Bad History

So we are now aggressively about denying our history which means removing all symbols, statutes, movies, etc. that might remind us of our past.  There is no question we were wrong in allowing people to be owned and sold, abused and misused, families to be torn apart, some to be thought of as less human than others, beatings and brandings, and other.  It is hard for me to think that “Christians” could do the like, but such is in our history.

However, because bad things as just mentioned did happen, there were “owners” who were very good to their slaves – some even giving slaves portions of ownership.  Such owner-slave relationships remind me of my relationship with my God.  He owns all and I find joy in submitting to His will and His care and He gives me an heirship (Romans 8:17).

For the past decades we have been working to remove aspects of history that we don’t like.  Take God, who was clearly noted in our history.  One just needs to consider the buildings in D.C. to see references to God everywhere.  But we have come to not need God nor like Him, so we deny any reference to Him.  Just look at a recent school history book and see if God gets any press.  Nope – expunge that part of our history from the record!

Well, now we are really driven to remove all vestiges of our history so that coming generations will not learn of our bad.  In not knowing, they can repeat some or much of it out of ignorance – they were never told!  Teach history – all of it!  Psalm 78:5-6, Which He commanded our fathers,that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them; 12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan; 17 But they sinned even more against Him; 22 And did not trust in His salvation.  23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above; 32 In spite of this they still sinned; 37-38 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.  But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,and did not destroy them.  God teaches ALL history!

I wonder if there is truly a desire to purge out our past racism?  If so, then let’s be done with Charles Darwin.  “In his 1871 book, The Descent of Man, Darwin depicted Africans as less evolved than white people,” (World, Darwin’s Racism, Julie Borg).  Be done with Darwin!

And let’s also be done with Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who “espoused Darwinian views of non-whites and people with disabilities as closer to animals than humans.  She used the term ‘human waste’ and advocated abortion and sterilization as ways of ‘improving’ the population through eugenics,” (ibid).  Be done with her and hers!

Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 freed the slaves of the states in secession who were under martial law but NOT those of the north (yes, the north also had slaves).  The northern slaves were given freedom with the passing of the 13th Amendment which was ratified on December 6, 1865 and declared on December 18, 1865.  So, rather than making Juneteenth a national day when the slaves of Galveston, TX were told they were free, what about those slaves of the some northern states who were not yet freed?  Seems December 6 or 18 should be the day to celebrate the end of slavery.

History is history – denying it does not negate it or change it.  Not all history is pleasant or kind, yet all history is there for our learning.  May we learn and do better or follow it if it was good.