direct their terror, torture, and murder against South Africa’s black majority even more often than against the white minority; • If Mandela was not only a Communist Party member, but also a top SACP leader — which the evidence irresistibly shows he was — then he is not only a colossal and persistent liar, but he is all the more culpable in the innumerable acts of terror, torture, and murder committed by ANC mobs and MK cadres over the past several decades; • Mandela has bequeathed South Africa a one-party state ruled by the increasingly tyrannical and kleptocratic ANC/SACP, which is leading the country down the path toward economic destruction, record-level violent crime, chaos, and genocide.

I very highly recommend that you go read the rest of that, as it does tell the truth about Mandela, and whom and what he did associate himself with. Now, I know some of you are most likely thinking, “He praises the guy in one posting and trashes him in two others?!?!” Well, here is the truth; and you can take this as how I truly feel about this subject:

As a Christian man, and as someone who grew up in southwest Detroit in the 1980’s; the idea of a white ruled Nation that basically treated blacks like dirt — like the south did in the 1950’s and how America did, during the days of slavery, makes me want to puke. Sorry, if that offends the white readers of this blog. Sorry, I am just not wired to hate people that look different than me; just not my nature at all. As much as I know that black on white crime is a big problem, as much as I know that communism is a horrible thing, as much as I know that some, not all — blacks do hate white people, which is festered by the leftist mentality. I just cannot and will not hate blacks. I am just not wired that way.

Furthermore, my feelings about how whites are treated in Africa now that the blacks have majority rule in Africa is this here: Simple put, two wrongs do not make a right. It just makes two wrong people. It was wrong of the white minority rule in Africa to do what they did to the blacks in Africa and it is wrong what the black majority rule is doing to the white people in Africa. That is the position of any sane, rational, Christian man.

I also happen to agree with Mary Katharine Ham, the man was a national icon. However, I will say this: it was his methods and his political leanings that trouble me, not his black skin. Simply put, the man was willing to, “dance with the devil” to get what he wanted accomplished. This is not a hateful statement, it is a factual statement. Furthermore, Mandela’s victory over the minority white rule in Africa has created a blowback effect in Africa now. The people that Mandela was fighting against are now being killed in droves, by his own people. Furthermore, the economy that was built by the white minority in that Country is now almost in tatters. This is not because of skin color, but because of the current political leanings of the Country itself. Simply put: The Africans have not come embrace the idea of free market capitalism, as a result, Africa is in the shape that it is in.

Whether that is because of “tribal politics,” or because of political philosophy is up to the person observing the situation in that Country.

In closing: Whether Nelson Mandela was a saint or a devil, history will judge. However, I believe it is important that we, as Conservatives, respect the man’s mission, all the while, not ignoring his political leanings and his deadly methods during his years as an combatant of the evil which was in Africa at the time.

Update: CNN does have a good piece that debunks some of the more stupider rumors and accusations towards Mandela. One they do not address is his hatred of Christianity.

Update #2: Memeorandum has a good round-up of opinions and blogger reactions to Mandela’s death.