As I read I was of two minds, the first wanting to defend my country and her freedom, and the second realizing that quite possibly my American teachers of American history might have been a bit biased.
Wesley begins the paragraph discussing "liberty" with this sentence,"I learn that in our colonies also many are causing the people to drink largely of the same deadly wine; thousands of whom are thereby inflamed more and more, till their heads are utterly turned, and they are mad at all intents and purposes..."
Later, he states, "And what is it which drags these poor victims into the field of blood? It is a great phantom, which stalks before them, which they are taught to call, LIBERTY."
Here, is an obvious allusion to Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech from March of 1775. In elementary schools students will learn these men who declared independence from Great Britain were courageous, honest, and great leaders. (*In fact many children at Covenant Christian School in Conroe, Texas will do projects about the great Christian leaders from America) And here we are reading a piece from completely the opposite point of view, a godly man in England accusing these men of anarchy. So what am I supposed to do with that?
In honors and in life we discuss suffering a lot, so the causes and effects and God's role in suffering doesn't bother me near as this stab right into the heart of everything I have ever been taught about the importance of freedom. He is questioning the necessity of that American Revolution....its probably ridiculous that this seems so radical to me.
Well, on the bright or dark side (depending on your view point) if we were still apart of Great Britain right now we would have National healthcare!
I posted on Blog 4- by Joy V.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I already knew it was you writing this after the first few sentences... lol... I love the way you pulled from the education you have gotten. Chances are we taught by biased history teachers. I mean think about it. If a history teacher in US history thinks that Asian history is better, where does that leave us? I just really thought about several things after reading your post! I liked it!
ReplyDeleteYou said that you were torn between defending our country and realizing that maybe past teachers were wrong. I think that we have always been taught that what we call liberty is good and we should always defend our country. Wesley suddenly causes us to really wonder about and question is what we have belived is right. Perhaps our view of liberty is actually bad; it causes war, blood, and anger. We take something horrible and cover it up with a good name like liberty to justify it, while real liberty is something completely different. I still believe that liberty, our country, and freedom are a worthy cause, but Wesley does make you think.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you blogged about this! I found this really radical when I read it too. To think that our founding fathers... the men we view as honest, upright, praiseworthy leaders are the ones whom Wesley claims, "their heads are utterly turned and they are mad to all intents and purposes." So America was founded by a bunch of madmen? This is hard to swallow, and I see why our history teachers are biased toward the glamour of American liberty. But maybe it's just a matter of perspective. Wesley viewed the war as another instance of a sinful nation suffering God's wrath. Our founders viewed the war as necessary means to freedom. Who was right? I don't know. Seems like America worked out okay ...but then again don't we have many of the same issues here that Wesley preached against?
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ReplyDeleteI have actually wondered what American history must look like form the point of view of other countries, especially the British. All through school I was taught about the great American heros who fought against injustice. But how does everyone else see it? If I had to guess, I would say the children in the UK are not being taught about the brave colonists who stood up for their rights. They probably see it as a bunch of rebels who got mad over petty things and dumped a bunch of tea in the harbor. It's amazing how different things can seem when you look at them from the other side.
ReplyDeleteI personally am very patriotic, with several army people in my family, so it bugs me that he was Pro-Great Britain! I don't think he understood that the people in the colonies had their own opinions and had as much right to them as he had right to have his own opinions.
ReplyDeleteMe? Team USA! :)
Dear Rachel,
ReplyDeletethank you for actually blogging about the text.
Love,
Chloe.
It's not about being patriotic. Her point is the one side we have always seen to the American Revolution and the repercussions of that. This is a presentation from a man of God who carries out his point very intelligently, with scripture, and in a calm respectable matter. Lets look towards understanding... not being fools and voicing our own biased opinions. (Proverbs 18:2) The concept of liberty in this text is fantastic because it causes us to rip apart what we know and realize that it might not have been as we thought. What an opportunity to be influenced by literature from the side of the "big, bad, brits."
ReplyDeleteI agree with what your saying about patriotism and liberty completely. Since we were kids, we were taught that America is the best and we should love our country, but as I've grown older, I've realized that there are a lot of aspects of the U.S. that i disagree with. Also, You left out an important part when you referenced liberty.
ReplyDeleteYou quoted, "And what is it which drags these poor victims into the field of blood? It is a great phantom, which stalks before them, which they are taught to call, LIBERTY." but following that it says "Real liberty, in the meantime, is trampled underfoot, and is lost in anarchy and confusion."
So basically we pursue liberty so much that we lose sight about what we're fighting for.