Forgetting the Pilgrims in 2020 – Idaho State Journal

It would be hard to argue that 2020 has not been an eventful year. COVID, a presidential election, riots, protests and an economic downturn all have been part of this year. For many, 2020 will not be missed on this coming New Years Day.

However, 2020 marks an important, but practically unnoticed anniversary, the founding of the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims 400 years ago. Perhaps, this anniversary was forgotten in part due to the turmoil of this year. However, failure of this event to appear in the public consciousness has to do with the trend to forget history and to judge those who have contributed much to the fiber of the American nation.

Today, many either discount the Pilgrims contribution to the founding of America or paint a dark picture of them due their faults. Some see the Pilgrims as intolerant. Others see them as genocidal toward Native Americans.

Story continues below video

An arising criticism is a theory referred to as The Puritan Mistake. The Puritan Mistake theory takes aim at the Pilgrims evangelical faith and desire to see a government that reflected their religious values. This theory claims that the Puritans were intolerant of others religious beliefs, despite having many non-Puritans living among them from the very founding of their colony. It is also an ironic criticism given that the Pilgrims paved the way for many others who have come to America to seek religious freedom.

It is true the Pilgrims suffered from the shortcomings of their age. Despite their lack of perfection, or our modern sense of political correctness, the Pilgrims did not lack vision, faith or a work ethic.

For many today, the notion of who the Pilgrims were is lost. The Pilgrims were a group of Puritan evangelical Christians with deeply held, and one should add, lived beliefs. The Pilgrims rejected the royally established Church of England, and the moral corruption of that they saw in that church, and in the society of the England of they left. In order to live their faith, which was persecuted by the state, they were forced to flee England.

The Pilgrims were idealists. The very name Pilgrim represents their view that they were on a spiritual journey. The Pilgrims saw themselves as travelers who were not part of this world, but rather a people who were dedicated to living the teachings of the Gospel and joining with God in heaven. In large part, they rejected worldliness and focused on their spiritual development and service to one another on their journey to their heavenly home.

In order to live their faith, the Pilgrims wanted to establish a Zion, a society and governance modeled on their beliefs. However, Massachusetts was not their first attempt to do this. The Pilgrims first attempted to do this in the Dutch Republic. For a decade, they enjoyed religious freedom there. However, they were strangers in the Netherlands. As foreigners, the Pilgrims did not find good economic opportunities, and the culture of their new land was likely too materialistic for their tastes. Also, the Pilgrims feared that their children would lose their English roots.

Eventually, the Pilgrims grasped upon the notion of going to the New World to set up their own society. At the time, England was experimenting with setting up colonies in North America. The ill-fated Roanoke Colony established in 1585 was lost, with all in it presumed dead. The Jamestown Colony established in 1607 was struggling and had lost the majority of those who established it. The Pilgrims knew these grim facts, but yet were undeterred to establish their Zion in America fortified by their faith.

The Pilgrims situation was far from ideal. Many of the Pilgrims were well into, or past, what was considered middle age for that era. Few had the skills related to being pioneers or being adventurers. One of the two ships they started out to Plymouth in began to sink, and they had to turn back to England and combine supplies and passengers onto one aging ship, the Mayflower. Additionally, the Pilgrims left England in September, much later than would have been ideal in order to avoid a harsh winter without preparations.

Struggle and loss continued to follow the Pilgrims. Death, disease, cold, many conflicts with local Native Americans, hunger were their lot during the first years of the colony. All these challenges were met with hard work, faith and prayer.

Another challenge faced by the Pilgrims was navigation. When they first reached the shores of America, it was discovered that they had landed 200 miles north of where they planned. Their location was beyond where they had agreed to settle. This situation led to conflict between the Pilgrims and non-Puritan settlers who began to quarrel with each other. There was even a discussion of splitting the colony into two.

In response to this both Pilgrims and non-members of their religion agreed to form a simple government. We know their agreement today as the Mayflower Compact. This agreement was short, but it established in America that the consent of the governed was required to make laws. The agreement was also an early effort to recognize the right of those with different religious views to participate fully in a representative government, a concept which was largely a foreign one in Europe.

The Pilgrims are not alone in their journey to America to seek religious freedom. During the colonial era, other Puritans followed them to New England. Catholics established Maryland as a colony in order to practice their faith. Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers seeking religious freedom.

After the American Revolution, many continued to come to America for religious freedom. Irish came to America to practice Catholicism without interference from the British and discrimination based on their faith. Jews, likewise, came to America to practice their faith and avoid discrimination. Today many still come to America to worship God freely. Our nation has been enriched by the members of the many different religious traditions who have come to America.

Thanksgiving is a day we give thanks. It would be wise to give thanks for the legacy and contributions of the Pilgrims to America. We can be grateful the Pilgrims set the standard of America being a land dedicated to religious freedom.

Dan Cravens lives in Blackfoot and is the Bingham County Republican Central Committee Chairman.

Go here to read the rest:

Forgetting the Pilgrims in 2020 - Idaho State Journal