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I rarely paid attention in school. I blame part of it on self-diagnosed A.D.D. and partly on the fact that my friends write really good notes. Looking back, I wish I would have ditched the notes, and signed up for every history class offered.
Because the past is the best determinant of the future.
When I was a junior in college I took a class called Public Discourse, which studied different historical events and the rhetoric that accompanied those time periods. I chose World War II and decided I should probably learn some history by watching Band of Brothers.
Well done Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Hanks. That documentary, minus choosing Ross from Friends for a role, was outstanding. (One can never go from playing a Manhattan-living-metro-sexual-paleontologist to a believable soldier.) Learning more about WWII unlocked a desire to know how one man can be a loved and adored leader; while simultaneously burning people in ovens.
I was hooked on history.
I was home in Michigan last week and picked up a book of quotes by John Adams. Reading his words to friends and colleagues can only leave you with deep admiration for the passion he had for this nation in the 1700s and 1800s.
Right now, I have the ability to be passionate about so much with all of the information at my fingertips.
I realized though, that very little of it is historical information. Instead, I probably shape how I will take action in the future based primarily on all of the information that deals with the immediate, with the now – not the lessons of the past.
After reading John’s thoughts, I assumed that with less distraction, people of the past probably had the time to know their history in greater detail. I concluded that would give one a better grasp for making sure a historical tragedy “never happened again.”
Like the Holocaust, for example.
But if people back then knew history, what were the details that led to the lies of Hitler being accepted by so many? Do I know how a society of youth were brainwashed to follow Hitler’s orders? Do I know how Jews were slowly dehumanized? Do I know why Americans denied “something that bad” actually taking place?
These things didn’t all just happen over night.
They were small steps in the open air that created a path down a deceiving plank, jumping into the ocean. Is this continuing to happen today? What is our environment doing to our ability to learn history?
A bit of panic came over me as I wondered what I didn’t know about the history of humanity that would lead me down that plank. I started glorifying past generations that were not inundated with People magazine and distracted by constant news chatter which usually consisted of important things like a little boy getting in a flying saucer. I imagined myself living in the days of John Adams when people took pride in their country and wanted to learn about all that history had to offer so they could make a new great nation.
(insert patriotic songs and visions of me sewing stars on a flag underneath fireworks.)
I finished writing some thoughts on this and then re-opened the John Adams book landing on this quote:
“Can you account for the apathy, the antipathy of this nation to their own history? Is there not a repugnance to the thought of looking back? While thousands of frivolous novels are read with eagerness and got by heart, the history of our own native country is not only neglected but despised and abhorred.”
–John Adams to Thomas McKean, August 31, 1813
What?! They weren’t all studying why the monarchy of Europe had hindered their freedom while simultaneously singing the star spangled banner!?
It turns out the people of John’s day are more like us than I had originally thought.
It doesn’t matter when I was born. Everyone has the choice to make the space to learn history and avoid the same mistakes, or ignore history and hope for the best.
Either way, we will step forward into the future.
How does this thought process parallel to relationships?
Do we really believe that knowing our past will help us avoid mistakes in relationships? Has history repeated itself in your relationships? Have you taken the time to think about it?
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Love and Respect (Now) is a division of Love and Respect. Please be considerate.
Yeah, I have just recently learned more about this. I didn't know about the financial issues from WWI until I read a book called Hitler's Youth. It's a bunch of different stories based on kids growing up during that time and I think you would like it. And lets be honest….by "read" I mean listened to on tape.
"We want a king! We want a king!", cried the nation of Israel. Samuel wept his brains out, and God granted wayfaring Israel King Saul.
Insert finger, deeply in throat, and gag!
Nothing changes. As Christians we all live in fallen frames, as resident aliens in a foreign land of pagans.
Wow! That was harsh, but true.
Hitler was nothing, at least our neighbors aren't burning their children alive to Baal.
Great article.
David – (yes, I know I’m joining this conversation a little late, but oh well, I only discovered the blog yesterday) we may not be burning our children to Baal anymore, but we are sacrificing them for convenience’ sake through abortion…sounds similar enough to me.
And Joy, I love your name (it’s my middle name). And I’m loving the blog too!
Jordan thinks...
Great post, Joy.
Historically, I think the rise of Hitler and fascism had more to do with poverty than anything else. After Germany's surrender at the end of World War I, the Allies put the full burden of the cost of the war on the shoulders of the losers. Because of this, Germany's economy collapsed. I think nationalism is dangerous on all levels, but it thrives on a larger level when a populace is poor and humiliated.
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