When
Thanksgiving Day comes around, the mind turns to the Pilgrims. They left
England to escape religious persecution, landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, met
the helpful Squanto, learned to grow corn, temporarily
made friends with the Indians, and had turkey and eel at the first Thanksgiving
feast. Fast forward to 1776...
But
there’s a lot more to know about the Pilgrims. First, they were Calvinists and
they believed in predestination: God chose some people to go to heaven.
Everyone else went to hell. End of discussion. You could lead an exemplary life
and love Jesus, but you were destined for damnation unless God chose you before
you were even born. Predestination is a hard doctrine. It teaches that some
receive the gift of faith; some don’t. It’s not about desire or effort;
predestination is the will of God. It’s not pretty. It’s not sweet. The only
reason why anyone would embrace predestination is because he or she honestly
believed it to be true. A good pilgrim followed the will of God. The will of
God as it was, not as one wanted it to be.
One
the bright side, the Pilgrims believed that legitimate earthly government
required the consent of the governed. Before they landed to establish a
permanent settlement, (almost) all of the adult male colonists signed a
self-government agreement, the Mayflower
Compact. It’s a short document and well worth a read.
In
signing the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims were walking a politically thin
line. They began by declaring that they were the “Loyal Subjects” of King James
I. Then they agreed to govern themselves. The colonists combined into a “civil
Body Politick” for their “better Ordering and Preservation” and agreed to make “equal
Laws” and appoint their own officers. They created a commonwealth. While they
weren’t rebelling, the Pilgrims were beyond the day-to-day reach of the king
and his ministers. Circumstances required that they take the business of
government upon themselves. The colonists were effectively independent, with a
minimalist do-it-yourself
constitution, but the declaration had to wait until 1776.
On
Thanksgiving Day, I encourage everyone to read the Mayflower Compact. Share it
with your family and friends. It was one of the first American expressions of
government by the consent of the governed, something we can all be thankful for.
The
Mayflower Compact
In the name 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, &c. Having
undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and
the Honour 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
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick,
for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid:
And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, 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 hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in
the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James,
of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
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