Civilised - Or Not!

Earlier this week many people in Spain and the Americas celebrated Columbus Day, the day that Columbus first set foot on land on the other side of the Atlantic on the 12th October 1492.  At the time, Columbus and his associates went in order to find new land and claim it for the Spanish crown.  They actually thought they would find India going west instead of east as was the usual route. When they arrived in the Americas, they realised that this was a 'new world', somewhere they didn't know about.  They.saw how much gold and treasure there was and how friendly the native inhabitants were and realised how easy it would be to dominate them, making them slaves, forcing them to accept their christian faith and robbing them of all their wealth.  The native population were treated like animals that needed to be 'civilised'.  The truth is that many tribes were actually more civilised than the Spaniards, having a good system of social care, a healthy economy and thriving trade.  They were knowledgeable in many aspects of life including the arts and crafts as well as their study of the solar system and the natural world around them.  In opening their hearts and arms to receive their new guests, what they received was abuse, murder, pillaging and slavery - all in the name of Christianity.   Nowadays there is a growing movement to rename the day in favour of the indigenous people rather than Columbus.  


Although nations no longer go around the world killing and pillaging as in the past days of European empires, there are those who still find ways of destroying what is not theirs and taking for themselves what rightfully belongs to others, of course with promises of payment of a kind.  We need look no further than the same American continent to note that vast parts of the Amazon jungle are being cleared in order to have land where cattle can be raised.  This is so that more cattle can be farmed in order to keep down the price of beef for more northerly  parts of the world.  Apart from the damage to the planet's climate that the destruction of the Amazon jungle causes, there are countless indigenous tribes that have been swallowed up in this scheme.  Some feel almost forced to comply with what they are asked to do while others still fight on to keep what is rightfully theirs and the lifestyle that they choose to live.  It begs the question, 'Who are the savages and who are the civilised ones?'   The photo shows the systematic clearing of the jungle to make way for cattle.

On a happier note, this week I saw an article on social media that was also remembering an incident from the past.  Fifteen years earlier a small boy had fallen 18 feet into a den of gorillas at a zoo.  Everyone was dismayed as they thought that he would certainly be harmed.  However a gentle female gorilla called Binti approached the unconscious boy as he lay on the hard concrete surrounding the den.  She picked him up and cradled him in her arms, patted him a few times but got no response.  Everyone thought that surely now the boy would be hurt but instead Binti picked the boy up and walked almost 60 feet to an access door where an attendant and a paramedic could see to him.  All the time Binti guarded the boy from the other gorillas, growling at them to make sure the boy was kept safe.  I can't help thinking though that if any of the bystanders had been carrying a gun, they would have shot Binti without a second thought, presuming that on approaching the boy, she intended to harm him.  

We may not physically harm someone or rob them of any worldly goods but how often do we prejudge others?  Sadly many white people seem to have the attitude that they are in some way superior to those of a darker skin colour.  It might not be expressed in words but certainly in attitude.  How often do we look at a person's way of dressing or the house they live in and prejudge them without getting to know them?   Who would have thought that a gorilla would treat a human being with such care and gentleness in comparison to the way many people treat their fellow human beings?  People aren't better or worse than anyone else - they are simply different, sometimes by choice and sometimes by their cultural background.  I always remember my dear mother telling us as children, 'God loves everybody and so must we.'  Wise words.  Maybe being civilised is really about living God's love through our daily activities and attitudes and has nothing to do with authority, power and wealth.