The Pilgrims. Socialism failed then, it fails now
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Of course I am inserting politics into this holiday. Nothing like sitting down to dinner with someone who talks about the collective action of the pilgrims and the indians and how they worked together to have their bountiful harvest. Well, that story line is crap. Just like the idea that Robin Hood is the model for socialism by robbing the rich and giving to the poor. That is so not how the legend went, but thanks to the retelling by progressives over the last century, that is what it has evolved into. To clear that one up. Robin Hood liberated money that the government had stolen from the people and gave it back to them. Bernie tries to make himself as Robin Hood, but really he is the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Back to our story.
The pilgrims were looking for a land that they could worship as they will. They tried Holland, but the different language and culture was something that they didn't want to deal with, so they got a charter from the crown and booked passage to the New World. Their original destination was Virginia, but as providence would have it, they encountered terrible storms that blew them off course, and they landed on Cape Cod, part of what would become Massachusetts.
Many died in the first year in large part because of their decision to hold things in common, and to unknowingly follow the communist creed of "from each according to their ability, to each according to his need". Someday that will work, but not then, and not now. Why? Because the needy get needier, and those with ability don't produce as much, and become needier themselves. But I digress.
After having a successful harvest, they joined with their Indian neighbors to celebrate the harvest. As the nation was established, George Washington declared a day of thanksgiving for the nation to remember the bounty that they had been blessed to have, including the just concluded Revolutionary War.
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, called for an annual day of Thanksgiving, as a way of healing the nation. It was celebrated annually, but not as an official holiday until 1941, when FDR declared the 4th Thursday of November to be designated as Thanksgiving.
Today, it is a day of gluttony. It is a day of football, and now, Black Friday has become Black Friday eve. Don't get me wrong, I love eating on Thanksgiving, and I love watching football on Thanksgiving. I have also been listening to Christmas music since Nov. 1, but I do not fail to acknowledge the hand that provided it. I have been blessed. God has given me so much. I have kids that are healthy, I have a home that keeps me warm and cool, depending on the season, and a wonderful wife.
It was the Pilgrims and other religious exiles that laid the ground work for the concept of religious liberty. It was so essential to the Founders (all deeply religious) that when the Bill or Rights was crafted, guess what was the 1st freedom protected? So, yes, already talking about it, the freedom to worship as one will. Before the press, before speech, before guns. The ability to believe, and to act on that belief. This protection has been imperfect, at best, but like democracy as a form of government, it is the worst, except every other kind. This guarantee of religious freedom allowed religion to explode, and, more importantly, it allowed a place where the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to occur, and take root. From humble beginnings to a worldwide work, it is the stone cut without hands filling the whole earth.
Finally, the latest in the Threads of Glory songs that I am throwing out there. The song is My Country, lyrics and narration by Doug Stewart and music by Lex de Azevedo.
https://youtu.be/hV-VB5EIKx4
Of course I am inserting politics into this holiday. Nothing like sitting down to dinner with someone who talks about the collective action of the pilgrims and the indians and how they worked together to have their bountiful harvest. Well, that story line is crap. Just like the idea that Robin Hood is the model for socialism by robbing the rich and giving to the poor. That is so not how the legend went, but thanks to the retelling by progressives over the last century, that is what it has evolved into. To clear that one up. Robin Hood liberated money that the government had stolen from the people and gave it back to them. Bernie tries to make himself as Robin Hood, but really he is the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Back to our story.
The pilgrims were looking for a land that they could worship as they will. They tried Holland, but the different language and culture was something that they didn't want to deal with, so they got a charter from the crown and booked passage to the New World. Their original destination was Virginia, but as providence would have it, they encountered terrible storms that blew them off course, and they landed on Cape Cod, part of what would become Massachusetts.
Many died in the first year in large part because of their decision to hold things in common, and to unknowingly follow the communist creed of "from each according to their ability, to each according to his need". Someday that will work, but not then, and not now. Why? Because the needy get needier, and those with ability don't produce as much, and become needier themselves. But I digress.
After having a successful harvest, they joined with their Indian neighbors to celebrate the harvest. As the nation was established, George Washington declared a day of thanksgiving for the nation to remember the bounty that they had been blessed to have, including the just concluded Revolutionary War.
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, called for an annual day of Thanksgiving, as a way of healing the nation. It was celebrated annually, but not as an official holiday until 1941, when FDR declared the 4th Thursday of November to be designated as Thanksgiving.
Today, it is a day of gluttony. It is a day of football, and now, Black Friday has become Black Friday eve. Don't get me wrong, I love eating on Thanksgiving, and I love watching football on Thanksgiving. I have also been listening to Christmas music since Nov. 1, but I do not fail to acknowledge the hand that provided it. I have been blessed. God has given me so much. I have kids that are healthy, I have a home that keeps me warm and cool, depending on the season, and a wonderful wife.
It was the Pilgrims and other religious exiles that laid the ground work for the concept of religious liberty. It was so essential to the Founders (all deeply religious) that when the Bill or Rights was crafted, guess what was the 1st freedom protected? So, yes, already talking about it, the freedom to worship as one will. Before the press, before speech, before guns. The ability to believe, and to act on that belief. This protection has been imperfect, at best, but like democracy as a form of government, it is the worst, except every other kind. This guarantee of religious freedom allowed religion to explode, and, more importantly, it allowed a place where the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to occur, and take root. From humble beginnings to a worldwide work, it is the stone cut without hands filling the whole earth.
Finally, the latest in the Threads of Glory songs that I am throwing out there. The song is My Country, lyrics and narration by Doug Stewart and music by Lex de Azevedo.
https://youtu.be/hV-VB5EIKx4
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