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What is progress? Concepts like sustainability and ecology have only come into the mainstream since the 70s. Yet these concepts were there all along in a traditional framework. The majority settler mentality was one of spiritual superiority. Still there are those who long ago recognized the value in indigenous culture and values. Attending a conference in Philly recently I learned a lot about the early Quakers in America. There are written accounts from the 1600s of Quakers saying the Indians are more ‘Christian’ than the Puritans. Maybe it was self-serving comparisons on the part of the Quakers, but it still shows they had some awareness of the merit of traditional values.
MarcSnelling;39149 wrote: What is progress? Concepts like sustainability and ecology have only come into the mainstream since the 70s. Yet these concepts were there all along in a traditional framework. The majority settler mentality was one of spiritual superiority. Still there are those who long ago recognized the value in indigenous culture and values. Attending a conference in Philly recently I learned a lot about the early Quakers in America. There are written accounts from the 1600s of Quakers saying the Indians are more ‘Christian’ than the Puritans. Maybe it was self-serving comparisons on the part of the Quakers, but it still shows they had some awareness of the merit of traditional values.
“The majority settler mentality was one of spiritual superiority.” Yet at the same time, “there are written accounts from the 1600s of Quakers saying the Indians are more ‘Christian’ than the Puritans.”
Clearly, Christianity was the paradigm by which some Quakers deemed the Indians to be more ‘Christian’ than the Puritans. This reasoning enabled them to see themselves as morally superior to both the Indians and the Puritans. Throughout history, such objectification of “the other” has often played a pivotal role in war and genocide.
On another thread several years ago, I posted that the only people who treated the Indians with respect and dignity were the Swedes and the Quakers.
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