On Thursday the question was posed to me, “Why did the settlers come to America”. My answer was what most Americans would say for religious freedom and to escape the tyranny they suffered at the hands of the British; I stated with a strong conviction. After all, religious freedom is a selling point that Americans use around the world to show the greatness of this country. My history professor told my class that the settlers came to this country in search of the Three G’s which are God, Gold, and Glory. Being born and raised in Virginia and having learnt the states history, this was new to me. I have been to Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg several times as a child. I have watched their historical reenactments and listened to many lectures regarding the early settlers. I’ve never heard the theory of the 3 G’s before, but it does make sense. Until the recent recession that we appear to be in, America was seen around the world as the land of milk and honey; the land where all your dreams can come true. Until recently other countries have looked at America as the country to obtain riches and fame. I wonder if only one percent of the first Americans obtained the 3 G’s, as it seems to be the case today. In America today the majority of our citizens have all the God they can ever want. There are places of worship built right across the street from one another, but very few people have any gold or glory. I wonder if all of the settlers knew that they were coming here for gold, and glory as well as god, or did only a select few have that thought in mind. If we could go back in time, would we see that the majority of the early settlers where focused on god and their survival. While a select few were more concern with gold and glory. The steps that we took yesterday determined the path we are journeying down today. Nine out of the first thirteen colonies were established with a religion that had to be followed in order to live there. This means that this country was not started with the concept of religious freedom for all of her citizens. We have been misled because only Christians have true religious freedom in this country and the idea of separation of church and state is not a reality. All of the elected officials in America are sworn into office with one hand on the Bible as a ritual. You never see the use of any other religious text such as El’s Torah, or Al Qur’an. If you are not a Christian from one of the excepted denominations, you will be mocked and humiliated by news reporters and the American public. Mitt Romney comes to mind as he has been criticized for being a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Most Americans think ill of Mormons as a branch of Christianity and as a result initially Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate spent more time defending his religion views than he did defending his political views. In a land where the Constitution is suppose to form a separation of church and state, a candidate’s religious preference should not be used to either help or hurt them in their quest to serve this country. There are many Americans that have a problem with our current President Barack Obama simply because they believe that he is a Muslim. The justification for their bigotry is the fact that America is at war with a Muslim country. The crusades are over; America is not at war with Islam but with terrorist that happen to be Muslims. If you put any organization or religion under a microscope you will find several lunatics within it. Do we allow the evil ranting of the few to over shadow the hand of peace from the majority? Why should the Islamic world be condemned completely for her lost adherers? Christianity and Judaism aren’t ostracized for their followers’ involvement in the murder and enslavement of African people. The first Europeans nearly wiped the Native Americans off of the planet but no one blames Christianity. A true eye of justice judges all things equally and doesn’t allow their personal preferences to weigh the scale.
