Mark Charles

The Doctrine of Discovery was declared by Pope Nicholas V in 1545. It stated that the Christian civilized empires and kingdoms of Europe had the right to "discover" and do what they wanted with the lands and people they found there, including enslaving those people. The ideas of American Exceptionalism and White Supremacy are closed connected to the Doctrine of Discovery. The authors are a Native American man and a Korean American man. Both say that the result of this Doctrine of Discovery and the White supremacy and exceptionalism that come from it are flawed, dysfunctional, dehumanizing and cruel. They also say that acting on these ideas has prepetuated crimes against non-whites in America for hundreds of years. This book is a call to Christian and other Americans to repudiate these heritical ideas and repent and make amends to those who have been harmed by them, particularly Native Americans whose lands were stolen, and Black Americans whose labor was stolen. This book is disturbing, it will make many people uncomfortable. We might not want to believe what the authors are saying but they are not wrong.… (meer)

Very true on the 'unsettling' part - but authors Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah point out the
some of the hidden history of the United States that as a follower of Christ I would have a difficult time supporting. But there is the distinction between Christianity and Christendom - in one (Christianity) we become servants - like Christ -and see the Imagio Dei in all of humanity - no matter their beliefs or ethnicity.

In the other we make others servants based on bad theology. We take old testament promises to only Israel and apply it to any country and throw away much of the NT teachings of Christ as not being 'practical'.

… (meer)

Summary: Shows how "The Doctrine of Discovery," an outgrowth of a Christendom of power rather than relationship has shaped a narrative of the United States, to the dehumanizing of Native Peoples, slaves, and other non-white peoples.

Columbus discovered America, right? Pilgrims, Puritans, and other Europeans "settled" America and drove out the "Indians" who threatened their settlements. That's what I learned in history class.

That's not how the Native Peoples of Turtle Island (what they call North America) saw it. They were invaded and had the land of their ancestors taken from them, were displaced, often with genocidal marches, to inferior lands. Unfortunately, victors usually write the history.

The two authors of this work show the complicity of the church in the "Doctrine of Discovery" that justified the settlement of Native lands, and the subjugation of Native Peoples that resulted, as well as the dehumanizing treatment of African slaves. They trace this back to the transition the church underwent under Constantine, when church and state became Christendom, and Constantine's "faith" was written into the narrative by Eusebius. The crusades led to classifying "infidels" as inferior human beings and the church baptized the early explorers efforts as "evangelistic," and the early settlers appropriated Israel's land covenant and Jesus' "city on a hill" to articulate their justification for "settling" the Native lands.

The most disturbing part of this narrative is the genocidal effects of this settlement reducing a population of approximately six million to under 240,000 at one point. Some was disease. Some was warfare. Some was outright massacre, like Wounded Knee, and some, like the Trail of Tears or the Navajo and Apache removal to Bosque Redondo, when thousands died. Proportionally, the death rate of the latter was greater than the Holocaust.

Another "unsettling truth" was the equivocal character of the "Great Emancipator," Abraham Lincoln. There is a plaque at the base of the Lincoln Memorial that records these words of Lincoln:

"I would save the Union. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."

An uprising of Dakota initially led to 2 of 40 being sentenced to death. Lincoln expanded the criteria for death sentences resulting in the execution of 39. Subsequently, Lincoln signed into law a bill nullifying treaties with the Dakota and Winnebago tribes in Minnesota and mandating their forced removal to the Dakota Territory. Bounties were set on those who who tried to escape the roundup.

The authors conclude with how we react to these unsettling truths, including the efforts of Christian boarding schools designed to "kill the Indian to save the man.". One of the most interesting ideas, but also one on which I'd like to see more research is what they termed Perpetrator Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS). They contend that Native Peoples and African Americans are not the only ones traumatized by the Doctrine of Discovery. White America is also traumatized. The authors propose that this may explain the "triggering" effect of the election of Barack Obama as president. They also propose that healing can come only through lament, relational apologies to the Tribal People whose lands were taken and the children of slaves forcibly brought here, and with Tribal peoples, and acknowledgement of thanks to them as hosts in a land where we are guests. That's only a beginning, but a necessary one.

The "unsettling truths" of this book don't appear in traditional histories, and I'm sure there are those who will contest them, particularly because of the sweeping nature of this account, from the beginnings of Christendom to white trauma. While there is extensive documentation in the form of endnotes, the case of this book would be helped with a bibliography of further readings for each chapter. From other readings, I found much to warrant this cumulative case. Furthermore, the authors write both unsparingly, and yet with the hope that their narrative will contribute to the equivalent of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. The question is whether there will be leaders in local communities as well as national bodies willing to acknowledge the truth, make honest and sincere apologies to the peoples whose lands they occupy.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (meer)