We are blessed by living in the greatest country that has ever existed on this blue planet. Great, brave men founded it. They were not perfect men; they were imperfect like the rest of us. They were intelligent men. They understood that the penalty for treason was hanging or decapitation. When they put their names on that piece of paper, called the Declaration of Independence, this was a certain death warrant if they didn't prevail in a coming war with the greatest military power of that day, the British King and his Empire. But apparently, they fully believed in the immortal words of one of their own; "give me liberty or give me death."
I consider this bit of writing to be very important in this unsettled stage in our country's history. Someone has to say it loud and clear, over and over again. I don't want even one reader to conclude that I have somehow been contaminated by the ugly bias of white supremacy. So please permit me to show you where I'm coming from. As a child, I was raised in a pretty small Southern California city with a population of 14,000 (now 160,000). The vast majority of the minority population was comprised of uneducated, peasant-class Mexican immigrants. The main occupation was working in the citrus groves. Looking back, I have very pleasant childhood memories. Food was in short supply, but love was in abundance. This is the way things were back then: all the Mexican kids from all the farming areas were bussed into just one elementary school. They were not permitted in any of the other schools. Only one barber shop in town could be used. Non-whites could not own property or rent south of the city's main boulevard. Since apparently, only Mexicans used marijuana then, some of the barrio's young men received ten years of prison sentences for the sin of possession. The public swimming pool could only be used on Fridays. The standing joke was that the water would be changed on Saturdays. In short, when I was growing up, Jim Crow was alive and well in sunny California. Young Californians cannot believe this.
Back to our country's founders, some were wealthy landowners and owned slaves. Today, we see slavery as cruel, demeaning, immoral, and sinful in every way, and it was, and it is! Oppressive regimes are using slave labor to this day. (We even knowingly buy the products they produce). Slavery has been an entrenched part of human society for as far back as we can trace civilizations in all parts of the world. The Jewish people were Egypt's slaves for 420 years. So, if we find it necessary to condemn slavery, we have to condemn the human race for it. Slavery was here thousands of years before our founding fathers were born. They did not invent slavery! Going back to "recent history, our bible refers to slavery in hundreds of places. (See the attached list showing just a small fraction of these places). Not being a theologian, I find it hard to believe that neither the Old nor the New Testament condemns slavery. They nearly instruct slaves and slave owners how to behave and treat each other. For example, in 1 Peter 2:18, "You household slaves, obey your masters with all deferences." (But in defense of the early Christian church, it certainly did not have the resources to eliminate it. Abraham Lincoln and his party attempted to do so. In just one country, 620,000 men died as a result).
Once again, the men who gave us our great, great country did not invent slavery. They lived in a time when slavery was accepted and entrenched in human society. I am in no way ashamed to say that I love our country. I have visited the land of my father's birth. I will forever be grateful that he crossed that cold river and allowed me to pursue that dream that we call the fantastic American dream.
We must keep the memory and legacy intact of the men who gave us this greatest country on earth for as long as old glory flies in freedom's breeze. More than a million other Americans have given their lives so it can fly forever over the land of the free and the home of those who are brave enough to keep it. May God bless America and its imperfect people who have never stopped striving to be better and worthy of his countless blessings. Let us never stop telling this to our children, and to our children's children, for as long as we have Breath.
May God bless America, the land that we love.
Slavery In The Bible:
Exodus 21:2-11
Leviticus 25:39-46
Deuteronomy 15:12-18
Exodus 21:20-21
Ephesians 6:5
Colossians 3:22
1 Timothy 21:2-11
Philemon 1:10-21
(there is much much more)
I consider this bit of writing to be very important in this unsettled stage in our country's history. Someone has to say it loud and clear, over and over again. I don't want even one reader to conclude that I have somehow been contaminated by the ugly bias of white supremacy. So please permit me to show you where I'm coming from. As a child, I was raised in a pretty small Southern California city with a population of 14,000 (now 160,000). The vast majority of the minority population was comprised of uneducated, peasant-class Mexican immigrants. The main occupation was working in the citrus groves. Looking back, I have very pleasant childhood memories. Food was in short supply, but love was in abundance. This is the way things were back then: all the Mexican kids from all the farming areas were bussed into just one elementary school. They were not permitted in any of the other schools. Only one barber shop in town could be used. Non-whites could not own property or rent south of the city's main boulevard. Since apparently, only Mexicans used marijuana then, some of the barrio's young men received ten years of prison sentences for the sin of possession. The public swimming pool could only be used on Fridays. The standing joke was that the water would be changed on Saturdays. In short, when I was growing up, Jim Crow was alive and well in sunny California. Young Californians cannot believe this.
Back to our country's founders, some were wealthy landowners and owned slaves. Today, we see slavery as cruel, demeaning, immoral, and sinful in every way, and it was, and it is! Oppressive regimes are using slave labor to this day. (We even knowingly buy the products they produce). Slavery has been an entrenched part of human society for as far back as we can trace civilizations in all parts of the world. The Jewish people were Egypt's slaves for 420 years. So, if we find it necessary to condemn slavery, we have to condemn the human race for it. Slavery was here thousands of years before our founding fathers were born. They did not invent slavery! Going back to "recent history, our bible refers to slavery in hundreds of places. (See the attached list showing just a small fraction of these places). Not being a theologian, I find it hard to believe that neither the Old nor the New Testament condemns slavery. They nearly instruct slaves and slave owners how to behave and treat each other. For example, in 1 Peter 2:18, "You household slaves, obey your masters with all deferences." (But in defense of the early Christian church, it certainly did not have the resources to eliminate it. Abraham Lincoln and his party attempted to do so. In just one country, 620,000 men died as a result).
Once again, the men who gave us our great, great country did not invent slavery. They lived in a time when slavery was accepted and entrenched in human society. I am in no way ashamed to say that I love our country. I have visited the land of my father's birth. I will forever be grateful that he crossed that cold river and allowed me to pursue that dream that we call the fantastic American dream.
We must keep the memory and legacy intact of the men who gave us this greatest country on earth for as long as old glory flies in freedom's breeze. More than a million other Americans have given their lives so it can fly forever over the land of the free and the home of those who are brave enough to keep it. May God bless America and its imperfect people who have never stopped striving to be better and worthy of his countless blessings. Let us never stop telling this to our children, and to our children's children, for as long as we have Breath.
May God bless America, the land that we love.
Slavery In The Bible:
Exodus 21:2-11
Leviticus 25:39-46
Deuteronomy 15:12-18
Exodus 21:20-21
Ephesians 6:5
Colossians 3:22
1 Timothy 21:2-11
Philemon 1:10-21
(there is much much more)
