Musings from the Ozone

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. ~Robert J. McCracken

I had been reading a series of quotes from prominent statesmen regarding the founding of our country, and this quote practically leapt off of the page at me. When one thinks of the 4th of July, generally, it is the signing of the Declaration of Independence which comes to mind, and of course that is a good enough reason for the majority of folk to take a 'holiday' in the middle of the summer. We celebrate, for the 233th year, our independence from England, our mother country. The American Revolution with all of it's glory; the Betsy Ross flag, the Philadelphia Liberty bell and Paul Revere's ride in Boston make the story ever so glamorous and appealing to all Americans. By any account, it was a remarkable feat; just a small American army, very disjointed, fighting in a rather guerilla-style manner as we would label it today, juxtaposed against a well organized army such as the British Imperial army, seeming to ascertain a quick defeat from becoming a free nation, but, in spite of all the odds, we won the war, and our true independence!

Do we have such stamina, should we have to fight for our religious freedoms and liberties today?  Every generation must answer that question for themselves. We are proud of our forefathers and their quest for freedom; indeed the church bells ring, the firecrackers go off for hours before and after the professional fireworks displays, but with all this outward appearance of national pride, where are our hearts today?

A friend wrote that the above quote wasn't exactly true; the first men were looking for gold, opium and riches to take back to their mother countries. Still, there were many other 'first voyages' across the Atlantic; there were ships full of brave men and women who wanted to worship God in purity, and the stories of the trips they took to reach these lands are truly incredible. Aside from the physical hardship of the sea voyages to America, we read of other gruling stories of hunger, freezing cold temperatures, deaths and sicknesses in their families and friends. What passion in their hearts would make them sacrifice their very lives to come so far, under such torturous conditions?  

Historians have noted that America took form in the womb of England. At that time a certain company of Christian activists sparked the English Reformation. This group of people came to be known as Puritans, because they wanted to reform and purify the Church of England.

Here is a quote from a website on Puritan history:

"There are other reasons Puritan history has been neglected. Within the academic elites at the top of the teaching hierarchies it is no secret that secular humanists despise the Puritans. This history is "cloaked" by the educational elites who quite clearly do not like the Puritans. They are the ones who set forth the teaching syllabuses and decide which textbooks to approve. In their heart of hearts many of them would like to see the Puritans consigned to the dustbin of history. When they cannot do that they use their academic power over the curriculum to present the Puritans in a bad light. Many of them are locked in a secularist mindset and they do not want to see their students develop a Biblical world view. This is why they obsess and vex themselves over matters of "church and state". They are hard-liners in these matters of "political correctness". And so to see what the Puritans were doing in England back in those days we must look behind this academic smokescreen and do our own homework.

In America today it is difficult for history students to connect the dots. The broad trans-Atlantic scope of what is really an Anglo-American Puritan History is just not appreciated. And the full sweeping saga of the Puritans is a story yet untold. This is most unfortunate. What we are seeing here is in fact a form of academic censorship. The facts of history are being left out when they happen to be of a spiritual nature. So our view of the Puritans is blocked and some very important historical details are obfuscated. But the spiritual dimension to Puritan history is a major element of American history. It must be told. These spiritual elements to the history of the Puritans are absolutely essential to fill out the picture.

Pasted from <http://endtimepilgrim.org/puritans.htm> 

It is a sad state of affairs when our children are deprived of education regarding the true foundations of our country. The mix of our American history and English history has somehow buried the original story of the Puritans. Puritans have been portrayed as a mean people, drab, sober and harsh, irrevelant of the fact that times were harsh all over the colonies. They came to American during the Elizabethan era and dressed very much like their counterparts in England. A good study of the Puritans will open your eyes to how our American society is becoming educated 'against' God and the bible; the scurrilous remarks from these secular 'elites,' concerning a God-fearing group of people who came for religious freedom has shamefully degraded an exceptional event in history. Religious freedom should to this day be heralded as one of the most important fundamental freedoms since the beginnings of our country!