Dead Cant Rant

As heard on Michael Medved’s radio show today, and found of all places on DefenseLINK, the history of the first Thanksgiving:

They established their colony with little but faith and courage and named it “Plymouth” in honor of their final port of departure. The Mayflower remained offshore, but most of its provisions were needed for its crew’s return voyage. Meanwhile, the settlers couldn’t plant crops, and they didn’t have enough supplies to last until spring. They’d lived in cities while in Holland, so they didn’t know how to fish or hunt. In their first month they caught exactly one fish and shot no game at all. For awhile, it seemed they’d go down in history as the world’s most inept hunters and fishermen.

They suffered from cold, starvation and disease, and half of them were dead by spring. The survivors were in danger of suffering the same fate without much delay. But everything changed in the spring, when a lone Indian walked into the settlement and said, in English:

“Welcome, English. I am Samoset. Do you have beer?”

It’s interesting to note that Medved has the absolute best show on the radio, and especially so on any given holiday when he talks about the history behind the holiday and how it affects America and the world. Many of his holiday shows deal with the concept of God’s hidden “divine hand” at work throughout American history, and one show deals with that in such depth that it makes for an incredibly compelling three hour lecture that is never boring.

You can almost see this divine hand at work here with the Pilgrims, and indeed this was their belief, that they had been deposited into this winter wasteland with barely enough supplies to survive on, and suddenly they are approached by a native who speaks their language fluently and offers to help; in their minds, and possibly in ours, God had brought about a confluence of events to aid this group of religious separatists who would become the spiritual backbone of this great nation.

Dennis Prager mentioned today that, during Passover, Jews are to recite “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.” Notice the focus: not “Our people were slaves,” but “We were slaves.” This is how Americans should talk: “We came from Europe to found a New World, a world of religious tolerance and the rule of law by men, not tyrants.” A strong statement, a statement in the now that focuses our attention on our present responsibilities and reminds us that the torch of freedom has been passed and must be carried forward by us and burn bright for the next generation, or else extinguish under our watch.

A damn good point, that.