Us Against Them

As Dr. Byrd mentioned in a recent lecture on The History of Religion in America, the concept of pluralism was not present in the time of colonial America. A civilization was inseparable from its religion and therefore its conquests in colonization required conversion.  Juster writes of this fusion:

“The line between Christian and non-Christian was the one fundamental divide that separated people, communities, and kingdoms into hostile camps, and it certainly does not surprise us to see seventeenth-century Christians (not to mention latter-day ones) justifying bloodshed in the name of God.”

Gutierrez also writes about the reaction of the Spanish to the Pueblo Revolt, stating that the revolt was not a rejection of racial or monarchical subjugation rather, “…the Spanish understood the revolt as a clear rejection of Christianity.”

It is evident by Bartolome’s writing that the colonizers rarely, if ever, recognized the existence of a religion among civilizations of the native people. Bartolome regrets that so many would “die without the least light of Religion.” This is even more evident in the recognition of Christian martyrdom in the name of colonization and the suggested purging of heresy in the Native American oppression.

This concept of martyrdom in imperialistic culture is an idea worth exploring today. How does Americanism (used in this context as a religion of the citizens of the United States) utilize martyrdom to justify ongoing wars and so-called “just war” in the present day? At any given moment here in the U.S. citizens rise to their feet and cover their hearts at the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner, an American product of war and I would argue a celebration of the endurance of American martyrs. What exactly is Memorial Day and what are its implications about American religious culture? These are interesting ideas to explore as we dive into the history of the colonizers, religious martyrs and our own imperialistic endeavors.