in Kari's library, (after assembling IKEA furniture, while the girls decorated), about the Plains Indians, who had been here for over a thousand years, respecting the land and worshipping their deities, when they were forced to fight or flee, by the encroaching white men. They had no chance against the sheer numbers and technology of their new enemies, and when they did surrender and sign treaties, those were quickly broken as the hoards streamed steadily west. As the tribes were relocated, not only did the native Americans lose their land and way of life, but they were forced to abandon their sacred beliefs, for the white man's religion, or have their children stolen from them and 're-educated'. I can understand how it happened, but it is one of the saddest parts of American history.
Today, in the Denver Post, was a related 'letter to the editor':
Mobs of violent armed religious fanatics, streaming over the land, and destroying property, confiscating possessions and executing all who refuse allegiance to the faith. Pledging to rid the world of “infidels” and to establish the kingdom of the Lord, they lay waste to everything, committing unspeakable atrocities wherever they go. Terrorism at its peak.
No, not in Iraq or Syria, and not in 2014, but all over Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. Brandishing white flags with red crosses instead of black flags with epithets, and carrying swords and clubs rather than automatic weapons and artillery.
Sobering thoughts...
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