Dana said something that got me to thinking and I realized that the war the Indians fought and the current one the Christian world is in now have some striking similarities. I asked why the Indians lost(like a lawyer, I knew the answer before I asked).The answers I got back where both what I expected and correct. They were out manned (not at first), the guns and the artillery gave the white man the technological advantage, they thought of war fair in battles not campaigns, they were divided amongst them selves, and Mary added that they did not love the Lord (they had spiritual beliefs but not Christ).
Lets look at it point by point.
First, out manned.
Indians- This was only true after years of conflict. when the white man first arrived there were not even close to enough to stand up to the native Americans. they (the whites) asked for acceptance and a chance to make a place for themselves. then their movement grew and their desire for more space and power grew. at first the Indian gave way and tried to keep peace but that could not last and some fighting broke out. by this time there were a lot more whites around.
Christians- this country has always been a Christian nation. you can hear it in the language they used in the framing documents "that all men are created equal and are imbued by their creator". I believe the percentage is as high as 93% of people claim some sort of religious beliefs. even if its not nearly that high, say its 75% (it is way more) that is still an overwhelming majority. at first the homosexual, pro-choice, pornography, socialist groups asked for acceptance. "all we ask is to be left alone to live our lives." but there movement grew, and now they are everywhere.
superior technology
Indians- the Indians had many weapons at there disposal and where very good with them. not only where they experts with bow and arrow, stick and stone, but they where masters of living off the land and could use it for shelter, nourishment, and as a means of stealth to ambush there enemy. but the white man had the means of sending supplies with wagon trains, the guns and other artillery gave them a major range advantage. they where able to shoot down the Indians with out getting to close in open battle.
Christians- in today’s world most technology outlets are controlled by some leftist organization. the news reports things in such a way that make conservatives look like some sort of throw backs. I remember when some tongans went and started tearing down signs that protesters (besiegers) had put on a temple. they where made out to be hateful homo-phobes. the left has most newspapers, television stations, and the movies. they are able to skew the information any way they want to put their views into the best light possible and make their ideas seem like they are the norm and mainstream. like the majority is not the majority. they attack us from every angle.
thought in terms of battle instead of a campaign
Indians- the Indians style and idea of warfare was limited to one battle at the time. if they had an argument they would go have a fight, whoever won got to be right and everyone went home to hunt and tend their crops, or move away in order to not have to fight more. the white man would loose, retreat and come back for more. they would do this until their resources where gone or their losses where to heavy and leave....but only until they had reinforcements and then come back for more. the Indians could not sustain such a fight.
Christians- we have seen over the years that Christianity seems to think in terms of right and wrong. once we establish what is right we can stop thinking about it and move on to something else. we concentrate on one issue at a time. we go have a fight (get prop 8 passed) and go home to "hunt and tend our crops". liberals seem to always find a way to regroup and find another way in. I heard a man talking about gay marriage the other day who said "we need to just keep getting the propositions out there. it used to be about 85% against but not the margins are narrowing. some places are down to around 55%." essentiality they are wearing us down. we don’t seem to be able to "sustain such a fight."
They were divided amongst themselves.
Indians- this may have been they biggest problem for the Indians. until very close to the end of the war they were still squabbling against other Indians. some experts believe that if they would have put aside there differences early on they would have whipped the white man right off into the ocean, out gunned or not. they were not able to set aside old arguments to work together and it resulted in there destruction. if they would have worked together against their common enemy they could have gone back to there way of life and to fighting each other happily.
Christians- Christians in the past have allowed other religious groups to be persecuted because we don’t like them anyway. what we need to realize is that if it is happening to another group, if we are not next, we are at least on the list. the only way to avoid being on the list is to join the opposition, but in doing so we have walked complicity into the destruction of our belief system. some spend a lot of time trying to put down other believers (they don’t have to believe the same way you do to believe). if we could remember that we have a common enemy we could join together, whip them and go back to happily fighting each other.
conclusion-
right now they have the technological advantage, but we are not out gunned. teaching and talking with the Spirit is the strongest ammunition there is. we are not out manned. we still have a 90% or greater majority, it’s high time we remembered that and used it. we can not think in terms of one battle. it is a life time campaign. a leader of the church I belong to said every member a missionary. I will alter it to say every member a soldier. we are all in this fight - if we want to be or not (rush song- if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice). while we have differences we need to be united when it comes to fighting our common enemy. being divided will only lead to the destruction (temporarily until the Lord returns) of our way of life. we must do what we can to spread the word of the Lord and sometimes that means standing up for people we don’t exactly agree with. like I said before, lets work together to destroy our common enemy and then we can go back to happily fighting each other.
