Re: Thanksgiving

Posted by Maine Fordson on November 25, 2010 at 23:34:15 from (74.75.196.56):

In Reply to: Thanksgiving posted by jdemaris on November 25, 2010 at 19:21:09:

Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see

Yes, that’s the unfortunate fate of conquered peoples...

The Europeans arrived on this continent, looking for opportunity and elbow room, and, though they were vastly outnumbered by native populations at first, they had superior weaponry. Over the ensuing decades things changed, and the rest is in the history books. Yes, there were many events that are considered atrocities by modern standards, even genocide. Example: The Duke of Amherst ordered that smallpox-infested blankets be given to local natives; isn’t that biological warfare?

Unfortunately for those on the losing end of any conflict, throughout the course of human history the rule has always been, “To the victor go the spoils.” Victory was everything, and meant the continuation and perpetuation of your own people, your countrymen, and your way of life. (Or, as Charles Darwin phrased it, “the survival of the fittest.”) This mindset persisted through the ages, until recent decades when, for example, the United States of America took nothing, nothing, for liberating Europe from the hands of dictators and tyrants except enough ground to bury its fallen servicemen. But I digress…

I’m not much of a Bible scholar, but didn’t the same thing happened to the Israelites when they were conquered by the Babylonians (around 400 B.C., maybe?), had their temples destroyed and treasury confiscated, then were taken from their homeland into slavery in Babylon (which, you may know, was located in modern-day Iraq)? And that was not an obscure or isolated event; that was the way things were, all over the globe. (To quote Johnny Cash, “I don’t like it, but I guess things happen that way.”)

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not disputing the fact that the native peoples of the Americas (both North and South America) got a raw deal when they encountered explorers and settlers from a different culture. They most certainly did. But it serves no purpose to reiterate and lament their inexorable fate, other than to cultivate mistrust and hard feelings between folks who are now, and have been for a long time, fellow countrymen.

That’s my 2¢ worth.

"Can't we all just get along?"

.

Replies:

• Re: Thanksgiving Uncle Ernie 06:31:20 11/26/10 (0)

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