Tag: Kintyre Peninsula

Is The United States of America a Christian Nation? – Part 2

My blog post from yesterday grew to be too long, so I divided it into two parts. Before reading today’s post, it would be useful for you to read yesterday’s to put today’s post into context: Is The United States of America a Christian Nation? – Part 1.

As I stated yesterday, Christian Nationalists love to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, but you will not find the words “Christian” or “Jesus” in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the United States from making any “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Americans, under our Constitution, are free to practice any religion they choose. They are free to practice no religion whatsoever. That is one of the bedrocks and beauties of the United States of America.

That is why I find the likes of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth so dangerous. As I noted in yesterday’s blog post, he sees our current war in Iran as a holy war. But the United States of America does not fight holy wars. The day we start down that road will be the beginning of our demise.

One only needs to look at the history of Europe to see how differing interpretations of Christianity in government can create great conflict. When one monarchy favors Roman Catholicism to the detriment of Protestantism… or a monarchy favors Protestantism to the detriment of Roman Catholicism we see oppression and wars.

My Presbyterian ancestors experienced that struggle in Scotland and it, no doubt, influenced them to come to America in the mid-1700s. My ancestors on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland had to worship in secret in the 1600s in gatherings called conventicle because the monarchy favored Roman Catholicism at the time.

(One of the historical short stories in my book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories is about the Covenanters in Scotland and how they were punished for not espousing the Roman Catholic traditions.)

In Colonial America, religious freedom and religious overreach were issues. As noted in my Author’s Notes after “You Couldn’t Help But Like Bob” story in my short story book, fines ordered by the courts in Colonial Virginia were often to be paid to the Church of England or the Anglican Church.

There was no separation of church and state in Colonial America. In Colonial North Carolina, the Episcopal church held sway over the government. It was illegal in North Carolina for a Presbyterian minister to officiate over a marriage. Marriages conducted by Presbyterian ministers were not recognized by the Royal Government. My Presbyterian colonial North Carolina ancestors were on the wrong side of the law.

It is almost impossible for 21st century Americans to comprehend how life was in colonial times. That is why it makes it so easy for Christians in 21st century America to call for the Ten Commandments to be posted on public school classroom walls and courtroom walls. They do not grasp the danger – the slippery slope – such actions can lead to.

In their hearts and minds, they think they are doing a good thing. They think they are following Jesus’ instructions found in Matthew 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

But Jesus did not say we are to make our governments Christian. Christianity is a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. It is not a belief to be imposed upon another human being. It is not a belief system to be used as a cudgel by a government. To see it that way is blasphemous and indicates a basic misunderstanding of Jesus Christ.

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

In Matthew 22:15-21 (as found in the New International Version of the Bible), the Pharisees try to trap Jesus by questioning him about paying taxes: 

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

In Mark 12:13-17, that same encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees is recorded as follows in the New International Version of the Bible:

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Getting back to Matthew 28:18-20, yes, Jesus instructed us to spread the Gospel, but the Christians who want to force the Gospel on people by weaponizing the government with the Bible are taking the easy way out. They are taking a dangerous way out. The Bible and its words should never be used as a weapon.

Not once in the New Testament did Jesus force or instruct His followers to force His brand of religion on the government or on the people via the government.

A meme with the words of the First Amendment with the American flag in the background
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Christians have countless ways to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Forcing the Gospel on people through our government is not one of them.

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.

#TwoForTuesday: Two of my Unsung Female Heroes

Many unsung female heroes have crossed my path. I haven’t known any famous people, so all the heroes in my life – male and female – are unsung.

I’m going to break the “Two-For” rule today and write about just one of my unsung female heroes, my great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Morrison. I know her only through names and dates on the written page and a plain rock that marks her grave in Spears Graveyard, but she is my hero.

Mary Morrison (17??-1781)

I know few details of this Mary Morrison’s life. I don’t know if she had a bubbly personality or was a negative person. I only know her from the circumstances of her life.

She was born in Scotland, probably on the Kintyre Peninsula in 1732. She married John Morrison from the same place. They came to America, lived in Pennsylvania for a while, then moved to North Carolina in the 1760s.

Mary and John had nine children. John died in 1777. Tradition tells us that he was ambushed by Tories not far from his and Mary’s home. Knowing that he would soon die, he wrote his will in August of 1777 and died less than a week later. From John’s will, we know that Mary was expecting their last child at the time because he made provisions for the unborn child.

Sadly, Mary died early in 1781, leaving her minor children in the care of relatives. We also know that when Mary was sick and writing her will that one of her daughters was very ill and it was uncertain if the daughter would survive that illness.

What a hard life Mary must have had! I hope she had joy in her life.

I marvel at how she left Scotland for the great unknown American frontier. She left a place on the sea for a new life 200 miles inland in the backcountry of North Carolina where the woods and meadows were filled with all sorts of wild animals about which she knew little or nothing. She must have feared every day for disease or injury to herself and her family.

I live on land today that has been passed down from generation to generation from John and Mary. I came to feel a real kinship with Mary a few years ago as I worked in our vegetable and flower garden.

Summer Squash
Dragonfly in our garden

I practiced organic gardening, much as Mary would have in the 1770s. I imagined Mary growing some of the same vegetables and varieties of flowers on this same land. I enjoyed the butterflies, writing spiders, hoppy toads, dragonflies, birds, and box turtles that visited the garden, and I liked to think that Mary did, too.

As I was always on the lookout for copperhead snakes while in my garden, I can’t help but think Mary kept an eye open for them, too. One of the earliest things my parents taught me was how to distinguish between a copperhead and a non-poisonous snake. I feel sure that was an early lesson Mary and John taught their children. Also, how to identify and avoid poison oak.

I can imagine Mary showing her children how to pluck a honeysuckle blossom, bite the end of the stem off, and suck in the sweetness of the flower.

Passion Flower

When wild passion flowers sprouted in her garden, I hope she left them to grow, bloom, and produce lollypops.

When the wild orange butterfly weed bloomed in sunny spots in the yard, I hope Mary showed her children the black, yellow, and white-striped caterpillars munching on the green leaves, and I hope she knew to tell them that those caterpillars would one day be transformed into brilliant Monarch butterflies.

Wild Butterfly Weed and Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars

Mary did not have benefit of a tractor to till her garden, comfortable 21st century clothing to wear in the summer sun, or an air-conditioned house to retreat to when the heat and humidity got the best of her or when her back ached or blisters rose on the palms of her hands.

Raccoon in our yard on April 28, 2014.

I gardened because I wanted to. Mary gardened because she had to. If deer trampled her corn or raccoons raided her apple trees, it could be a matter of life or death for her family. When it happened to me, I just got mad and bought corn and apples at the supermarket.

When the deer and raccoons decided to eat all the plants in my garden, I raised the white flag of surrender and stopped gardening. Mary didn’t have the luxury of stopping. In fact, she probably didn’t have the luxury of stopping for a single day of her life. She could never stop working hard or worrying about her family.

My heart breaks to think of her on her death bed in March of 1781, writing her will, and wondering what would become of her orphaned children.

When I get to Heaven, I will sit down with Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Mary Morrison and hear all about her life and her garden.

Grandmother, you’re my hero!

Until my next blog post

Thank you, Rae, of “Rae’s Reads and Reviews Blog” for this month’s #TwoForTuesday blog post prompts. I learned about her prompts in her January 8, 2019 blog post:  https://educatednegra.blog/2019/01/08/two-for-tuesday-prompts/comment-page-1/#comment-1646.

I look forward to seeing what Rae has in store for us in April. If you’d like to participate, visit her blog and tell her you’re interested.

Let’s continue the conversation

In the comments section below, tell me about one or two of your unsung female heroes.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today.

Janet