The true story of Thanksgiving

There was no freedom of religion in the early 1600s. If you did not believe in the same religion that King James I wanted, and you worshiped God in the way you wanted instead of what King James wanted, you were treated as a common criminal. You were hunted down, put in prison, or even killed.

These individuals wanted to be left alone to worship the way they wanted, and in 1608 they moved out of their homeland of England to Holland. But there was much hardship in Holland too, so the Pilgrims decided to leave England for America. But they stopped back in England first to receive funding from the Virginia Company. Then in August of 1620, 102 Pilgrims set out for America in a ship called the Mayflower.

During the ride across the ocean much discussion ensued as to what form of government to create. While still on the Mayflower in 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed, and one of the signers was William Bradford. The Pact said that all goods and services, and all land, would be owned by the mass community, and the profits would be doled out equally among the masses.

When they landed in November they found a land that was cold, shelter less, and not very welcoming. In fact, in that first harsh winter over half of the Pilgrims died. When Spring finally arrived, the Indians taught them how to build shelters and to plant corn, fish for cod, and skin beavers to be used as coats.

The fact that an Indian tribe, lead by Massosoit, was a blessing from God in itself, because without his blessing the other Indian tribes would have pulverised the Pilgrims. This was also a blessing because a pirate named black took advantage of his friendship and took many of his people.

They did better at this point, but things did not go as well as Bradford, the original governor of the community, had expected. He decided that while the Mayflower Pact sounded like a good idea, since no one owned anything, and there was no incentive to work more than the minimum, there were many crops that went unplanted, and much that wasn't taken care of, and productivity was very poor. People did whatever the minimum was needed of them, and then they quit. What the Pilgrims had created here was an early form of socialism.

By 1623 the harvest was so poor that starvation and death became a problem almost as bad as when the colonists first arrived. They had the know how and the potential for having good crops, but this wasn't happening.

Bradford realized this pact was not working. He wrote: "The experience that we had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years...that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing – as if they were wiser than God." Yet he realized it did not work as expected.

Bradford decided to take an idea from the Bible. He gave every person a plot of land to take care of as their own. If they did well, they were able to keep part of the profits as an incentive to work hard. They were allowed to market and profit from what they sold. In effect, he turned loose the power of the marketplace. He created the worlds first capitalistic government.

The following harvest was abounding. It was not abounding because of help from the Indians, but because a socialistic government was replaced by a capitalistic one. On this, Bradford wrote: "This had very good success, for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been."

The Pilgrims did so well that they set up stands where they exchanged goods and services with the Indians, and they used profits from this to pay back their debt in England. In fact, the colony started to do so well economically that many Pilgrims decided to migrate to the colonies. This was called the Great Puritan Migration.

For helping them come up with a new system that worked to produce the bountiful crops, they decided to have a roast to give thanks to the Lord. There were some Indians at this celebration, but not as many as we and are kids are taught in school.

Now the Pilgrims were also thankful for the Indians for helping them and even protecting them. Yet that was not the main Intent of that celebration. The main intent was to thank God for teaching them an effective government.

The history books tell us that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to the Indians for helping the Pilgrims survive after that first hard winter. Sure the crops were improved that second November, but there was no celebration. There was no celebration until socialism was quashed and a capitalistic government was formed and the economy of the colony prospered. This is what the colonists celebrated on that first Thanksgiving. The date was August 9th.

However, since William Bradford's original notes were lost for many years, the story of  Indians saving colonists and this being the reason for the first Thanksgiving became common. And when Thanksgiving was made a national holiday by Congress in George Washington's first year in office, November 26 was selected as the day. And even while Bradford's journals were discovered, this false date and the false story of the first Thanksgiving were not corrected.

The unfortunate result of this fallacy not being corrected is that the lessons of Bradford were not learned. Carl Marx, Stalin, Lennon, Hitler, Mussolini, all played with various forms of socialism, and none of them worked.  Even today, in both the Europe and the United States, forms of socialism continue to exist. Perhaps if the true story of Thanksgiving were known, the failures of the past would not be repeated over and over again.

Further reading:

• Smithsonian: What as on the menu at the first Thanksgiving?

My opinion regarding Indigenous People Day

People must not lose sight of the fact that, while despite the faults of Columbus, and despite the fact that other people probably discovered the New World before Columbus, it was Columbus who discovered it for the civilized world. In this way, if not for Columbus, America as we know it today might not exist.

It is for this reason that Columbus Day was founded. It's fine to celebrate Indigenous people, but we must not lose the scope of the significant discovery of Columbus.

Holidays are, in essence, days to celebrate, to give thanks to, and, perhaps most important, to make sure we do not forget, all those who are responsible for what we have here in this great nation. On the 4th of July, we celebrate our founding, on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter we celebrate God and Jesus, and on Memorial Day we honor those who fought to protect our freedom. Columbus day is a celebration of the man who discovered the world that made the American dream possible.

Think of it this way: most citizens of America today are indigenous; we are all native to America; we were all born here and have lived her our entire lives. So, if you look at it that way, indigenous people, if that's what you choose to call it, is a selfish holiday where we celebrate ourselves. That, to me, is the antithesis of what a holiday is meant to be for. If you want to celebrate American Indians, then create a day called "Indian Day." I would have no problem with that at all.

Look at is it this way: We cannot just assume that America was created out of thin air. We must never just assume the freedom and liberty we enjoy in America and around the world was created out of thin air. Because the moment that we forget, the moment that we assume that it always has and always will be there, is the moment that it will all be taken away.

And that is kind of what's happening in our schools today, as kids are not being taught about our founding fathers, about Columbus, and about Thanksgiving day, as we once were.  And so they do not learn what made America great. They do not learn about American Exceptionalism, that 90% of people born before America were born under totalitarian dictatorships and monarchies and only the select few were able to prosper. America made it so everyone could prosper.

So what made America? What made America great? Who, or what, made American Exceptionalism? You see, these are things we must know, or we will lose it.  Our founding fathers knew about this. Most of our leaders prior to the 1960s new this, and so that is why we celebrate holidays the way we do. They were not just created as PR stunts to make the economy boom. They were created so we didn't forget; so kids didn't forget how we were made; how the U.S. was made.

Why is America so special? Why is it so prosperous? Why do people want to come here? How did it happen? Who made it possible? How did we get so free?

We must constantly teach our children the answers to these questions, and we must constantly remind ourselves of the answers. And it's for this reason that Columbus Day is so important. For instance, Columbus discovered America for the modern world, not the native Americans. The native Americans (the Indians) were great, but for other reasons. The Indians did not make America; the Indians did not create American Exceptionalism.

It's my birthday

Okay, I turned 45 today, what is already a perfect day.  My 6-year-old woke me up with a soft kiss, a sweet smile, and the words, "Happy birthday daddy!"

There was plenty of daylight, meaning God and the kids allowed me to sleep in. Laney and I walked to the livingroom where the Christmas Tree lights were on, and through the bay window we could see that plenty of fluffy white Christmas snow had fallen during the night.

I started a pot of coffee, filled two bowls with Fruit Loops, turned on the Big Screen TV.  Myle's appeared from the hallway with his sleepy eyes and messy hair, and Laney rushed to my side in the love chair, supposedly to beat Myles to that spot.

Myles, instead of fighting with Laney for the spot next to me, peacefully turned so I could fit him up on my lap.  My two youngest children were perfectly content watching 7D on the Disney Channel, both crunching on Fruit Loops.

Yes, this was already the perfect birthday.

I opened up my Google Chrome Book, clicked on my email tab, and a message popped up:

Johnny!! Happy happy birthday!!

We already have plans to go to church as a family, and then my wife is going to make lunch, and then I am going to watch the Lions beat the Cowboys at 4:30 today as the crem de la crem of birthday gifts.

So I'm blessed with many gifts today; no need for any store bought ones.  Still, I can't help thinking that a Lions playoff victory today would be a special sort of birthday present, especially considering the last one was way back on January 5, 1991.

Coincidentally, that last victory was also against the Cowboys.  I remember watching it with my dad at Uncle Cash's house.  After the game dad and I called grandpa, what started a tradition of sorts.

When the Lions win today, my dad will call me with a buzzed joy in his voice, and we will talk about the victory.  And, of course, both dad, and mom, will sing me the Happy Birthday Song.

It's already a happy birthday!!!

P.S. After the Lions win today I will update this post.

When was Jesus born?

Back in 2009 the History Channel did a series on Christmas.  One of the shows depicted the Birth of Christ and how it might have actually occurred.  It also noted that one of the major errors of the story of Christmas was the date that it actually occurred, and it explained why this error was made.

In other words, most evidence suggests that December 25 is not the day Christ was born.  Likewise, most evidence suggests that the year 1 was not the year of the lord.

To be honest, none of this surprised me, as I was taught this at an early age.  I'm certain most children are taught the same, especially in the secular world we live in today, a world where people will do anything to prove Jesus is a fraud.

Yet as a Christian, and as a Catholic, I find that this information has little significance, and in no way proves that Jesus did not exist. Still, I believe it is good to be accurate with facts, especially considering most rulers throughout history believed an ignorant populace benefited the state.

Anyway, one episode discussed when Jesus might have been born. Yet most societies back then used random Roman kings to base their calendars on, and so there was no consistent calendar.  It is partly for this reason, and the fact that most people were illiterate and did not record history, that the actual birth of Christ remains a mystery to history.

Of course another reason why the Birth of Christ remains a mystery to history is because the main emphasis in the early years of Christianity was on the death of Christ, not on the birth of Christ.

However, what we do know is that several hundred years after the Birth of Christ, Christian Priests got together and they thought it would be really cool to have a calendar based on the birth of Christ, as opposed to some random Roman King.

So, since there was no knowledge of the actual birth of Christ, December 25 was chosen as the day to hold the celebration of Christmas.  This date was chosen for no other reason than that it was the date of a chief pagan holiday.  The idea was the celebrating Christmas on this date would be a great way of overriding the old celebration and bringing in the new.

This turned out to be perhaps the #1 most effective and significant public relations strategy in the history of the world, as, in the United States alone, 90 percent celebrate the birth of Christ, including 80 percent of non-Christians.

Of course this should be of no surprise, because, after all, Christianity is the only true religion.  And one must not doubt for a moment that God, or the son of God (the Word), helped the men in charge of the campaign.

So what started out as a cult following grew to become the most significant religion in the history of mankind. This is (was) a huge PR success story.

But I digress.

A scholar determined that Jesus must have been born on year 473, or something like that, of the Roman calendar.  So a week after the Birth of Christ starts the new year. That pretty much put to rest the search for the date of the Birth of Christ.

Eighteen hundred years later, researchers determined that the scholar who chose that year failed to take into account a few specific details mentioned in the Bible. For one thing, Jesus was born during the rein of King Herad, who died in 2 BC.

Therefore, since Herad is mentioned in the Bible for 4 years after the birth of Jesus, then Jesus must have been born in 6 BC.

Another scientist used information about the star of Bethlehem that the three Kings (of course the Bible does not say how many Kings there were) used to find the baby Jesus. The Bible states it occurred in the East. In Jesus's time, the east referred to the Eastern sky in the morning where the sun rises.

So, the search was on to determine what event would have occurred in the Easter sky that might have occurred around 6 BC.

Another account of the Bible states that Jesus was born in a manger, during a time when the Shepherds were watching their sheep. During the time of Jesus Shepherds only watched over their sheep at night, which meant he was born at night.

Also significant, most of the year sheep were not watched. The only time they were was in the spring.  So Jesus would have been born in the spring not winter.

Another scientist determined that other manuscripts of the time make note that the star occurred in the constellation (what was it called?) that was a symbol of of Judaism.

Likewise, Zeus was also mentioned. More significant, the planet that represented Zeus was Jupiter. Thus, this scientist determined that the star of Bethlehem would have been an event involving Jupiter in the eastern sky, at night, and in the spring, and around the year 6 BC.

So, using his computer, he set out to determine when such an event would have occurred, and he determined, according to his computer, that Jupiter would have been aligned in the Easter sky in this particular constellation on April 18, of 6 B.C.

This date lines up perfectly with all the significant historical events described in the Bible.  It was during the rein of King Heran; it was during the spring; it was during the phase of the moon and other things in the sky depicted in Biblical stories.

The experts note that the result of such an alignment in the sky would have made for a remarkable sight, although it would not have

The result of such an alignment would have been a remarkable sight for those who saw it the night Jesus was born.  Still, it would not have been too bright.  This would have made it obvious to those who were looking for it, and not so obvious to those who were not.

This was significant, because the kings (magi, magicians, wise men) had to convince King Herod there was such a sight in the sky the night Jesus was born.  It had to not only have been there, but had to have been not so obvious for un-knowing to have seen.

Merry Christmas.

Happy Easter!!!

This should be a happy day.  It's a day where the kids wake up to a feeling of joy that they will be able to hunt for their Easter baskets.  It should be joy for parents watching the joy of their children.

Yet, more important, it's a day for spending time with our families to celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin by dying on the Cross on Good Friday, and then rose into Heaven in a symbolic gesture that we may all enjoy eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Let this be a good day. Let us pray that everyone receives the right message.