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David Feddes

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At Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade.

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!Butchered unarmed Muslims after surrender !Massacred many Arab Christians !Burned Jews in their synagogue

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Set fire to their synagogues I advise that their houses be destroyed They must be driven from our country They are full of the devils feces We are at fault in not slaying them.

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! South African system of racial segregation ! Some missionaries said each race should stay separate and develop its unique identity. ! Some theologians and churches officially defended apartheid.

! Hutu majority murdered 800,000 minority Tutsis, as well as Hutus who helped Tutsis ! 95 percent of Rwandans claim to be Christians ! Some pastors and priests aided in genocide

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Samuel Karemera, a Hutu farmer, killed three Tutsis who had been his friends, because a Hutu mayor ordered it. Samuel said, "I killed three, a man and two women, with a big club... They were my neighbors. I knew them well. [The mayor] said: 'Kill ... all the Tutsis.' So we had to do it or be killed ourselves as traitors or sympathizers with Tutsis." A similar story is told by a woman named Juliana, who said she killed a wounded Tutsi boy, using a club spiked with nails, because soldiers ordered her to finish him off, and she wanted to save her own life. BACK TO SLIDES

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! Charlemagnes swordpoint conversions ! Crusader atrocities ! Inquisition tortures and burnings ! Luthers tirades against Jews ! Witch trials ! Opium wars ! Apartheid ! Rwandan genocide

Cant always be proud of church historyor of your countrys history. !Thinking my country is best in world history !Dont trust perspective of powerful; winners history !Politicians: America is great because Am. is good. !Evangelicals glorify Americas godly history; flaws are just minor glitches in overall story of progress !Christians schools & home schools glorify America and talk about Americas Christian heritage !bold adventurers, wise founding fathers, and saintly soldiers fighting for freedom !Must face shameful side of American history

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! Conquest of native Americans ! Enslavement of Africans ! Imperialism in relation to other nations

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[The Holy Spirit] with marvelous rays of light consoled me through the holy and sacred Scriptures and gave the sweetest consolation.

!Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold. !There are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand. !Gave captive girl to one of his men, who beat her into having sex.

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! Natives age age 14 and up had to bring gold

dust or 25 pounds of cotton to their Spanish conquerors every 3 months. ! Whenever an Indian delivered his tribute, he was to receive a brass or copper token which he must wear about his neck as proof that he had made his payment. (Ferdinand Columbus) ! Any native found without a token would have his hands cut off.

Let us go forth, serving God, honoring our nation, giving growth to our king, and let us become rich ourselves

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King James thanked Almighty God for his great goodness and bounty towards us for this wonderful plague among the savages.

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! In 1763 General Jeffrey Amherst approved sending smallpoxinfected blankets as gifts to Indians. ! He wrote of measures to be taken as would bring about the Total Extirpation of those Indian Nations and put a most Effectual Stop to their very Being.

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Pilgrims seeking religious freedom held a feast to thank God, joined by Indians. Some untold truths:
! Harvest celebrations were an Indian custom. ! Settlers couldnt survive without Indian help. ! Most colonists had financial, not religious

motives. ! That cordial feast was far from typical.

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! In 1623 British officials in Virginia made a

treaty with natives near the Potomac River and proposed a toast symbolizing eternal friendship. ! The chief, his family, advisors, and two hundred others drank the toastand dropped dead of poison.

The natives of the Americas werent perfectly holy and happy before white newcomers showed up from Europe. Some natives were guilty of sacrificing humans to their gods. Some enslaved other tribes. Some tribes who lost power and land to European settlers had previously taken that territory from other tribes. Some were as cruel to the settlers as the settlers were to them. But the fact remains that many Europeans who claimed to be Christians did not treat native people as Jesus commanded.

Jesus said, Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31). Instead of obeying Jesus Golden Rule, Columbus and many of his successors lusted for gold and wanted to rule, and they did to others what nobody wanted done to them. Not all European newcomers were killers and slavers. Some were honest and friendly to native peoples. But far too many disobeyed Jesus teaching and treated natives with cruelty and contempt. BACK TO SLIDES

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! In 1618 the Dutch Reformed Synod of Dort

banned the sale of Christian slaves and said they ought to enjoy equal right of liberty with other Christians. ! Some Dutch Reformed people took this decree seriously. So what did they do? ! Many of the Dutch Reformed dialed back evangelism in slave colonies so that slaves would not convert to Christianity and thus become candidates for liberty.

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! The first colony to legalize slavery was not

Virginia but Massachusetts. ! In 1720 about one of every four residents of New York City was a slave. ! More than half of those who signed the Declaration of Independence owned slaves

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! Blasted King George

for the slave trade ! Said of slavery: I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever. ! Tried everything to deal with the problem of slaveryexcept freeing the 200 slaves that he himself owned.

Jefferson was a big spender, was constantly running up debts, and he needed the unpaid labor of his slaves to keep him afloat financially. When George Washington died, his will directed that his slaves be freed and that some proceeds from his estate be used to help them financially. But when Thomas Jefferson died, even his will did not free his slaves, and they were sold to help pay his debts.

Patrick Henry argued in favor of American independence, saying, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery. Then he thundered, Give me liberty or give me death! BACK TO SLIDES

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! Called slavery as repugnant

to humanity as it is inconsistent with the Bible and destructive of liberty. ! Still he kept buying slaves and never freed them. ! Would anyone believe that I am a Master of Slaves of my own purchase! I am drawn along by the general inconvenience of living without them.

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! Samuel Johnson: How is it that we hear the

loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes? ! Montesquieu mocked the way Europeans and Americans denied the full humanity of black people: It is impossible for us to suppose these creatures to be men, because, allowing them to be men, a suspicion would follow that we ourselves are not Christian.

Some who fought for American independence did not own slaves. John Adams, a founding father and second president of the United States had no slaves and called slavery an evil of colossal magnitude. Elbridge Gerry, a delegate at the Constitutional Convention and later Vice President of the United States, wrote his wife, I am exceedingly distressed at the proceedings of the Conventionbeing almost sure, they will lay the foundation of a Civil War.

The majority of the framers of the United States Constitution decided to compromise on slavery. Many talked as though it could continue for a time but would then fade away gradually as people became more enlightened. Its easy to say such things when youre not a slave but are benefiting from slavery, either as a slave holder or as a purchaser of goods that were cheap thanks to slave labor. For those in bondage, talk of gradual change was not comforting.

An entire lifetime could and did pass without gradual change freeing them. Seventy years after the Constitution was approved, slavery was still not fading away in the United States. Instead, some were trying to expand slavery into new territories and were not speaking of it as a temporary evil but as a permanent cornerstone of society established by God himself. The nation, which had chosen compromise over making the hard choice to do right, went through a bloody civil war.

Those who defended slavery sometimes appealed to abstract principles such as states rights, but the concrete result was millions of people who toiled and died as slaves. Even today, some still claim that the Confederate States were standing for limited government and states rights, not standing for slavery. But listen to the vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens. BACK TO SLIDES

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Our new governments foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery subordination to the superior raceis his natural and normal condition. (Confederate Vice
President Alexander Stephens)

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! Some wanted to stop slavery and free black

people on moral grounds. ! Others wanted to limit the spread of slavery in order to keep Western lands free of blacks. One said, The negro race already occupy enough of this fair continent; let us keep what remains for ourselves and our children. ! Lincoln fought to preserve the Union, not to free slaves. ! Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation freed only slaves in enemy territory, not in border states.

am not nor ever have been in I+5:-*5$0"#$ I favor of making voters or jurors *+9#1&0-1$ of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will for ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality and I as much as any man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.

Slavery was not just a problem in the United States. Slavery was legal in Canada until 1834, when the British Parliament abolished the institution of slavery throughout the British Empire. Slavery was legal in Brazil until 1888. In Latin America, in the Caribbean, in colonies around the world, Africans and native peoples were forced into slavery. All the major European powers took part in the slave trade. Slave traders shipped as many as 17 million slaves to the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Even in black Africa itself, some African rulers made big money and political power by selling fellow Africans into slavery. Slavery was not unique to one country or one era. It was a problem in many places at many points in history. Still, slavery was especially grievous in the United States where so many people claimed to be Christian and proclaimed the importance of freedom and human rights (for themselves) but enslaved people who werent of their racial background. BACK TO SLIDES

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! Is the U.S. the last best hope of

earth (Lincoln), a city on a hill (Reagan), and the light of the world, as Christ called us to be (Bush, Sr.)? ! When Jesus said, You are the light of the world, he was speaking to his disciples, not to American politicians. ! Are U.S. troops always nobler, U.S. leaders more idealistic, U.S. policies more freedom-oriented and less imperialistic?

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! In the 1950s the CIA arranged the killing of

Irans leader and installed the Shah. ! In the 1980s the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq even while he was gassing opponents. ! The U.S. helped Muslim militants like Osama bin Laden against Russians in Afghanistan. ! The U.S. has done much good. It has also used political assassination, military force, and financial bullying to shape other nations.

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Proposed a union of Western European nations [to] undertake jointly the economic development and exploitation of the colonial and dependent areas of the African Continent. We have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security.

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We will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.

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For a truly stable world order can proceed, within our lifetime, only from the older, mellower and more advanced nations of the worldnations from which the concept of order, as opposed to power, has value and meaning. ! This was written right after World War II, when the mellower and more advanced nations had just convulsed the world with the two bloodiest wars in history.

The policy planners stated their intent to deal in straight power concepts, yet fancied America as leader of the nations that value order and not just power. If someone concocted an anti-American parody, it could hardly be more damning than this official recommendation to exploit other nations, perpetuate wealth disparity, ignore human rights, and favor the supposedly civilized nations of Europe and North America as the fountain of wisdom and good order. BACK TO SLIDES

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! Charlemagnes swordpoint conversions ! Crusader atrocities ! Inquisition tortures and burnings ! Luthers tirades against Jews ! Witch trials ! Opium wars ! Apartheid ! Rwandan genocide

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! Conquest of native Americans ! Enslavement of Africans ! Imperialism in relation to other nations

You might think, Whats done is done. Why bring it up so much horrible, rotten stuff from the past? Why not leave the past in the past? But if the past could safely be ignored as irrelevant to the present, then it would be best to dump history altogether, the good along with the bad. If we celebrate the positive impact of Christianity on history, then we must also face the shameful side of church history. If American Christians boast that bold explorers, wise founding fathers, and brave soldiers shaped American identity, we must admit that greedy invaders, racist slaveholders, and power-hungry politicians also shaped American identity.

Facing unpleasant facts of history is not a matter of being politically correct but of becoming historically correct and spiritually wise. There is more to United States history than grabbing a continent away from Native Americans, enslaving Africans, and pursuing an exploitative, ethnocentric foreign policy. But there is not less. A balanced history will accent achievements of Euro-Americans, not just their evils. A balanced history will also depict the accomplishments and failings of Native Americans, African Americans, and other ethnic groups, not just portray them as victims. BACK TO SLIDES

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! Forgetting the past may doom us to repeat it. ! Recalling the past resentfully can fuel

ongoing hatred, conflict, and violence. ! Seeing our people in the past as oppressors can trap us in chronic and useless guilt. ! Seeing our people in the past as victims can trap us in a victim mentality of excusemaking and playing the blame game. ! Jesus helps us to face the past honestly without being trapped by it.

Rather than live in guilt for how some of our ancestors may have wronged others, we can live a new life by Gods grace. Rather than live in bitterness as perpetual victims of what some of our ancestors may have suffered at the hands of others, we can live a new life by Gods grace. Rather than blaming our problems on those who came before us, we can live by Gods power and be responsible for our own attitudes and actions. Living by grace does not mean forgetting history or ignoring past evils. It means facing the truth and trusting Gods mercy in Jesus Christ to reconcile us with him and with each other BACK TO SLIDES

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! Large areas of the World will not hear us till we

have publicly disowned much of our past. Why should they? We have shouted the name of Christ and enacted the service of Moloch (C. S. Lewis) ! Confessing sins of others in past generations can make us self-righteous. We congratulate ourselves that we are much better than they were. ! The cross enables a kind of remembering that produces repentance rather than arrogance, gratitude rather than bitterness, reconciliation rather than revenge, hope rather than despair.

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! Some who claim to follow Jesus are not

really Christians at all. ! Even genuine Christians still have many sins and blind spots. ! God can bring good out of evil.
! Many slaves came to know Jesus. ! European and American imperialism was

evil but resulted in many more people having access to the gospel, and enriched the worldwide church with much diversity.
! We are responsible for our actions now.

Sometimes, when we learn about history, we dont want to take the blame for the evils of those who came before us, but we do want take credit for their achievements. But lets not take too much credit or too much blame for the past. Instead, lets take responsibility for the present. Lets build on the insights of people who went before us, and lets also learn from their evils and errors not to repeat the same sins.

Those before us did some bad, some good, and their actions helped shape the sort of world we live in. But we are not trapped by the past. Jesus gives freedom to choose now to live according to Gods pattern and to trust God for the future. Lets learn the shameful side of history, not in order to blame others or blame ourselves for what happened long ago but in order (1) to understand human nature better, (2) to appreciate Gods grace more, (3) to honor Jesus as Lord of all nations, and (4) to show his love to people of every nationality. END OF PRESENTATION

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