Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
...To be continued....
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If
alwayslearning were to continue your story he might point out that once the Pilgrims became established they became oppressive towards others (Quaker, Indians, Baptists, 'witches', etc),
just as they had been oppressed in Merrie Olde England.
But the problem with "just as" is that it involves a simplification, in order to identify a trend, which simplification results in a loss of detail which ruins the ability to make a fair assessment.
I think God is detailed. Every hair on your head is numbered. The Puritans indeed became oppressors, as they and their fathers/mothers had been oppressed, but were they trending in a positive direction, or were they actually just as bad? Were they more "christian" than what they had fled from, or just as unchristian?
Jews were oppressed in Nazi Germany; eventually Israelite Jews oppressed Palestinians. Is Benjamin Netanyahu therefore just as bad as Adolf Hitler? Probably not. Details matter. I think this is important as you &
alwayslearning and others fill in the blanks. I think the best we can do is have a discussion and hope that sloooowwwly a consensus emerges.
People who staunchly hold that "America is (or was) the new Covenanted Israel" or "America was founded by brigands and misanthropists" are barely more helpful to the conversation than the person who saw the face of Jesus in his french toast this morning. Their "vision" pretty much precludes conversation.