Loaded Inheritance: The Human Condition

This may be our moment. It may be a moment in modern history when we can take a step back and really look at what we believe and where we are going. We need to be careful with this inheritance.

We all have inherited the societal situation we are in. We were plopped down here with no input on the matter. Our inheritance is loaded, too, like a powder keg. It can explode and create devastation, or it can burn with power, purpose, and direction. With our inheritance, we can do what is very good, what is very evil, or something in between.

Condemnation of history frustrates me. People criticize individuals, such as the racist N.C. governor Charles Aycock. They criticize the feudal world of the Middle Ages. They criticize the politics of the Vietnam War. They criticize the sexism of literature of every previous generation. They criticize the Europeans who stole a continent from militarily inferior Native Americans. And there is an abundance of criticism for the whole American institution of slavery.

Criticism of history is a lazy man’s self-righteousness. We can look so high and mighty when we point out the flaws of previous generations. But remember, we can’t change history. Of course it is flawed. Anyone can see that.

We can’t change history, but we can understand it. If we really want to understand it, we need to dig deeper to learn why people thought and behaved as they did. Why in the world would so many Southerners in 1860 support the institution of slavery? Were they that much more evil than we are? Were they just morally blind? How could they be that blind?

Once we understand the loaded inheritance of that generation, we can begin to make sense of their choices. Not that we would have behaved similarly, but that we can see how they got there. Critical looks at previous generations are most helpful to us if they do one thing: if they help us find our own blind spots.

I don’t want to defend any of those people, systems, or institutions. They were wrong. But those people inherited a world different from ours. In 100 years, many will look back at the early twenty-first century and wonder how we could have been so cruel and selfish. Every generation is blind to the wrongs of the world. If we don’t know any different, how can we think any differently?

Next time:
Loaded Inheritance: Exploitation

Pondering the Greats of Battle

Winston Churchill once said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."  Indeed many have noted that history is written by the victors.

But some military victors are known as evil, while some are thought of as brilliant and benevolent.  Alexander the Great conquered much of the world and is lauded for spreading Greek culture around the Mediterranean.  Julius Caesar conquered most of Europe and is remembered as a hero.  William the Conqueror is hailed as the last military leader to invade Britain in 1066.

Meanwhile, Attila the Hun, Genghis Kahn, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler are known as brutal warriors, villains of history. 

All of these military men led huge offensive killing operations, yet some are remembered as "great," some as evil.  Of course historians will differ on their assessments of leaders, and probably have more objectivity as the centuries go by.  In the South, General William Sherman is remembered as brutal, cruel, and needlessly destructive in his march through Atlanta in the Civil War.  But his decisive blow to the Confederacy wiped out any hope for the South to win the war.

What sets the good conquerors
apart from the bad?  I have not done much historical research here, but I have some ideas.

Leaders are judged by their methods.  Unusual cruelty hurts a warrior's reputation in history.

Leaders are judged by their motives.  Alexander believed that he was bringing good to the lands he conquered, and history seems to agree.

Leaders are judged by the culture they advance.  Warriors who promote freedom find more favor than those who bring tyranny.

In the short run, it is hard to think of offensive, killing, conquering operations as good.  Yet the long run of history lauds countless military campaigns.  History, of course, is written by the victors.

Ultimately, God will be the judge of history.  Scripture even calls God a Warrior.  I look forward to understanding the truth.