THE PILGRIMS, PBS AND BILL O'REILLY

     I tuned in after it started so this is not a review of the whole program.  PBS aired a program this week purporting to give the 'true story' of the Pilgrims and Indians -- excuse me, the "native Americans".   That term is itself problematic since it is fairly certain they migrated from Asia and skeletal remains of one person in the northwest dated to around 10, 000 years ago had European DNA.  But I digress.   This program contained a lot of hard facts but strung together in such a way as to give the view of far left, revisionist 'historians'.


     William Bradford was portrayed as disheveled, unshaven and just a little weird.  The 'native Americans' were the predictable 'noble red man' myth that dates back to Rousseau.  The Pilgrims were the true 'savages'.  Why?  Among other reasons given was the incident in a subsequent military engagement with the 'native Americans' when Miles Standish (or someone with him) decapitated a dead 'native American' and put the grisly head on a pike on the fort wall for months afterward as a warning.  How convenient that 'native American' barbarities against living Europeans tend to get overlooked.


     Where does one start to reply to all this.  First, PBS finds no problem at all with Planned Parenthood ripping babies from their mother's wombs and selling the body parts.   And PBS wants us to take their word that they know who the true savages really are.   So PBS, like all 'liberal' humanists, has no moral standing whatsoever to lecture us on past barbarities.  


     The sad truth is that the Pilgrims, who were actually Separatists, were in fact handicapped by some bad theology.  They, and the Puritans after them, believed that Christians were the "new Israel".   This is sometimes called 'replacement theology'.   Israel as a nation failed in what God wanted them to do so Christians have 'replaced' Israel.  Just about any Scripture relating to Israel can now be applied to the Church.   Carried to its extreme, this view saw the 'native Americans' as ancient Israel saw the Canaanites, who were so utterly depraved that God ordered their destruction.  Something, by the way, that God subsequently decreed for a depraved nation of Israel because God is no respecter of persons.                       
     Seventeenth century English Christians did not always take the New Testament view of things, that those they called 'Indians' were nations to be given the good news of redemption in Christ.  This also explains why the Puritans had witch trials.  Instead of dealing with demonic activity by fasting, prayer and the Name of Jesus they tried to be like ancient Israel and execute those they thought were witches.   And on and on it went.  Now you can see why a dead 'native American' was decapitated just like David did to Goliath after killing him.  Very sad indeed but PBS just doesn't get it.


    Speaking of bad theology,  a couple evenings ago Bill O'Reilly was relating how he had received criticism about his book "Killing Jesus" because he had omitted the Resurrection.  He defended himself by saying "I was giving history not theology".  There are times when you ask yourself how can someone who seems so intelligent say something so asinine?   If you claim to be giving only history and you omit the Resurrection you are, in effect, declaring that the Resurrection is not an historical event, that it is a myth with a theological meaning.   And Bill considers himself a 'good Catholic' no less.
     Now I appreciate Fox News for being sympathetic to the Christian worldview and I appreciate Bill O'Reilly for often showing this sympathy.  But this does not blind me to the fact that he can be both arrogant and illogical.