[Oe List ...] Thomas Berry on the Mayflower Compact

Tue Nov 23 12:41:08 CST 2010

Thanks much, Herman.  The Thomas Berry comments are especially welcome.  The assumption that the earth, all living things, and even all people, are there to be "used" underlies much of our western culture. We have to examine our thinking and actions for traces of this killer of the fullness of life. 
Janice 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Herman Greene 
  To: 'Order Ecumenical Community' 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11:18 AM
  Subject: [Oe List ...] Thomas Berry on the Mayflower Compact

  First the compact

  IN THE name of God, Amen.

  We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

  In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domine 1620.

  Then Thomas Berry (from The Great Work)

  In his chapter on "The North American Continent," Thomas juxtaposes the culture of the American Indians and that of the Europeans settlers. The arrival of the Europeans in North America, he says, "could be considered as one of the more fateful moments in history, not only of this continent but of the entire planet.. Every living being on this continent might have shuddered with foreboding when that first tiny sail appeared over the Atlantic horizon" (p. 40).

        The first peoples of North America and the European settlers held two sharply contending views of nature. "To indigenous people.the natural world was the manifestation of a numinous presence that gave meaning to all existence.. As seen by the Europeans the continent was here to serve human purposes though trade and commerce, as well as through the more immediate personal and household needs of the colonists. They had nothing spiritual to learn from this continent. Their attitude toward the land as primarily for use was the critical issue" (p. 44).

        Culturally derived anthropocentrism caused insuperable difficulty for the Europeans in establishing any intimate rapport with the North American continent or its people. To Thomas, "Such orientation of Western consciousness had its fourfold origin in the Greek [humanistic] cultural tradition, the biblical-Christian religious tradition, the English political-legal tradition, and the economic tradition associated with the new vigor of the merchant class" (p. 45). To the Europeans "[t]heir human-spiritual formation was complete before they came. They came[, they thought,] with the finest religion of the world, the highest intellectual, aesthetic, and moral development, the finest jurisprudence. They needed this continent simply as a political refuge and as a region to be exploited" (p. 43). They were committed to a "divinely commissioned task of commercially exploiting this continent [and] could even experience a high spiritual exaltation in what [they] were doing" (p. 46).

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  From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Geri Tolman
  Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8:50 AM
  To: 'Order Ecumenical Community'; 'Colleague Dialogue'
  Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Salmon: Mayflower Compact

  here's a link:

  http://www.nationalcenter.org/MayflowerCompact.html

  Happy Thanksgiving!

  Geri

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    From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Ann Shafer
    Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8:19 AM
    To: 'Order Ecumenical Community'
    Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Salmon: Mayflower Compact

    I would love a copy of both or anyway the Mayflower Compact. Thanks! Ann Shafer

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    From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of William Salmon
    Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 6:47 AM
    To: Order Ecumenical Community
    Subject: [Oe List ...] Salmon: Mayflower Compact

    George and Carol --

        I have a copy of that conversation--or at least a copy of the Compact. Do you want a copy?

        Bill 

      ----- Original Message ----- 

      From: M. George Walters 

      To: 'Order Ecumenical Community' 

      Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 9:51 PM

      Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Happy Thanksgiving

      I have been going through old files for days trying to find my old copy of the Mayflower Compact conversation.

      Everybody have a great Thanksgiving!

      George and Carol.

      Resurgence Publishing Corporation

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      URL: www.ResurgencePublishing.com

      Professional Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mgwalters

      From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Vinod Parekh
      Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 21:15
      To: OE at wedgeblade.net
      Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Happy Thanksgiving

      The Parekh family joins all our beloved colleagues in celebrating Thanksgiving with a deep sense of gratitude for enriching our lives. 

      ------ Original Message ------ 
      Received: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 04:39:53 AM IST 
      From: Sandra/Bob True <icatrue at igc.org> 
      To: Colleagues <Dialogue at wedgeblade.net>, OE list <OE at wedgeblade.net> 
      Subject: [Oe List ...] Happy Thanksgiving 

      Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

      In the season if gratefulness, I am deeply grateful for all of you on these lists. You are my community, I've experienced your care and love. 
      I lift a glass full of gratitude to you all! 

      Hugs 
      Sandra 

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