The mini-series "Into the West" ended this weekend. Did anyone else watch it? I couldn't wait for the next one. I love history stuff and have always been fascinated with Old West history. Was anyone else struck with what Brian McLaren has called the "racial cleansing card" feeling? McLaren has said several times that if he were a non-Christian, one of the first questions he might ask a Christian neighbor would be, "Do you carry the racial cleansing card?" We've done a lot of ugly things in the name of religion--which is bad enough, but actually, we've done a lot of ugly things in the name of Jesus--even worse.
Imagine if Iraq decided to come to the states right now--present day--with the motive of colonizing America and cleansing it of it's savagery. What would we do? We would rise up, feeling offended. We would say, THIS IS OUR LAND! We would fight. It would seem unthinkable. Isn't that akin to what we did to the American Indians? We viewed them as savages and completely immoral. (Aren't there a lot of people in other countries who see us as completely immoral? Twin Towers??) We did not even consider their rights or the fact that this was their land. Instead, we felt justified because we were doing it in the name of God and a "new way" and we murdered and slaughtered thousands of Native Americans. Racial cleansing.
I remember about 9 years ago or so going to the Promise Keepers Pastors' convention in Atlanta. There were 20,000 ministers there or something crazy like that. It was amazing. We all pledged to serve the Lord together. We all pledged to put aside the walls that hinder the message of Christ. And in one of the most poignant moments ever, chiefs from the remaining Native American tribes stood before this vast crowd as we asked their forgiveness for the way we've treated them. I'll never forget it. I'll never forget their tears--and ours.
I've never been quite so struck by our past with regard to the Native Americans as I was while watching "Into the West". Did anyone else watch it? Did it strike you?
Here's the prayer we said at church yesterday. It seems appropriate to print again.
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth
Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you
Bring the nations into your fold
Pour out your spirit upon all flesh
And hasten the coming of your Kingdom
Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray
Amen.
Monday, July 25, 2005
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11 comments:
Brandon, yes.......I watched "Into the West" also. And like you, I shiver when I think of how the "civilized" white men treated the Native Americans. It is a shame that will always be with us.
Isn't Grace a wonderful thing!
DU
I thought it was a great series. I was struck by the messages of the last installment - it reminds us all that we have a shared history; mistakes were made and should be confessed, rectified when possible and forgiven. Basically now, we're all stuck in it together and we have to make the most of what we've inherited.
Johnny and I watched the series and were cringing at the way the Indians were treated. We can't believe it was just 100 years+ ago. We loved the people that cared so much and tried to make a difference. Poor George, so misplaced when he returned, and to think about how they were stripped of their heritage and forced to be "white" without any of the privileges. we love your blog, Johnny and Julie Barnes
We watched it too. I thought it was great, but not quite as good as Centennial, my favorite miniseries of all time.
I have actually been to Custer's Last Stand. It is truly amazing, very much the same as it was 100+ years ago. I recommend the book, Son of the Morning Star about the life of Custer.
My 5 year old son watched parts of the series and he cried this weekend because it was over!
To Justin's comment, I am one of those "hand-wringing lefties", and while I agree it wasn't I who mistreated the Indians, I think it's important to keep in the front of our minds what we as humans are capable of. Especially things that are done "in the name of the Lord." "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."
Daren Stanley
The "sins of the fathers" is such an interesting concept in the Scriptures to me. It seems that we have very short memories these days and very little sense of the impact of history on the present. I'm glad to see you working through these issues, BST, and doing it in front of us. These are challenging ideas.
Regarding the exchange about how much responsiblity we bear for what happened in previous generations, I offer a blog I wrote over a year ago into the discussion. I sincerely apologize if it appears that I'm plugging my own blog here -- that's not my intent. It's just too much to insert into a comment. If you're interested, you can access the post by clicking here.
God bless.
what if the German's felt like the Nazi extermination of the Jews wasn't a big deal--I mean after all, most of the Nazis are dead now. Daren's comment.."Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it" is so very true and so important. No, we weren't there. We didn't slaughter the Indians. But if we think something like couldn't happen again...we're foolish. Not that exact thing, but we need to always stay on our faces before the Lord asking Him to allow us to really see and be aware of those around us--like Scott said Sunday. Amazing message of outreach. Really if we'll just see people--really see them and that God loves them, the loving outstrectched hands of God will have already begun to spring up in our hearts.
sorry for the irony--my picture with the Indian headdress. I'm so wrong.
My wife and I too were glued to the set for "Into the West." It's going to be a lonely weekend without it.
While I realize that my relatives did not commit the atrocities (actually many of my relatives had the atrocities committed against them, being that they were Native Americans), we are still benefiting from the harm done to the Indians. We live on land that was theirs. We thrive, while many on reservation lands still suffer. We send our kids to schools where the history of Native Americans is glossed over, if even mentioned, and the United States is praised as God's gift to the Americas. 18 or so years ago, when I was being educated in a Christian school, I remember learning about "Manifest Destiny" (what heresy!) in my Christian textbooks (courtesy of A Beka Press), but never learning about the horrible sins our "Christian forefathers" committed against Native Americans. It was a history written by white men. Perhaps things have changed in the last few decades, but I doubt they have changed that much. Even though we weren't physically president 100 years ago, I think we still need to do some apologizing.
Good stuff Travis. Especially the part about the U.S. being God's gift to the Americas.
Daren
Such good points made here! All i have to add is that more than an apologie(which I think is completely appropriate), I think we as a nation can help the native Americans today by ending policies that try to keep them seperate from the rest of society. Give them help to move into the main stream of our society while allowing them to preserve their lands and tradtions in their own ways. What other nationality of people are so segregated? I saw an hour long report on the governments role in all this a few years ago by that "give me a break" guy on ABC. It sickened me. It's not a Republican, Democrat isssue either because both types of administrations have kept this going.
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