Happy Thanksgiving
After eating enough to feed a small town in central Africa, I browsed some of my favorite conservative blogs (for liberals who overate and need relief this is an excellent alternative to sticking your fingers down your throat). The one resounding theme was God. Thanking God, praising God, praying to God for forgiveness. As an alternative let's consider thanking the native Americans that made it possible for our ancestors to colonize this country. After all, back in the day, we were only able to thank them with small pox and executions.
So I'm raising my last drink to America's first citizens. They didn't believe in a Semitic God, they didn't need to understand Christ's sacrifice to be benevolent and they didn't ask for the hell we brought them in the name of monarchs hiding behind religion. Cheers.
So I'm raising my last drink to America's first citizens. They didn't believe in a Semitic God, they didn't need to understand Christ's sacrifice to be benevolent and they didn't ask for the hell we brought them in the name of monarchs hiding behind religion. Cheers.
posted by mochi at 8:42 PM
10 Comments:
AMEN! :)
Ah, those traditional American values: Conquest! Overwhelm and conquer. Crush indigenous cultures beneath the bootheel of colonial expansionism. Thanks is given by many... for being victorious. Some things never change.
Exactly... some things never change. Manifest Destiny is still alive and kicking... *barf*
Hi Mochi!
I agree! What do you plan to do to show your appreciation to the Native Americans this holiday season?
-Jack
I think he did it: he made a statement for all the world to see. By this time, we can't undo what has been done, but we can resolve to do our best to not let such things happen again.
I understand what you're saying, Shea, but this is long before I was born, long before my father or grandfather was born. If I start apologizing for the sins of my ancestors I will be apologizing to Adam's kids one day. I regret the evil all men have done, but don't think that any one race or ethnic group holds the franchise. As the son of a son of a son of a slave I hold no one alive responsible for the treatment of ancestors long dead. Nor does anyone alive need apologize for crimes they did not commit. This is a land of opportunity, and I can only imagine what I may have been if left in Africa.
-Jack
Jack, I agree with you in that I think the majority of us regret all the evil that has done and I can say that personally I don't hold grudges. I don't know anyone in my family that committed any atrocious acts but I'm sure there are some on my anglo side. I didn't do anything so I know I don't have anything to apologize for. With that said I think it's really important that we NEVER forget the past, or as they say "we are doomed to repeat it." I think this is the message that Mochi was trying to send out, or at least that's what I got out of it. I also understand and clearly acknowledge that today as a nation, we are still trying to impose our values and beliefs on everyone else. Rather, the religious right (who seems to be running the president and this country) is trying to impose what *they* think is right. It may not compare to stealing land, enslaving humans, forcing migrants to became slaves to conglomerate corporations but to certain groups of people, for today's standards, it can be pretty frightening.
I also wanted to add that Mochi mentioned that the Native's didn't believe in the God that we know, and *THAT* is okay and we should recognize that. Just like many of my Aztec ancestors believed in may of the same spirits and Gods that the Natives did. It doesn't make them bad, although the evangelical pilgrims that came across them did. That's the same message that I preach to all I know. I believe in God but that doesn't give me the right to try and change someone or judge someone because they don't or because they believe in something different. It doesn't make them bad people and they should be entitled to believe in a rock, if the want. Sadly, here in TX we (meaning the state, I voted against it) just passed an amendment to the TX constitution defining marriage as that between a man and a woman only and that we will not recoginze ANY union other than that from anywhere else. Now...who's belief is this? And what if you don't believe that God deems this so? Again.. too bad, because the religious right says so.
(Sorry guys, for taking up so much space tonight. I guess I had a lot to say :P )
Jack, I think you misinterpreted my statement. All I meant to say was that remembering the bad things that have happened in the past is one way to prevent them from happening again. I'm not saying we should bear the responsibility of our ancestors' sins. Just that we should try to learn from past mistakes.
Ha! Shea, not the first (or probably the last) time I've misinterpreted your statements.
-Jack
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