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September 19, 2004
THE PASSING OF A HERO
In the aftermath of 9/11, many of us started reflcting upon how loosely we threw around the word "hero." No longer can we afford to casually toss the word into conversation or bestow the title too easily. Now that you know I understand that, let me just say this: a true hero left us this month. His state funeral was this weekend.
Beyers Naude may not be a household name here in America, but in South Africa, everyone knows him -- either by his given name, or the affectionare endearment bestowed on him by his people, "Oom Bey." (It means, "Uncle Bey.")
Thousands of people of all colros gathered near Johannesburg this weekend to pay their respects and say goodbye to Oom Bey on Saturday, including the President of South Africa. What did an 89 year old Anglican priest do to deserve this attention?
He changed his country and his world.
Beyers Naude was once a leader in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, which used to use the Bible to justify apartheid... and he was also part of the Broderband, a secret society devoted to preserving apartheid. But in 1963 -- long before international attention focused on apartheid and the world began pressuring the white government in South Africa -- Beyers Naude stood in front of his church and denounced apartheid, and his church's role in propogating it. The church hierarchy quickly gave him a choice: his church and parishioners, or his activism. Beyers Naude chose activism.
Here was a man who could lose everything... and who was ostracized by his fellow white South Africans for years as a result of his choice. But Beyers Naude knew that sometimes there is right in the face of wrong, and right doesn't make allowances for personal concerns. He gave it all up and became the leading white South African voice against apartheid. In 1963, no less -- remember where the United States was regarding the rights of blacks at that point. His action was the equivalent of a white southern governor denouncing Jim Crow and signing on with Martin Luther King, Jr. He took his stand, and was willing to give up everything for it, years before the anti-apartheid movement became a cause celebre.
Despite being ostracized by his own people for years, he was embraced by millions more, the milions he brought hope to. He became a symbol of harmony and tolerance , beloved and admired by his nation and its people. When South Africa finally became free in the 1990s, a street was re-named in his honor - a street once named for a prime minister who was one of the most virulent supporters of apartheid. And the recognition given him upin his death reflected the unity and humanity he stood for.
South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Demsond Tutu delivered eulogies at the funeral service attended by thousands.
"Sacrifices he made guaranteed us our peace and reconciliation because they told those who might have sought vengeance that the Afrikaner people are not their enemies, because Beyers Naude was not their enemy but their comrade, friend and leader," Mbeki said.
Tutu said Naude could have gone to the highest office in the land but instead he chose to stand up against apartheid. "He gave the credibility of Christianity back to black people. There are no half-measures when an Afrikaner sees the light ... his commitment is total ... he becomes committed to the hilt."
Tutu said nothing could have been more excruciating for Naude as an Afrikaner than to be rejected by his own people. [But] "The more the apartheid system attempted to discredit him, the more his stature grew."
One man, forty years ago, was willing to lose everything for what he knew to be right. And slowly, surely, the world did change. In part, it changed because of Beyers Naude. And even those of us living 12,000 miles away must remember his lesson and his courage.
I hope that I would have that kind of courage and conviction. I wish that we all would.
