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>> I've had mixed feelings about Mandela all of my life and can never make up
>> my mind if he was a saint or sinner.
>>
It doesn't really matter. Great moments in history need symbols and figureheads, often flawed people who rise above the commonplace, and articulate the real feelings of the masses.
Sometimes they come with baggage, like dubious "football teams", or questionable judgement, as with Churchill, but that isn't the point. They arise at vital moments, they symbolise, captivate, express, and if only for a limited duration, pull people and nations together.
But the adulation has to be turned off after a decent interval, and that is where we go wrong.
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