Plymouth is Abel; Jamestown is Cain

The Pilgrims laid the seed of north as Abel and freedom, and Virginia was the seed of the south and slavery. America was split in two. America is a blend of religious and secular. The core values of America and the reason for her great freedom and wealth comes from the religious foundation laid by the Pilgrims. The problems of America stem from the secular foundation laid by those who came for personal, secular, selfish, and materialistic goals.

Pilgrims

The Pilgrims were not cold, anemic plaster saints as legend has represented them to be. They were passionate rebels boldly declaring their independence. They were not meek and soft-spoken but intense fighters for their cause. They put their lives on the line for what they believed in. They were restless and impatient with the old world. They were even reckless in action — many times embarking on desperate adventures. And they would not let anyone or anything divert them from their course.

Legend is also wrong in portraying the Pilgrims always dressed in black. Only on Sunday did they wear blacks and grays. Usually they wore bright Lincoln green and rich russet browns that the English lower class wore. The Pilgrims were not educated people. They did not have college degrees. The Pilgrims were revolutionaries whose goal was to implant Protestantism in America.

They stood firm against persecution, poverty, death, hunger, disease, Indian alarms, difficulties with their business partners, ignorance of the wilderness and heartbreaking setbacks.

William Bradford

Bradford became a Christian when he was twelve years old. He started associating with the Puritans and began his "holy, prayerful, watchful, and fruitful walk with God."

Every member of his family violently opposed his associating with "heretics." They warned him he would lose everything — his good name, the land he had inherited from his father, and ultimately, his very soul. But Bradford never wavered under "the wrath of his uncles, nor the scoff of his neighbors." He joined a small group of "Separatists" who met secretly every Sunday. The persecution became so intense the congregation of 120 members
decided to flee to Holland where they had heard there was "freedom of religion for all men." Bradford arrived in Amsterdam with only the shirt on his back. Since they were farmers and had no skills they could only get low paying jobs in the city.

To set up a church separate from the Church of England was regarded as treason. Some Separatists were executed.

Jail

Bradford and Brewster and others had been imprisoned in a jail in Boston, England. It is common for God’s chosen people, His champions, to go to jail. Jesus and his disciples were.









John the Baptist was imprisoned and then executed. Thomas Aquinas was kidnapped by his parents because he joined what they thought was a cult in the Middle Ages and held for a year before they gave up. Mormons were jailed and beaten.  Rev. Moon has been jailed 6 times.  The jail where Bradford and Brewster stayed is open for tourists. I've included a picture of it here.




The other pictures seen here are God's champions in jail.  The drawing is from a children's book of Bible stories that show Joseph in jail because the Pharaoh's wife was angry that he would not have sex with her.





















Martin Luther King was arrested, handcuffed and jailed.

 

  

  The picture that looks like a house is the place where Joseph Smith was jailed and then shot by a mob.

Rev. Moon and a follower of his were unjustly sent to a Federal Prison in Danbury, Connecticut.  The list of good men of God who have not been seen as good by governments and juries is a very long list.  Jesus was jailed and then received capital punishment for being a dangerous rebel rouser who wanted to overthrow the state.  St. Paul and countless others like Roger Williams, George Fox and John Wesley have been jailed, run out of town and stoned by emotional people who were scared to death to hear something new and challenging.  Schools and parents should teach that force should never be used against another just because they believe differently than the majority.  But persuasion is to tolerated.  Even if it seems offensive.

The argument by some who write against Rev. Moon and those who use force against him that he is using mind control is ludicrous.  That would make Sunday morning commercials for sugary cereals for kids a diabolical plot to brainwash kids to make some fat capitalist rich.  America has got to stop trying to regulate everything.  It's o.k. for Democrats to say Republicans are dangerous, mean, uncaring greedy country club capitalists and for the Republicans to call Democrats a bunch of nazi communist liberals.  Both feel the other is some nightmare that must be stopped.  But it is not o.k. for anyone to stop them from recruiting people by use of persuasion.  We can't call prime time ads blasting politicians for being heartless and ruining America as "coercive persuasion."  Consenting adults have the right to do as they wish.  It is all right for anyone to criticize Playboy magazine for corrupting the morals of America.  But it is not all right to use government to forcefully ban them as some well meaning conservatives keep trying to do.  Playboy is not using force.  It is using advertising.  It is aggressively using persuasion.  But it is not any more coercive than Rev. Moon's followers or those obnoxious ads for furniture companies on tv.  I go into more detail on this in my book Those Who Cannot Remember.

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