To My Brethren The Klingons,

Greetings, Klingons from my home planet of Kronos, I am corresponding to you from Earth, where I arrived last week with a mission to overtake, raid and destroy. Our starship landed in a structure that they call a “library”, since we got here in daylight, and could not raid until nightfall; I began to read the literature that filled this massive structure. I have learned many things about these earthlings, and have been unable to tear myself away. Let me tell you, the history of these people is a mess; we have really dodged a phaser being Klingons instead of earthlings!

I am in an area of this planet, which they refer to as North America. Apparently, it was only “discovered” a couple of hundred years ago.  It seems to me, that this continent began to be inhabited by “people” they call Europeans by the 1600s. When settlers began to permanetly reside in the new land, they came in two groups, one called Puritans and the other Pilgrims. The first people, aside from the original inhabitants whom they named Native Americans, came for mostly religious reasons. They felt a need to have more religious freedom, and spread the message of their holy book, the Bible, to people around the world. Having read parts of this treasured text though, I have discovered that these people did not follow some of its most important instructions, such as equality and freedom for all. They treated the people, the land, and at times each other as inferior creatures. They seemed to have many disagreements amongst each other. Some became part of an “Enlightenment Era”; which emphasized a more equal existence, yet many people chose to remain oblivious to their wrongdoings, stuck in their Romulan-like ways. You can decide for yourselves what you think of these people, but here is some of the information I have gathered through my readings.

Many times, people use the words Pilgrims and Puritans interchangeably. They, however, were two completely different groups of people with different loyalties and beliefs. While both of them believed in a higher power known as God, and both felt the need to distance themselves from the overbearing Church of England, the Puritans chose to totally disassociate themselves from England while the Pilgrims did not feel the need to totally cut free from correspondence. In American Puritanism: A Brief Introduction, these two groups characteristics are more specifically defined. The settlers of the Plymouth Colony arrived in 1620 with the Pilgrims. They followed a set of rules which they named "The Mayflower Compact" this outlined different aspects of “social, religious, and economic freedom, while still maintaining ties to Great Britain” (Rueben.) Ten years later in 1630, the Puritans inhabited the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Like Plymouth’s “Mayflower Compact” they drafted their own "The Arbella Covenant” which “clearly establishes a religious and theocratic settlement, free of ties to Great Britain” (Rueben.) Both of these colonies became a permanent fixture in America's new and changing landscape, but it was their effect on the people who already lived here which is in question.

William Bradford, the Pilgrim’s first leader, claimed in History of Plymouth Plantation that the reason they migrated to this land was “for advancing ye gospel of ye kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of ye world; yea, though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for ye performing of so great work” (Bradford 24.) This seems like an admirable assignment, until just sentences later, this same man refers to said Natives as “savage and brutish men, which range up and downe, little otherwise then ye wild beasts of the same” (Bradford 24-25.) Having read of this “Christ” that he speaks of, I do not feel as if referring to these people in such a way would have been permitted by Him. He does not give his mission much credibility by talking so poorly about these people.

Of course, not all of the first foreigners to arrive in America spoke so distastefully of the Native Americans. Roger Williams, a Separatist and man who held different public offices throughout his live, strived toward a harmonious equality between the Natives and the Europeans. In Roger Williams’ A Key into the Language of America, he states of the Native Americans "I believe they are lost, and yet hope (in the Lord's holy season) some of the wildest of them shall be found to share in the blood of the Son of God" (Williams 176-177.) He was thought of as outrageous in his time, but he was really more of a trailblazer of Enlightenment beliefs, he was one of the few who gave the Native Americans a chance at equality. As the librarian here, Ann Brady, pointed out, he spent time with them and “his pursuit of learning their language show that Williams, unlike many of his contemporaries, wanted to affirm the humanity of the Native Americans and establish a connection with them”(Ann Brady Wk 3.) If more people had taken on Williams' approach to the Native Americans, much bloodshed and heartbreak probably could have been avoided.

Interestingly, it seems to me, that this dislike between the European explorers and the Native Americans was not necessarily mutual. My new friend here on Earth/hostage Ryan Widuch has the same impression as me stating “the Natives seemed to generally be more open to the idea of co-existence, more reasonable, and open-minded” (Widuch Wk 5.)  In the Speech of the Onondaga Council, they speak with irony to the Europeans stating “brother, we thank you that we now understand the whole of your message as you come with the word of God” (Onondaga Council 69.) The Native Americans did learn about God and the Bible from the Europeans, something they actually were grateful for, but they also knew that if the Europeans were trying to “save” the world from sin, they were going about it in a completely wrong way. A small piece of advice from the Native Americans to their counterparts was “learn yourself to understand the word of God, before you undertake to teach and govern others” (Onondaga Council 69.) They knew that they were being treated unfairly, yet still managed to convey it in a way which did not degrade the Europeans. They understood the simple concept of equal human rights, something that one day this country would pride itself with being founded on, even though it was not true then and certainly not entirely true today.

One of the greatest revolutions to encompass North America during this time of Native American belittlement by the Europeans, and enslavement of Africans, was the Age of Enlightenment. While disregard for rights of peoples other than themselves began the moment the Europeans landed in America “the popular conception of a race-based slave system did not fully develop until the 1680s” (preservationvirginia.org) therefore, when the ideas of the Enlightenment Era and deism began in the 1700s, it was a much needed change. Deists believed that:

·         “God has not selected a chosen people”

·         “One cannot access God through any organized religion, set of beliefs, ritual, sacrament or other practice”

·         “Faith in natural goodness”

·         “Universal benevolence-attitude toward helping everyone”

(Rueben)          

These “radical” and “new” ideas were something that the Native Americans and Africans knew all along. If the Europeans would have taken the time to read their sacred text in the first place, much suffering could have been avoided.

One African American, who I personally believe knew how to voice truth the best, was Phyllis Wheatley, America’s first black poet. Beginning at an early age, she wrote letters and poems with poise and elegance, “many of her poems consist of elegies while others stress the theme of Christian salvation” (earlyamerica.com.) Her words were strong and limitless, in her poem On Being Brought from Africa to Americashe states “remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin'd and join th'angelic train” (Wheatley.) She uses the Biblical allusion of Cain to reference the fact that no one is without sin, and it is not their job to punish them or judge them. The Europeans saw themselves as better than her and her people, but they were all the same. No man is without sin, and no soul is beyond savior.

Klingons, these mortals have spent hundreds of years working on the mere acceptance of each other. They have launched numerous attacks on their equals. They have traveled far, across massive bodies of clear liquid, to spread a message of God incorrectly. The very people they have come to “save” understand their Holy text more than themselves. While the Native American’s had some allies, such as Williams, they were mostly ostracized. When organized slavery came along, it looked like equality would never come to pass in America. While the last of the historical texts I read was from the young Phyllis Wheatley a slave, my hostages tell me that now, over four hundred years later, people are still fighting for rights and equality. Organized slavery has been outlawed for many years, but persecution goes way beyond color of skin. It  encompasses color, sexual preference, sex and many other aspects of human life. I’m not sure if it’s worth attacking these people, because they may just self-destruct if we leave them alone a while longer. I will be waiting in the library watching a show called Star Trek on VHS, waiting for your decision on continuing my mission.

http://www.platformnation.com/2011/07/05/star-trek-the-next-generation-now-on-netflix-instant-stream/

Always Loyal,

Cadmar (translates to Chelsea Suiter)

P.S. The guy in the top left of the picture looks like my dad.