July 28, 2010 | 2:50 p.m.

Anglican Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has announced that, after his 79th birthday in October, he is to resign from nearly all of his official commitments and withdraw from public life, the United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper reported last week. He wishes to spend more time in reflection and prayer. Tutu is best remembered for his fight against apartheid and leadership of the Anglican Church in South Africa. If you had a chance to sit down with the archbishop, what would you say to him? What issues would you discuss?

 

First, I would sincerely congratulate Archbishop Tutu on his many accomplishments — especially the crucial role he played in dismantling apartheid in South Africa. I would say that he is a remarkable and inspirational figure for people around the globe. His historic struggle for freedom, equality and liberty is admirable and should be emulated by us all.

Since I am a proud supporter of Israel, I would also raise an issue that is very close to my heart: namely, the archbishop's troubling stance on the Jewish state and the various erroneous statements he's made over the years. While acknowledging the significant role Jews played in the anti-apartheid struggle, Tutu nevertheless was a prominent supporter of the bigoted "Zionism equals racism" idea. He even went so far as to label Israel's necessary protective measures on its borders as a form of apartheid.

The fallacy in this claim is obvious, since Israeli Arabs have more freedoms and civil liberties than any Arab throughout the Middle East.

They enjoy equal rights and identical citizenship as Israeli Jews. They participate fully in every facet of society, including exercising their right to vote; there are currently 14 Arab members in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset. So I would respectfully ask Tutu whether this really sounds like apartheid.

I would also want to discuss the fact that when he visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem in 1989, Archbishop Tutu implored Jews to forgive the Nazi beasts who murdered 6 million of our people. In my opinion, making that statement in that location was a gratuitous insult to Jews and all the other victims of the Nazis. How — I would inquire of Tutu — do I have a right to forgive those who gassed and cremated my father's Hungarian family in the ovens of Auschwitz? How can I forgive those who brutally machine-gunned to death my mother's Polish family in the woods on the outskirts of their shtetl? Archbishop Tutu's remarks may have been well-intentioned, but they caused pain for many people who still feel the tragic consequences of the Holocaust.

I believe that history should never be whitewashed. Archbishop Tutu is heading toward a well-deserved, golden retirement, and there are certainly many lessons we can learn from him. However, we should also recognize his mistakes — and I would hope that this period of reflection will also prompt Tutu to acknowledge those times when he exercised poor judgment. My prayer is that he will rectify these mistakes sooner rather than later. In so doing, he can add an additional positive gesture to his many accomplishments.

Rabbi Simcha Backman

Chabad Jewish Center

I have great respect for Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu as a minister, humanitarian and person. If I had the honor of being in his presence to speak with him, I would want to process his passion for the significance humanity is worthy of and his desire for the equality of every living person. I admire his efforts in interceding in and for human distress.

As someone who integrated Ubuntu into his worldview, I respect how this demonstrates psychological and spiritual health. He believes that we should be open and available to our fellow humans, affirming them and never to feel threatened by their ability to do good.

People should believe they belong to part of a bigger picture, and that big picture is diminished when others are humiliated, oppressed or tortured. This sounds much like the concept of the reciprocating self. We are indeed to be in and receive relationships with the other.

But I believe what would interest me most is to hear his narrative on his first experiences of intimate relationship with God. How he first felt God and knew he existed. I would also be most interested in knowing how and when he first felt the call to serve God and his fellow humans.

Rev. Kimberlie Zakarian

La Vie Counseling Center

 

I am delighted to say that I actually had an opportunity to do this.

Archbishop Tutu was teaching a class at the Candler School of Theology (at Emory) while I was a student there, so for a semester on Fridays, we got to gather to hear his reflections.

To the teeming mass of undergrads, he was simply a small, elderly black man towing a rolling case. They would part and walk around him, talking over his head, immersed in the conversation about last night's party. I don't think he cared. He's a very humble man.