Dale Wyngarden: Ignorance is bliss — and ignorance is winning
In the last election, voters spoke — and their message loud and clear was they don’t want to hearanything that disrupts their childhood myths about the great age of exploration, discovering anew world, pilgrims, pioneers, bringing Christianity to the heathens, and happy life on theplantations. And God forbid anyone try to teach their kids otherwise. Many of the recentpolitical contests could have been referendums on “ignorance is bliss.” And ignorance won.
Most of us learned that Pennsylvania was given by the king of England to William Penn to settlea family debt. No one taught us why a king an ocean away had a right to convey land that mustsurely have been the ancestral home to thousands of indigenous people. We learned thatThomas Jefferson approved the Louisiana Purchase from France, consisting of not only NewOrleans but part or all of some fifteen states west of the Mississippi River, all the way to theCanadian Border. But we never learned why the $15 million was paid to France, and not thehundreds of thousands of native peoples for whom this land was home.
The “Doctrine of Discovery” is something of a black hole in history curriculum. In simple terms,it stated that new lands “discovered” by European explorers could be claimed in the name of themonarchs of Europe. Now throughout history when Christian people are about to embark onventures that might have very unchristian consequences for other people, it helps to have theblessing of the church. We saw it just recently when Russia curried the blessing of theOrthodox Church for its invasion of Ukraine.
In fact, the Christian cross and the swords of empires have been strange bedfellows since theconversion of the Roman emperor Constantine some 1,700 years ago. As empires prospered,so, too, did the church. But the age of global exploration, begun by Portugal in the 1400s, andfollowed soon after by Spain and other European monarchies, took it to a whole new level.Groundwork for the Doctrine of Discovery was laid by a series of papal bulls (decrees) in the1400s.
And it wasn’t just about seizing land and gold. In 1452, the head of Christendom granted toPortugal “with our Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade search out, capture andsubjugate the Saracens (Muslims) and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christwherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms ... and other properties ... and reduce their person into perpetual servitude.”
So began the age of exploration, exploitation, appropriation of lands and wealth long held byindigenous people, and ultimately trafficking in human slavery by very wealthy and veryChristian countries. As other nations joined Portugal and Spain, colonial conquest and itsdevastating impact on native peoples reached into Australia and New Zealand, Southern Asia,Africa and the entire Americas.
The Doctrine of Discovery may have begun with popes and monarchs, but it had staying powerwith Europeans who emigrated to far reaches of the world. When tested in the United States,our Supreme Court in 1823 unanimously upheld the Doctrine, declaring that “Indians” had rightsof occupancy, but no rights of land ownership. Of course that only lasted until they got in theway of new waves of immigrants and the westward movement.
When reality is uncomfortable, we create myths. We romanticize explorers, conquistadors,pilgrims, pioneers, cowboys, founding fathers, plantation life, conversion of heathens, andnumerous other stories with messy underbellies. No one wants to hear a dozen of our earlypresidents owned slaves at some point. And we don’t want schools to teach it.
Many recent political campaigns were run on platforms of keeping it that way. But the promisesof politicians to extend the legislative reach into administrative functions didn’t stop there. Maskmandates would disappear. Library censorship would return. Our Judeo-Christian heritagewould be celebrated. And of course taxes would be cut.
These issues resonate with voters, and candidates with shallow platforms get elected.Environmental and climate issues, global military meddling, an obscene defense budget,predatory businesses, growing inequality and similar issues seem too complex. Let’s just electthe person who promises no more pandemic masks and a watchful eye on our library books. If these are the qualities of leadership we seek, all that comes to mind is the old adage “Be carefulwhat you wish for.” The people we elect may not really be up to the task of governing.
— Community Columnist Dale Wyngarden is a resident of the city of Holland. He can be reached at wyngarden@ameritech.net.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Dale Wyngarden: Ignorance is bliss — and ignorance is winning
