Forefathers Quotes
It has been argued that Asian Cultures where Confucianism is in the tradition are more obedient and respectful of authority figures than are most other cultures and religious traditions.
Jackson was reacting to the claimed right of South Carolina to nullify Federal tariffs and other Federal laws.
More and more whites had been encroaching on land of the Chickasaw Reservation which the United States was bound to protect. However, soldiers fighting whites was politically unpalatable and the Government came up with the idea of providing land West of the Mississippi as a new reservation in exchange for the existing reservation. The Indians expenses of moving would be paid and they would be given generous provisions in the new lands. The U. S. negotiators were surprised when the translator for the Chickasaw negotiators made this speech which was then reported to the President and Congress. Andrew Jackson was strongly in favor of Indian Removal and he had forced other tribes out of their lands. Eventually the Government upped the ante and agreed to pay the Chickasaw the large sum of $3 million to move and they Chickasaw realized that if they did not accept, they would be removed as other tribes had been, The promised payment was delayed over Congressional arguments over appropriations but eventually the Chickasaw were paid.
Not unlike George W. Bush and his administration 1800 years later, Licinius just could not accept that the Christians who attacked Roman Rule, resented the Roman Rule or didn’t care for the Roman policies, and assumed that the attacks were motivated by a desire for atheism and a desire to insult the Roman Gods. Today we think it odd, that Christians were referred to as “atheists” and God was “some strange and unheard-of Deity”. In the War on Terror, some politicians in addition to Bush took the position that it was American Religion and value systems were under attack. “Atheist” in its original form meant “without God.” To the Roman who worshipped a bevy of Gods, Christians and Jews, who only worshipped a single God, were “without Gods”—atheists.
Yet so many nations and cultures carry the baggage of historical deeds or misdeeds do their detriment, while others take great pride in accomplishments which they themselves have had nothing to do with. The middle ground is to understand and appreciate (or condemn if warranted) the historical contibution to the present of ancenstors and avvoid hubris for others actions and avoid the need to be defensive and justify or deny other ancensoral behavior.
In the Dred Scott decision, the Declaration of Independence:
There is much valuable in old ideas. However every terrible idea in history is today an old idea and we certainly don’t want to respect ideas because they were old and revered or believed by our forefathers.
