Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Looking for Religious Freedom? Column for the week of November 24-30, 2002

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Do you remember learning about the "very first Thanksgiving" in school? The story went somewhat like this: A poor religiously persecuted group of people (Pilgrims) fled England in search of a new land (America) where they could worship God freely (religious freedom). The new people they encountered (Indians) befriended them and helped them survive their first year. The Pilgrims and Indians had a feast to celebrate (Thanksgiving). The accounts of this have been passed down through the years (history). The seeds of Thanksgiving Day (a day we were truly thankful for because we got out of school) were planted and the custom remains with us today (tradition).

I'm all for giving thanks to God and I certainly don't kick at having a paid day off from work to do it. The above story does translate well into folklore, picture books, and movies but there may be a few facts omitted from what we learned in school.

For example, the Pilgrims who yearned for religious freedom for themselves were not quite that tolerant of those whose beliefs differed from their own. The Pilgrims were part of a Puritan sect from England. Mainstream Puritans chose to remain within the English church working for reform. But reform could not come quickly enough for some so the Pilgrims (or Separatists) were established. Originally, they left England for Holland not so much because of persecution but because they felt the need to "Come out from among them and be ye separate."(2 Corinthians) But life in Holland was hard and the children seemed to be drawn away by "evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses." They decided to head back to England, get backing, and sail to a new land.

When the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620, the Pilgrims found the new land inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians. They were not what we would call peace-loving tribe but they knew about the power of the white people through the Indian, Squanto. A few years earlier Squanto had befriended the British explorer, John Weymouth, who became like a second father to him. Weymouth took him to England and provided him with education. So Squanto felt a certain kinship with the Pilgrims. The Wampanoag religion taught to give charity and hospitality to the helpless. So the Indians, because of their religion and the efforts of Squanto, did cautiously welcome these white men, a decision they would live to regret. The Pilgrims thought the Indians were savages but the Pilgrims weren't stupid, nor too proud to accept their help, without which they would have all surely died that first year.

The 56 Pilgrims who were still alive invited the 91 Indians who had befriended them to a celebration, in part to thank them but also because they knew the Indians were powerful and outnumbered them. They could be dangerous. Peace needed to be maintained, at least until more ships of settlers arrived from England. They also wanted the Wampanoags to sign a treaty to secure lands of the Plymouth Plantation for the Pilgrims. It might also be noted that although the Indians were invited to the feast, they provided most of the food. And so the first potluck Thanksgiving Day was born.

Peace did not last long. In years to come more settlers came, the Pilgrims thrived and forgot the help the Indians had given them. They condemned the Indian religion and customs. After all Pilgrims considered themselves the "chosen elect" mentioned in the book of Revelation and they adhered devoutly to their interpretation scripture. They had little tolerance for views that differed from their own. It's ironic that they exhibited the same kind of bigotry they felt they encountered in England years before. Just 2 years after this first Thanksgiving in a sermon text recorded by Mather the Elder, he praises God for a small pox epidemic that devastated the Wampanoag Indians, especially "chiefly young men and children, the very seeds of increase, thus clearing the forests to make way for a better growth." Within a generation these Indians would be killed, or be refugees, or be sold into slavery. I guess no good deed goes unpunished, especially when you are dealing with the "chosen elect."

Do I give you this info to dampen your Thanksgiving Day spirits? No, indeed! We can be thankful that America did become a land of religious freedom. Although, I'm not sure the Pilgrims would approve.

©November 2002

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