Canticle for Tecumseh
In the year 2706 AD...
College freshman Reed Rodriguez, recently returned home from college for the summer, is perusing one of his textbooks.
His father enters the family room, "What do you have there, son?"
"Oh, it's a textbook for ancient American studies. There was a lot of cool stuff in there, wanted to review."
"What kinds of stuff?" The father asked.
"Well, this section is a reproduction of a textbook from the year 1968. It is really fascinating. I think I like the stories about cowboys and Indians and the US Cavalry the best."
"Ah, that,' his father snorted. 'I thought you were taking history, not ancient literature. Those are all mythological stories."
"The Indians? Gee, Dad, they have all sorts of copies of ancient news articles and books excerpted in here, describing Indians shooting bow-and-arrows, bad guys with big handguns strapped to their hips, cowboys..."
"Nonsense!' His father interrupted. 'You must have one of those conservative teachers." The older man made a face. "Colleges are bastions of conservative thinking nowadays, it is terrible! The Indians had a civilization in place when white men began to emigrate here. Everyone knows that Indians had houses and land like the Europeans did, only far more in keeping with environmental standards..."
"But, check out this book! See, here it is describing Pontiac, and Tecumseh, and the Prophet as real people, Indians who lived a different lifestyle than the Europeans."
"Pontiac was an automobile, son. That was an old mode of transportation that was used into the 21st century. Automobiles were sold for large amounts of money and the name Pontiac was well known. That author just stole the name to make the story sound familiar to readers of that time. There were no wild Indians, that is simply ludicrous! I supppose you think that Kevin Costner's Last Stand really took place?"
"You mean General Sherman?"
"Something like that. It has been awhile since I was in school."
"Dad, my professor said that these old stories were actual events that were witnessed and described by the people who lived during that time. Heck, a book published in 1968 had to be within a couple of hundred years of General Sherman or less, right? They were closer to that time and they described outlaws like Billy the Kid and indians like Geronimo as if they were real."
Reed's Dad sighed. "I want you to simply do some research, Reed. Go to the library and see what modern historians have to say. I think part of the problem is that that book your professor is using, and I imagine the other texts as well, came from European-American sources."
"Sure Dad, I guess so...why?"
"Well, they had reason to try to make their past more romantic after a few centuries. How many people of European stock do you actually see these days? Nearly everyone in this country is primarily of Hispanic origin, so those who are of European descent have little to be proud of other than the past. That past is primarily that of a crude and primitive people, so they spice it up a little."
"I dunno, Dad. I think this evidence is pretty compelling..."
"Right, I suppose next you are going to tell me that there was actually an Abraham Lincoln and there actually were slaves at one time?"
Reed shook his head. "Maybe I ought to look into it a little deeper."
His father playfully ruffled his son's hair and gave him a short punch in the bicep. "You have three more years to go, lots of things to learn. Take your time, son, and think critically. Don't just believe everything they tell you!"
(All in italics translated from the original Spanish)
The next Point in the Creation review concerns various evidences of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures in literature and artwork all around the globe, vast quantities of information that is laughed off as 'myth' by those who do not care to consider it as evidence.
"Second, the large amount of historical records and the evidences of carvings and figurines and drawings is evidence that dragons and sea-monsters and firebirds were actual living beings - dinosaurs. Once they became uncommon they tend to take on the characteristics of myth. But much mythology is just history passed on by "Chinese Telephone" so to speak. No one has been able to come up with a reasonable explanation for why it is that so many of these representations and records are accurate depictions of dinosaurs according to the best paleontological evidence we have today."
But where, disbelievers, is your actual evidence to disprove the records? How about the Acambaro statuettes, that were acknowledged to be genuine by neutral sources until they realized some of the statues were of dinosaurs, at which point they in a most cowardly and deceitful manner attempted to change their findings.
Reconsider some evidences that I presented previously and tell me how you can refute so much evidence? Remember - Derision is not a logical argument.
College freshman Reed Rodriguez, recently returned home from college for the summer, is perusing one of his textbooks.
His father enters the family room, "What do you have there, son?"
"Oh, it's a textbook for ancient American studies. There was a lot of cool stuff in there, wanted to review."
"What kinds of stuff?" The father asked.
"Well, this section is a reproduction of a textbook from the year 1968. It is really fascinating. I think I like the stories about cowboys and Indians and the US Cavalry the best."
"Ah, that,' his father snorted. 'I thought you were taking history, not ancient literature. Those are all mythological stories."
"The Indians? Gee, Dad, they have all sorts of copies of ancient news articles and books excerpted in here, describing Indians shooting bow-and-arrows, bad guys with big handguns strapped to their hips, cowboys..."
"Nonsense!' His father interrupted. 'You must have one of those conservative teachers." The older man made a face. "Colleges are bastions of conservative thinking nowadays, it is terrible! The Indians had a civilization in place when white men began to emigrate here. Everyone knows that Indians had houses and land like the Europeans did, only far more in keeping with environmental standards..."
"But, check out this book! See, here it is describing Pontiac, and Tecumseh, and the Prophet as real people, Indians who lived a different lifestyle than the Europeans."
"Pontiac was an automobile, son. That was an old mode of transportation that was used into the 21st century. Automobiles were sold for large amounts of money and the name Pontiac was well known. That author just stole the name to make the story sound familiar to readers of that time. There were no wild Indians, that is simply ludicrous! I supppose you think that Kevin Costner's Last Stand really took place?"
"You mean General Sherman?"
"Something like that. It has been awhile since I was in school."
"Dad, my professor said that these old stories were actual events that were witnessed and described by the people who lived during that time. Heck, a book published in 1968 had to be within a couple of hundred years of General Sherman or less, right? They were closer to that time and they described outlaws like Billy the Kid and indians like Geronimo as if they were real."
Reed's Dad sighed. "I want you to simply do some research, Reed. Go to the library and see what modern historians have to say. I think part of the problem is that that book your professor is using, and I imagine the other texts as well, came from European-American sources."
"Sure Dad, I guess so...why?"
"Well, they had reason to try to make their past more romantic after a few centuries. How many people of European stock do you actually see these days? Nearly everyone in this country is primarily of Hispanic origin, so those who are of European descent have little to be proud of other than the past. That past is primarily that of a crude and primitive people, so they spice it up a little."
"I dunno, Dad. I think this evidence is pretty compelling..."
"Right, I suppose next you are going to tell me that there was actually an Abraham Lincoln and there actually were slaves at one time?"
Reed shook his head. "Maybe I ought to look into it a little deeper."
His father playfully ruffled his son's hair and gave him a short punch in the bicep. "You have three more years to go, lots of things to learn. Take your time, son, and think critically. Don't just believe everything they tell you!"
(All in italics translated from the original Spanish)
The next Point in the Creation review concerns various evidences of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures in literature and artwork all around the globe, vast quantities of information that is laughed off as 'myth' by those who do not care to consider it as evidence.
"Second, the large amount of historical records and the evidences of carvings and figurines and drawings is evidence that dragons and sea-monsters and firebirds were actual living beings - dinosaurs. Once they became uncommon they tend to take on the characteristics of myth. But much mythology is just history passed on by "Chinese Telephone" so to speak. No one has been able to come up with a reasonable explanation for why it is that so many of these representations and records are accurate depictions of dinosaurs according to the best paleontological evidence we have today."
But where, disbelievers, is your actual evidence to disprove the records? How about the Acambaro statuettes, that were acknowledged to be genuine by neutral sources until they realized some of the statues were of dinosaurs, at which point they in a most cowardly and deceitful manner attempted to change their findings.
Reconsider some evidences that I presented previously and tell me how you can refute so much evidence? Remember - Derision is not a logical argument.