The Plight of the Native- painting by dkeil (Douglas Keil)

"the Plight of the Native" by dkeil (Douglas Keil)  8x10.72 in. acrylic on paper

Generally, the story goes like this:

New Guys: "Hey nice land! You all have it made!
There's tons of game, the fields grow crops, the water is clean, and you have so much livestock!"

Natives: "Thank you! Yes, we have been blessed! We shall have a feast and be friends. Stay awhile. There will be peace among my people and yours."

New Guys: "Great! First let me show you my new toy. Everyone line up for me over there."

Natives: "Ok... Let me call the village together."

New Guys: "That's great.. now smile!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!...."

Then, of course, the hunter comes over the hills to find his world burning, and his life destroyed.
He is angry, and then seeks his revenge.
Open a history book- most of the pages are about the same... in principle.

A lot of people hate Jesus because most "Christians" have been notoriously warlike over the past two thousand years. But certainly he isn't to blame.
He said to "love your neighbor"... but he also said to "love your enemy."
How can you love your enemy and kill him, rape his wife and little children (before killing them too,) burn his village, and steal his land?
The fact is that most Christians are phonies.
It's like me tooting my horn and saying that I'm a great painter all day long,
but all my works look like finger paintings.
I'd be a phony.
So, if you are a warlike "Christian" shame on you.
Seriously.
You need to learn who Jesus was.
He was a peacemaker, a teacher, a healer, a friend, a man of courage and kindness.
Certainly not someone who would destroy a native's village for his selfish and greedy agenda.
He was "no part of the world" and didn't support the politics of the day. His followers (Christians) in the first century are recorded in the history books as being people who refused to serve as soldiers or assume public office. The same holds true today.
Jehovah's Witnesses won't go to war, won't make the guns, won't sew the uniforms- for any country. That makes me proud to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Of course, a neutral stand often makes nationalistic types pretty upset, but at least you can know we're not killing anyone for our respective countries or our religion. On the contrary, we enjoy a worldwide brotherhood that truly is remarkable, transcending cultural and regional biases.

The current trend is to believe in oneself or in blind chance through evolution.
Both religious ideas are shallow. The science of probability shows evolution to be the godless mess it is.
We are short-lived and require instruction to succeed.
We learn from others; we have a need for that.
We simply can't figure it out on our own.
Trusting in one's heart is stupid (Proverbs 28:26) because we are imperfect.

The saying that experience is the best teacher is a lie. Jehovah God, the Creator, is the best teacher.
We make mistakes, even if we are really smart.
For example, there have been millions of smart, powerful people who have lived on earth over the years, but they only just recently figured out that the earth is round, the universe is huge, things are made up of atoms, and have accomplished feats like harness electricity.
Our power, ability, and smarts are limited.
We cannot govern even our own person effectively without moral guidance, let alone govern others.
Our power to repair the damages from past mistakes and foolishness is also certainly limited.
Attempts through history often leaves additional trails of suffering.

All the natives of the world who have suffered injustice at the hands of phony religionists will have the restoration of their lives.
Their suffering will be undone, according to the Bible.
That it very refreshing to me.

In the meantime, don't be phony!
Whether you're old, young, or somewhere in between, be nice and share!


 back to my blog homepage