Tag Archive for ‘Pilgrims’
Christmas Myths (5): “Oh Fir Tree, Oh Fir Tree”
Walking through midtown Manhattan yesterday, we tried to pass the great tree at Rockefeller Center –just to get a glimpse. As always, it was drawing a big crowd, the streets were packed and we gave up. And as always, this enormous and dazzling display of lights makes me pose an old question: There weren’t any [...]
Don’t Know Much About® St. Augustine — Hidden History of America’s “Oldest City”
On September 8, 1565, a group of Spanish sailors, soldiers, priests and colonists landed in Florida and celebrated mass –the “beginning” of Christianity in America, as St. Augustine’s boosters tell us. This is the founding day of what is called “America’s oldest permanent European settlement.” The Spanish colonists were led by Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles. But just what were Menendez and his 800-strong group doing in Florida?
Don’t Know Much About History… Still!
The latest in the perennial drumbeat of bad news about failing American History grades in American schools has just been released. And it is as bad as ever. So the first simple question is:Why Are we so Bad at History?
A Tradition of Tolerance? Not really.
We’ve been hearing a lot about America’s tradition of religious freedom and tolerance lately. But for centuries, religion has been used as a weapon to discriminate and cudgel “non- believers” and “heathens,” many of whom came to America in search of religious freedom they never found. The battle over faith in the public square started long before the “Ground Zero Mosque.”
Highlights in the History of a Christian Nation
In a recent Fox News colloquy, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin explained America’s religious traditions to Bill O’Reilly. Discussing the National Day of Prayer in May 2010, both underscored their belief that America is a “Christian Nation,” founded upon Judeo-Christian principles and the Ten Commandments. Speaking of the Founders and the nation’s founding documents, Palin [...]
Don’t Know Much About Minute: More Pilgrims 101
http://youtu.be/USshf7xvJNc
