Long Time No Blog, or, An Independence Thought
It's been five months since I last blogged...that's sad. I just let life and everything get in the way of writing my thoughts down. But, I'm back.
At church, we've been looking at the founding of our country (seeing as Independence Day was just 10 days ago), and seeking to answer the question, "Is America a Christian Nation?" While the question has different answers depending on your perspective, studying to try to answer it has proven to be quite enlightening.
For instance, did you know that the founding fathers of the U.S. of A. had negotiated for more than a decade with the king and parliament of Great Britain before writing the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson, in "A Summary View of the Rights of British Americans", (written in 1774) said, "It is neither our wish, nor our interest, to separate from her [Great Britain]. We are willing, on our part, to sacrifice every thing, which reason can ask to the restoration of that tranquility for which all must wish." These men who founded our country were not rebels. They were not just intending to overthrow a government. They were coming to their last straw. The camel's back was about to break.
In my reading, I came across letters and articles written to the king of England by Jefferson, Wilson and others. Each one delineated offences against the people in America by the government of Great Britain. One in particular really stood out to me. All British colonies, except America, were allowed to have their own parliaments, to develop their own legislative system, but were still under the protection of the king of England. I did not understand the British governmental system until reading all this. British law says that all subjects of the crown will have a representation in the House of Commons, or they will not be bound by the laws passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Ireland, having its own parliament, though still subjects of the British king, was not required to be bound by the laws of Great Britain, since they were not represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain. Other colonies had the same standing. Only America was told that they must be bound by the laws instituted by the British legislature, but were not allowed any representation in the House of Commons. This is entirely contrary to the law that the House of Commons designed for itself!
Is it any wonder, then, with free trade blocked, legislative bodies dissolved and not allowed to re-form, courts not allowed to make judgments, homes invaded without a warrant, martial law in force, citizens killed by soldiers for daring to desire to be free men, British troops waging war on the colonists, and on and on, happening for much longer than a decade and getting worse each year, despite protests and entreaties for the justice due free men, that the patriots were finally induced to act? It was no longer an issue of obedience to the governing authorities (cf. Romans 13), but had become an issue of defending their lives and their liberty. Enough had become enough.
Another interesting note is that it appears from my reading that the American colonists tried repeatedly to block the trade of slaves from Africa. (Again from Jefferson's, "A Summary View of the Rights of British America", "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those colonies".) In Jefferson's words, "yet our repeated attempts to effect this by prohibitions, and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto defeated by his majesty's negative: Thus preferring the immediate advantages of a few African corsairs to the lasting interests of the American states, and to the rights of human nature, deeply wounded by this infamous practice."
Funny, no one ever told me that the majority of colonists and colonial leaders didn't really want the slave trade, but that it was forced on them by Britain! Gives a new perspective on the current demands for remuneration by descendents of slaves. Perhaps those making the demands should redirect their focus toward the crown of England.
I wonder that I was not taught all this in school. But should I wonder? Twenty-plus years ago, it was not easy for just anyone to get ahold of the text of the founding fathers' original documents. A school system that chose not to teach certain things, in order to advance their own agenda, didn't have much to worry about. Their students weren't likely to find anything to disprove what they were being taught. But today, with the Internet, shame on any of us who take what we were taught and stop at that. Shame on us, if we don't take advantage of the tools at our disposal to go back to the original sources to find out what REALLY happened.
All this has just gone to prove to me that I've been lax in this area. I've just taken what I "learned" over the years and not tried it and tested against the original sources. Not just in regards to American history, but in regards to everything I claim to have learned, even in regards to my Christian faith. How will I know that evolution is just a theory, and so far unprovable, if I don't look for evidence to support or debunk it? How will I know that the war in Iraq is going much better than the mainstream (liberal) media lets on, if I don't look for additional sources of information from within Iraq itself? How will I know that God's purposes are never thwarted by any decision of man, much less anything else, if I don't go read Scripture for myself and check out the original languages, if necessary, to understand clearly? How indeed?
At church, we've been looking at the founding of our country (seeing as Independence Day was just 10 days ago), and seeking to answer the question, "Is America a Christian Nation?" While the question has different answers depending on your perspective, studying to try to answer it has proven to be quite enlightening.
For instance, did you know that the founding fathers of the U.S. of A. had negotiated for more than a decade with the king and parliament of Great Britain before writing the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson, in "A Summary View of the Rights of British Americans", (written in 1774) said, "It is neither our wish, nor our interest, to separate from her [Great Britain]. We are willing, on our part, to sacrifice every thing, which reason can ask to the restoration of that tranquility for which all must wish." These men who founded our country were not rebels. They were not just intending to overthrow a government. They were coming to their last straw. The camel's back was about to break.
In my reading, I came across letters and articles written to the king of England by Jefferson, Wilson and others. Each one delineated offences against the people in America by the government of Great Britain. One in particular really stood out to me. All British colonies, except America, were allowed to have their own parliaments, to develop their own legislative system, but were still under the protection of the king of England. I did not understand the British governmental system until reading all this. British law says that all subjects of the crown will have a representation in the House of Commons, or they will not be bound by the laws passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Ireland, having its own parliament, though still subjects of the British king, was not required to be bound by the laws of Great Britain, since they were not represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain. Other colonies had the same standing. Only America was told that they must be bound by the laws instituted by the British legislature, but were not allowed any representation in the House of Commons. This is entirely contrary to the law that the House of Commons designed for itself!
Is it any wonder, then, with free trade blocked, legislative bodies dissolved and not allowed to re-form, courts not allowed to make judgments, homes invaded without a warrant, martial law in force, citizens killed by soldiers for daring to desire to be free men, British troops waging war on the colonists, and on and on, happening for much longer than a decade and getting worse each year, despite protests and entreaties for the justice due free men, that the patriots were finally induced to act? It was no longer an issue of obedience to the governing authorities (cf. Romans 13), but had become an issue of defending their lives and their liberty. Enough had become enough.
Another interesting note is that it appears from my reading that the American colonists tried repeatedly to block the trade of slaves from Africa. (Again from Jefferson's, "A Summary View of the Rights of British America", "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those colonies".) In Jefferson's words, "yet our repeated attempts to effect this by prohibitions, and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto defeated by his majesty's negative: Thus preferring the immediate advantages of a few African corsairs to the lasting interests of the American states, and to the rights of human nature, deeply wounded by this infamous practice."
Funny, no one ever told me that the majority of colonists and colonial leaders didn't really want the slave trade, but that it was forced on them by Britain! Gives a new perspective on the current demands for remuneration by descendents of slaves. Perhaps those making the demands should redirect their focus toward the crown of England.
I wonder that I was not taught all this in school. But should I wonder? Twenty-plus years ago, it was not easy for just anyone to get ahold of the text of the founding fathers' original documents. A school system that chose not to teach certain things, in order to advance their own agenda, didn't have much to worry about. Their students weren't likely to find anything to disprove what they were being taught. But today, with the Internet, shame on any of us who take what we were taught and stop at that. Shame on us, if we don't take advantage of the tools at our disposal to go back to the original sources to find out what REALLY happened.
All this has just gone to prove to me that I've been lax in this area. I've just taken what I "learned" over the years and not tried it and tested against the original sources. Not just in regards to American history, but in regards to everything I claim to have learned, even in regards to my Christian faith. How will I know that evolution is just a theory, and so far unprovable, if I don't look for evidence to support or debunk it? How will I know that the war in Iraq is going much better than the mainstream (liberal) media lets on, if I don't look for additional sources of information from within Iraq itself? How will I know that God's purposes are never thwarted by any decision of man, much less anything else, if I don't go read Scripture for myself and check out the original languages, if necessary, to understand clearly? How indeed?
posted by Laura | 7:51 AM
1 Comments:
Glad you are free to write this ;)
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