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10th out of 99 books
—
46 voters
No Future Without Forgiveness
by
Desmond Tutu
The establishment of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a pioneering international event. Never had any country sought to move forward from despotism to democracy both by exposing the atrocities committed in the past and achieving reconciliation with its former oppressors. At the center of this unprecedented attempt at healing a nation has been Archbish...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
October 17th 2000
by Image
(first published October 5th 1999)
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i am so glad this man is in our world! someone who is universally recognized to have done something so great for humanity by trumpeting reconciliation and forgiveness and brotherhood. his compassion is immense. he is the inspiration for the name of my first child -- it is men like this who make me hope.
some of my favorite snippets from the book:
"I would not know how to be a human being at all, except i learned this from other human beings. We are made for a delicate network of relationships, of...more
some of my favorite snippets from the book:
"I would not know how to be a human being at all, except i learned this from other human beings. We are made for a delicate network of relationships, of...more
Bishop Tutu is not a great writer. That's the only reason this book received four instead of five stars from me. In this book, Bishop Tutu tells the story of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission ofter Apartheid and during the first democratically elected government headed up by Nelson Mandela. I knew that the commission was hailed throughout the world as a new and promising effort to create a civil society out of what had been a barbaric system of oppression but I did not know how...more
Hearing Archbishop Tutu speak in person at the 2006 World Council of Churches Assembly has to rank as one of the highlights of my life. He is an utterly remarkable man. And this book – this totally deserving of five stars book – tells a remarkable story.
Appointed by Nelson Mandela to be co-Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in South Africa following the transfer of power from the Nationalist Apartheid Government, Desmond Tutu writes in this book about the history leadi...more
Appointed by Nelson Mandela to be co-Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in South Africa following the transfer of power from the Nationalist Apartheid Government, Desmond Tutu writes in this book about the history leadi...more
I was surprisingly disappointed by this book. While every chapter touched upon the groundbreaking work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the book as a whole lacked a clear narrative arc, and was neither the personal memoir of chairing the commission, nor the insight into how to bring about healing among people of different faiths that I had wanted it to be. More than anything I felt Tutu was speaking to other Christians - appealing to, exhorting, chastening, and supportin...more
"In preparation for my first trip to South Africa, I've been reading a lot about that country. [One book that stands out is] Desmond Tutu's No Future Without Forgiveness, his memoir of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a fascinating and powerfully argued defense of the Commission and an account of all the difficulties they encountered in making it work. It gives reason for optimism that people divided by hatred and resentment can, at least sometimes, behave decently and reasonably." - Mar...more
Most of the book consists of testimony from victims of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which he chaired. I didn't like reading the accounts of the atrocities because I found it too horrific and depressing, but the stories of reconciliation and the sheer capacity of peoples' capacity to forgive are really inspiring. People in any place where there is racial and sectarian tension should read this book because it gives hope that reconciliation is possible, even after something as divisive a...more
This book captivated me. I could hardly put it down. However, I was reading it on Kindle, and I had to highlight and annotate as I went. I couldn't make any progress. There was something thought-provoking on every page.
When I teach any sort of Bible study, someone always asks about forgiveness. It may be the central problem of living our faith. Desmond Tutu, recording the way South Africa faced up to the wickedness of apartheid, examines many of the issues that keep some of us from being able t...more
When I teach any sort of Bible study, someone always asks about forgiveness. It may be the central problem of living our faith. Desmond Tutu, recording the way South Africa faced up to the wickedness of apartheid, examines many of the issues that keep some of us from being able t...more
Oct 12, 2010
Christina
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Christina by:
Education Week Presenter
Shelves:
inspiring-people,
nonfiction-history
This book was part personal memoir & spiritual belief and part history. It is beautifully written - although a little wordy and repetitive - and Desmond Tutu is an inspiring man. This book gives details of the work he did while chairing the committee developed to help South Africa heal from the racial division that existed before Nelson Mandela was democratically elected. Tutu's religious background seemed to influence the way the committee worked in an interesting way. I found it interestin...more
In this moving account of the difficult decisions made and obstacles faced in the establishment and implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Archbishop Tutu shares his vision of restorative justice based on the process he witnessed and participated in, and still does, to heal South Africa from apartheid. A great book--a vision of peace, hope and love--and an explanation of the rationale behind the process given for both skeptics and supporters. He does look critically at the pr...more
Difficult to read at times, literally provoking a physical reaction within me. How privileged I am to sit on my comfy couch and read about the horrors experienced in South Africa with a weak stomach. Tutu writes of his involvment in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Committee, whereby this country strived to expose the ugly events of its past and reconcile with its oppressors.
"Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human...It is t...more
"Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human...It is t...more
Wow. There are some great people out in this world. I'll just leave a quote from the book that shows the spirit in which the TRC was created. It shows a bit of the cultural heart that South Africa has. They call it Ubuntu. It gives a glimpse into how God’s idea of justice is not retaliation, but reconciliation.
Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, “Yu, u nobunu.” Then you are g...more
Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, “Yu, u nobunu.” Then you are g...more
who could say anything bad about tutu, and sure enough the book was great. to be honest the first 5 chapters or so were more autobiographical than i was intending to get into but it was still really good to hear more of his personal voice, but i was really impacted by the later chapters when he recounts the specific details of the truth & reconciliation commission: the stories of people owning up to the atrocities they had committed and being embraced by the country (and often their victims)...more
My son recommended this book to me. It is amazing and life changing. Just like the results it had in South Africa. This book should be read by everyone so we can all take in their amazing response and understand that their way of solving the HUGE problem of Apartheid was actually simplified to forgiveness. Life without forgiveness doesn't work but this is an amazing example that shows us where we need to start in solving the world's problems. We should start with forgiveness.
This book was written shortly after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded its work. It gives good insights into the process from the perspective of one of its key members and Chair. He gives insights into the context of the work and shares some of the experiences reported to the Commission. The book is repetitive at times. This experiment in peaceful resolution of conflict is of immense importance globally and provides many important lessons for other conflict situations.
Desmond describes a very original approach to reaching forgiveness for people in authority who comitted crimes against other innocent people because they either bought into the system or had no other choice. I was disappointed though that more restitution was not made to the victims or their families. Also, it seemed like the author or editor was not quite able to capture the depth of the experience of the victims. I think their story should also be told in more detail.
This is an amazing book about the Truth and Reconciliation process in South Africa - where people prioritized making the community and its members whole over vengeance. One of my favorite quotes from a participant: "I had finally come to believe that real justice is not punishment but restoration, not necessarily to how things used to be, but to how they really should be." - Marietta Jaeger, 1999. Ms. Jaeger's child was killed in the bloodshed.
Good read. Really full on in places.
Love his optimism, although the current state of many places he mentions apart from SA, along with the unchanging sinful human nature, shows the TRC or the like didn't and couldn't change sinful hearts.
Most important for me was how forgiveness benefits the victim. As Tutu says, Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross, from that cross. So it starts from the victim. Waiting for the perpetrator is just continued suffering.
Love his optimism, although the current state of many places he mentions apart from SA, along with the unchanging sinful human nature, shows the TRC or the like didn't and couldn't change sinful hearts.
Most important for me was how forgiveness benefits the victim. As Tutu says, Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross, from that cross. So it starts from the victim. Waiting for the perpetrator is just continued suffering.
May 21, 2008
Rod White
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who care
Recommended to Rod by:
N.T. Wright
Desmond Tutu comes off as wonderfully normal for a Nobel Peace Prize winner! His story abut the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is heartbreaking and inspiring. It is heartreaking because apartheid was so awful and because people subverted the process of reconciliation demonstrated by the commission in one of the most amazing political acts in history. It is inspiring because they did it: they decided to install forgiveness as a governmental policy to prevent the retribution and w...more
How do you heal a society rife with 50 years of race-based warfare, torture and atrocities? When the oppressed finally get their day in the sun, what option is there, other than vengeance?
But when Nelson Mandela was elected the president of South Africa after 24 years in prison as a terrorist, South Africa did not degenerate into the blood bath that everyone predicted. This book is the story of why not, and Desmond Tutu credits it all to the amazing power of God.
This is a map for reconciliation...more
But when Nelson Mandela was elected the president of South Africa after 24 years in prison as a terrorist, South Africa did not degenerate into the blood bath that everyone predicted. This book is the story of why not, and Desmond Tutu credits it all to the amazing power of God.
This is a map for reconciliation...more
Da jeg læste bogen første gang, tænkte jeg at den burde været et tillæg til Bibelen. Fantastisk indlevende skildring af optakten til det første frie valg i Sydafrika efter Apartheid. Og tanker og oplevelser i forbindelse med arbejdet med forsoningsprocessen, og den svære tilgivelse. Men som han siger, der er ingen fremtid uden tilgivelse.
I made it nearly half way through this book before having to set it aside. It was simply too difficult to read the personal accounts of the many atrocities suffered during the reign of apartheid. While I understand Tutu's message of forgiveness and reconciliation, at times I thought his narrative was rambling and he repeated himself. As a story, the message could have been improved by having a more concise theme. As a people, South Africans could be no better served than by Archbishop Desmond Tu...more
Knew of apartheid in college. This book puts the reader in the middle of the atrocities, then brings the you through the process of reconcilliation. It is a tribute to the human spirit and a loving God that there can be true healing after such a horrific event.
I felt grateful for this book; both for its personal and philosophical insight into the power of forgiveness, but also for its intelligent discussion of the apartheid situation in South Africa and how forgiveness can be a wise institutional policy, too.
I loved this book. Bishop Tutu advocates for South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Council. After apartheid, the country made the remarkable decision to give amnesty to anyone who would confess to the council. You can tell that this was controversial by his thoroughness with which Tutu defends it. But he believes it sincerely, insisting that the country cannot be whole without caring and restoring the perpetrators as well as the victims. It was a touching story, and one that he takes pains to...more
This book is Tutu's description of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the end of apartheid. I really appreciated the realism with which he described the process--difficult to read at times, but this is no cheap redemption for anyone involved. He writes with candor about the challenges and shortcomings as much as the more inspirational moments.
From a sociology perspective the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee is fascinating and inspiring! However the book loses some of its appeal with Tutu's mid-chapter sermons and religious jargon. Sometimes I wished for more sociology and less religion, but I suppose so much religion is to be expected from a book written by an archbishop. Over all it was a very interesting read!
teaching me a lot of vocab words! Loved his voice and explanation of this very touch time in South Africa. There was so much I didn't know. I was hoping for an autobiography of Bishop Tutu but this book is specifically about the Truth & Reconciliation movement of South Africa. The book left me profoundly shaken and contemplating the role of forgiveness on a national level and politics. There are so many places in the world where this model should be applied to break the cycle of violence (an...more
Amazing account of how South Africa began the process of rebuilding the country's culture after apartheid, written by one of the change-makers. Made me really eager to visit and see history in the making.
Life changing and life challenging book. Shows the absolute importance of forgiveness in the life of individuals and a nation. It is hard work, but so necessary. Forgiveness is truly at the heart of God.
Apr 14, 2010
Carol Rich
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Carol Rich by:
carol.crb8@gmail.com
Shelves:
non-fiction
A powerful book written by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, who not only helped increase the peace in South Africa but goes throughout the world teaching people and leaders how to achieve peace.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DESMOND TUTU: NO FUTURE WITHOUT FORGIVENESS. | 1 | 9 | Oct 01, 2011 04:28pm |
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern A...more
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“Ubuntu [...] speaks of the very essence of being human. [We] say [...] "Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu." Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours." We belong in a bundle of life. We say, "A person is a person through other persons."
[...] A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
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16 people liked it
[...] A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
“But suffering from a life-threatening disease also helped me have a different attitude and perspective. It has given a new intensity to life, for I realize how much I used to take for granted-the love and devotion of my wife, the laughter and playfulness of my grandchildren, the glory of a splendid sunset, the dedication of my colleagues. The disease has helped me acknowledge my own mortality, with deep thanksgiving for the extraordinary things that have happened in my life, not least in recent times. What a spectacular vindication it has been, in the struggle against apartheid, to live to see freedom come, to have been involved in finding the truth and reconciling the differences of those who are the future of our nation.”
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8 people liked it
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I think that's so awesome that you expressed your admirat...more
Jan 03, 2008 08:04am