Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)

2011-11-01 / 11-12. szám

10

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

because they were afraid their children would become more Dutch than English. And they also feared that a war would break out between Holland and Spain. They longed to return to their English way of life, yet they wanted to keep their own type of worship, which was based upon the Bible.

Therefore, the new land of America appealed to them, and some English merchants even agreed to finance a trip to America. In July, 1620, Brewster led a group of Separatists (Puritans) back to England. Then in September, 1620, they set sail for America in the Mayflower. The Mayflower sailed alone from Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers, including women and children. It was a very rough journey of 65 days (a little over two months). They had expected to land somewhere within the limits of the original grant of the Virginia Company, but error in navigation led them to the New England region. Adverse winds and shoals off Cape Cod forced the Mayflower to stay north. They dropped anchor in what is now Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, inside the tip of Cape Cod on November 21, 1620. (November 11, according to the calendar then in use).

The Puritan leaders were uncertain of their legal position because they were in an area without authority. They also knew they would need discipline among themselves. To solve these problems, the 41 men aboard met and signed the Mayflower Compact, the first agreement for self-government in America. They elected John Carver as their first governor. The Mayflower Compact was the birth of popular constitutional liberty. In the cabin of the Mayflower, humanity pronounced its rights and instituted government on the basis of "just and equal laws for the general good, all for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith." The eternal truths they held in their hearts reversed the course of human history and eventually found magnificent expression in the Declaration of Independence.

It should be noted here that the Mayflower Compact had its roots in the Magna Carta, which was a document approved in 1215 and declaring certain rights to the English aristocracy. But the Mayflower Compact went a step further in declaring rights to everyone. Even though they were tired and weary, they also knew that winter would be setting in and they needed to know about the country they were in. For almost a month, they sailed up and down the coast around the Cape Cod area. They were forced to take refuge on an island in Plymouth Harbor during a blinding snowstorm. Then on December 21 (Dec 11, by their calendar), 1620, they landed at Plymouth. There they found a stream with clear pure water. They found some cleared land, and a high hill that could be fortified. This was once an Indian Village, but a smallpox plague had killed all of the Indians in 1617. The Puritans decided this would be their new home.

The first year in the new land was extremely difficult for the Puritans. Poor and inadequate food, strenuous work, and changeable weather made the settlers susceptible to sickness. The colony lost almost half its members during that first winter.

On an early spring morning of 1621 an Indian walked into the little village and introduced himself to the startled people as Samoset. Two weeks later he returned with Squanto. These two Indians introduced the Puritans to Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled all southeastern Massachusetts at that time. Governor Carver and the chief exchanged gifts

and arranged a treaty of peace. Shortly afterward, the Mayflower and its crew sailed back to England, leaving the Puritans on their own. Then Governor Carver died, and William Bradford became governor of the colony.

Squanto and his Indian friends taught the Puritans how to catch fish and use them as fertilizer in planting their crops. They planted com, pumpkins, and beans. They also hunted and fished for food. The bountiful harvest that year led Governor Bradford to declare a celebration. Sometime in the fall of 1621, the Puritans invited their Indian friends to join them in a three-day festival which we now call the first Thanksgiving.

You may be wondering why I am calling the Indians, Indians and not Native Americans, the title "Native American" applies to all individuals who have been bom in America. It does not just apply to the Indians. Again we see a misrepresentation of true facts. I am a native American just as truly as anyone else who has been bom in this great land. And to apply that title to a select group of Americans is not only unjust, but is also immoral, untrue, and very hypocritical. That is why I do not use the title "Native American" to refer to the American Indians.

Therefore, our government (mainly in the field of education) continually attempts to lift up one race above another. And by singling out individual races of Americans and giving them different and unique names is just another attempt to promote the evils of "multiculturalism" in our society. "Multiculturalism" is described as a way to make Americans more sensitive to the diverse cultural backgrounds of people in this country. In reality, what is being taught under multiculturalism is actually worse than historical revisionism; it's more than a distortion of facts, it's an elimination of facts. But without getting into a complete dissertation on multiculturalism, let me just say that multiculturalism corrupts and disunites those who are citizens of the American culture. It does not unite us, nor make anything better. On the contrary, it will destroy us as a nation. With that, I might add, is the purpose of those who promote multiculturalism. The destruction of the United States of America as we know it.

Multiculturalism in our society is as evil as pluralism is in religion. Pluralism teaches that we are to accept all religions regardless of what they teach. There is an increasing hostile trend in this country toward those who do not accept all religions by calling them hate mongers, and divisive people; or people who are not an asset to our society. The Bible clearly teaches that God does not accept all religions. He only accepts those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This does not mean that we are to be rude or obnoxious to those who are of different religions, but it does not mean that we have to accept or even respect the beliefs of others. We can be courteous, polite, and helpful as fellow citizens, and at the same time refuse to accept or respect another person's religion. Our great nation was founded on the freedom of religious beliefs. Therefore, we all have the right to believe in the way we personally desire. This also means that we have the right to disagree with others, and we also have the right to speak out against beliefs different from ours. This does not make us hate mongers, or even second class citizens. It simply means that we have the right and the freedom to express our Godgiven viewpoints under the freedom of speech guaranteed to us by the constitution of the United States. As long as we do not