Desmond Tutu, Destroyer of Oppression, Titan of Freedom

"What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?"

"This family has no outsiders. Everyone is an insider. When Jesus said, "I, if I am lifted up, will draw..." Did he say, "I will draw some"? "I will draw some, and tough luck for the others"? He said, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all." All! All! All! – Black, white, yellow; rich, poor; clever, not so clever; beautiful, not so beautiful. All! All! It is radical. All! Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Bush – all! All! All are to be held in this incredible embrace. Gay, lesbian, so-called "straight;" all! All! All are to be held in the incredible embrace of the love that won’t let us go."

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. "

"Isn’t it desperately sad that, at a time when we face formidable problems – poverty, HIV/AIDS, conflict – that the Anglican Communion can invest so much energy on disagreements about human sexuality? A communion that used to boast that one of its distinctive characteristics was something called comprehensiveness, that our communion, the Anglican Church, included just about everybody. Even if you had the most weird theology you could come in, you were allowed. And now we, who used to be held up in admiration by many because of this inclusiveness, are now spending time working out how we can excommunicate one another. God looks on and God weeps. God weeps. "

"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn’t worship that God."

"At home in South Africa I have sometimes said in big meetings where you have black and white together: 'Raise your hands!' Then I have said: 'Move your hands,' and I've said 'Look at your hands - different colors representing different people. You are the Rainbow People of God."

"Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language... It is to say, 'My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours'."

"It is for real that injustice and oppression will not have the last word. There was a time when Hitler looked like he was going to vanquish all of Europe, and where is he now?"

An actual fucking Christian in a world of subcultural, insular, self-righteous do-nothings. If ten percent of Christians were like this man....

My favorite quote of all-

"I give great thanks to God that he has created a Dalai Lama. Do you really think, as some have argued, that God will be saying: "You know, that guy, the Dalai Lama, is not bad. What a pity he's not a Christian"? I don't think that is the case — because, you see, God is not a Christian. "

This man is the LIVING EMBODIMENT OF LOVE.

He uses a lot of propaganda wording.

Ordin wrote:He uses a lot of propaganda wording.

He uses rhetoric.

By no means does that devalue what he's done in the least. We are emotional beings, he used emotion to rally the oppressed and to shame those in power. All great leaders do that, from Ceaser to Bakunin.

It's the same thing that Conservatives and Dictators do. They point us at their enemies and say things like "these people are inhuman," "you're either with us or against us," they tug at our heartstrings and trick us into doing their bidding. They can't say "these are the reasons we consider them enemies, and here's why they did it," and give us the full story, they use rhetoric and propaganda to keep us from asking the questions they don't want to answer.

it doesn't matter whether or not i agree with someone's views, if they use tactics like this, i'm not going to listen to their shit.

Good thing I read the comments before the story. Now I'll just tl;dr out of here.