First Rant

Between 1492 and 1900, the Native population of the state of Texas decreased by 90 percent. This was due, in large part, to a series of epidemic diseases that swept through the Americas with the arrival of Europeans. In the middle part of the 19^th century it was claimed that God had cleared the way so that the “Manifest Destiny” of the United States could be realized – in other words, so that white people could take our place – that God killed off most of us “heathen Indians” so that US expansion could continue. Our deaths were in the nation’s interests and since God is on the side of the interests of the US our deaths in service to the interests of the US were ordained and blessed by God.

Today an ideological form of Manifest Destiny is often what is meant when the term “American Exceptionalism” is used. This belief reinforces a great deal of racism aimed at Native Americans, Asians, and African Americans (and many others throughout the years), and it is often the foundation for the sense of entitlement that is a hallmark of the international relations policies of this country. Like most other forms of racism and discrimination in this country the Bible was (and is) used to support this attitude.

But what if you don’t fit in? What if you are not white, or middle class, or obsessed with consumerism? What happens when you become the victim of the policies of the US; when you are expected to change everything about your culture, religion, and general way of life to avoid being abused by the uncaring, money-centric culture of the United States? 

You might end up like me… 

If you have never had official policy aimed directly at your race, beliefs, culture, or way of life. If you have never had the “God ordained” government sterilize your mothers and sisters and daughters and cousins without their knowledge or consent (yes, there was a long lasting eugenics program in the US aimed at Native Americans and African Americans in particular… look it up!). If you have never had the life you were promised (by the government and by the church) ripped away from you because it no longer served the “interests” of the nation, or you no longer fit in with the current trend in popular dogma. If you have never been treated like a museum piece or jumped and beaten because of your race or fired from a job for the same reason or told in no uncertain terms that if you fully embrace your cultural traditions you will not only lose your job but no one would hire you for your chosen profession. If your child has not come home and informed you that your own people did not exist anymore because that is what they were taught in PUBLIC school. If you have not had to bite your tongue as your coworkers malign not only your belief system, your culture, and everything you hold as important or valuable, but you as person (and tell you that God hates people like you, and will kill you and everyone like you when Chris returns)... Well... then you probably don’t understand my perspective. You probably just don’t get why it became so important for me personally to discover just what the Bible says  on its own without the projections of two thousand years of prejudiced interpretations and traditional (and not so traditional) dogma. 

I have been on the receiving end of these policies (both political and ecclesial) for most of my life. The Bible has been used to tell me that because of my mixed race, my culture, ceremonies, social structures, traditional piercings, tattoos, and even the way I wore my hair, I was going to hell. I have been told that God would only accept me if I accepted the (fill in the blank) interpretation of the Bible and the (fill in the blank) dogma. After all God had killed off most of my people to clear the way for the white Protestants in the United States, the “chosen nation” and the new “chosen people” (yes, I have been told this). If I honored my ancestors then I was going against the will of God (and yes… I have been told this as well). 

So… because I had (and have) an intimate and ongoing relationship with GOD through Jesus, who was (and is), my Christ… I had to find out the facts and the truth about the Bible, the Christian tradition, the history of the Church, the nature of religion, the psychology of religion, and the history of this Nation for myself. I was tired of trying to believe the conflicting messages I heard at various churches; messages that were almost always directly contrary to what I actually found in the Bible. 

Before you condemn me for how I feel or who I am or what I have come to believe, I ask that you do the hard work… that you do the research… and try to see your tradition, culture, Church, history, country, and yourself beyond the skewed filters of the (oh so necessary) propaganda that any tradition must maintain.

It has taken me 25 years of dedicated research to reach the conclusions I have. I can back up my claims with solid evidence, can you? I am also willing to change my conclusions based on solid evidence, are you?