The Christian religion basically are followers of Christ which in itselfisn't a bad thing. The words of God is truth; but the interpretation and theweakness of man will pervert God's message. The principles of government mayhave its merits; but the abuse of power and misuse of the noble laws are prone toman's interpretations and perspectives.Mankind is not perfect and prone to mistakes; striving for perfection is anoble ideal. We struggle towards the goal of fairness and comity. All cultureshave this attribute while being open to progress for a better quality of lifeaccording to their environment.Let's get to know the words and actions of our players to view them as whothey are and what spurs their actions. We now know how their evolution ofthinking came to be; it must be difficult to throw off this one-faceted archaicway of thinking, yet it created havoc in the world.The doctrines of Manifest Destiny controled the Western Civilization and the most zealous werethose who had close ties to the WASP Christian religion. Theologians, their families and communitiesbound themselves to this doctrine. As missionaries, the common reference is that they camewith the bible and the plow; thus gained influence in the countries they went to and set their values,society, and standards as being civilized while others were not.In Hawai'i's post-European history, it was no different with the mentality of the European/Americanpeople. For example, the players in the USA invasion and occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom andhow they connived in maneuvering the takeover , disregarding the treaties they signed and ratified.Lorrin Andrew Thurston (1858 - 1931) was described by George Chaplin (Presstime in Paradise) asa hotheaded lawyer, newspaper publisher, son of missionary parents, sent to the mainland for ahigher education (Yale). Those in the USA enlisted him as a US special agent to help destabilizethe Kingdom of Hawaii in order to takeover the government. US Secretary of State, James Blaine,communicated to Thurston that they would look with great favor to an annexation treaty should therebe a revolt and overthrow of the monarchy and a new government formed.Thurston promoted Americanism, was anti-union of workers, and detested Asians (Japanese,Chinese, and Filipinos) more than Hawaiians and called them enemies. Consequently, this USAmerican conspirator is regarded as a traitor, a known bigot, a racist, a self-righteous, arrogant andsmug individual. He requested instruction from US Secretary of State, James Blaine on 8 March 1892of how far he may deviate from established international rules and precedents in order to destabilizeand annex Hawaii.US American presidents: Arthur, Harrison, and McKinley, greatly supported this plan of action for thetakeover of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Pro-annexationist, who was removed from Paraguay and Uruguayfor inciting their governments because he was actively promoting annexation of those countries to theUSA, was sent to Sweden as a cooling off period before they relocated him to Hawaii as part of theirplan. His name was John Levitt Stevens.US Minister Stevens, (1820 - 1895, Augusta, Maine), was a Republican, newpaper editor, and a retiredUniversalist minister who championed the Christian Manifest Destiny. He was quite close to the USSecretary of State, James Blaine who greatly influenced Stevens in the doctrines of Manifest Destiny,Expansionism, and Imperialism. Stevens engineered the invasion and takeover by the US of Hawaii.With being a close ally of Thurston, they completed their ruse with the blessings of the US presidentsand their administrations. The co-conspirators living in Hawaii gave him an elaborate 7-piece silver teaservice made from melted-down Hawaiian silver dollars.We are cognizant of the factual involvement of those in the highest positions in the USA, and concludethis was not the actions of a "few misguided US Americans and agents" but the USA nation who wagedwar against the friendly, neutral nation of Hawaii; in fact, it was the first sneak attack on our sovereignshores.HREF="http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?root=%2Fmoa%2Fnora%2\Fnora0157%2F&tif=00740.TIF&cite=&coll=moa&frames=1&view=50"">Click here:Cornell University Making of AmericaThe key is to type in the search box: Hawaii - 1893. You will find a list ofperiodicals relating to Hawaii during the tumultuous time in its modernhistory. The following is taken from the North American Review, 1893, Volume157 issue 445 which I have critiqued:Stevens' somewhat slanted misinformation is overwhelming and inflammatory. Itmerits reading to grasp the desperate cleansing to justify his actions andthose of resident U.S. Americans in Hawaii. He is a scholar of manifest destiny anda white supremacist.He ends his missive with: "....in the name of what is most sacred in Christian civilization.....will see to it that the flag of the US floats unmolested over the Hawaiian Islands. It isgood to know, he was reprimanded for his seditious actions in Hawaii.In the same journal, Democrat House member From Maine of the 57th Congress,1891, Ways and Means Chairman, William M. Springer, writes quite a differentperspective. Here are excerpts of his assessment:"...of few residents prompted by personal interests.... The pretext for this intervention isbased upon the alleged fact that the government of the queen of the Hawaiian Islandswas a 'semi-barbaric monarchy resting on no solid or moral foundation, dead ineverything but its vices, coarsely luxurious in its tastes and wishes, constantlysending out impure exhalations, and spreading social and political demoralizationthroughout the islands.'This is the indictment against the monarchy made by the late Minister, Mr. Stevens,who after leaving the islands, further assails the government to which he was sorecently accredited as a diplomatic representative, by charging that the queen hassustained scandalous and immoral relations with one of her ministers. This beingalleged condition of the government of Hawaii, an appeal is made to the moralsentiment of the American people to justify the overthrow of that government andestablish in its stead, what its friends and supporters have denominated 'a Christiangovernment', by which we may assume, is meant a government whose administratorsprofess the Christian religion.The U.S. provisional government which was established had no other foundation forits existence than what is called "the great mass meeting of January 16, "atwhich the whole attendance did not exceed sixteen hundred [1,600] persons. Atthis meeting a committee of Public Safety was appointed, which the committee"proclaimed a provisional government". This provisional government was not evensubmitted to the town meeting for its approval. It could not have maintained anexistence for an hour had it not been for the fact that the marine forces onboard theUS steamship "Boston", then lying in the harbor, were at the request of the committeeof public safety and the American minister, acting in conjunction with the provisionalgovernment, directed. ....These armed forces of the US remained on shore in Honolulufor 75 days, thus this remarkable revolution in the Hawaiian Islands was accomplished.....Whether the government of Hawaii was a just one, a moral one, or an efficient one,is a matter which does not concern the American people. We have no more right tooverthrow a monarchy in Hawaii because it does not conform to our ideas of a justgovernment, than we have to overthrow a monarchy in Canada, or Great Britain, orRussia, or Turkey, or Spain, or elsewhere.But it is alleged that the presence of the US forces on shore was necessaryto the protection of American life and property. .....{he wondered why no othernation was there to protect its citizens}. .....I American citizens wereinterfering with the local government and using their influence to overthrow it,they had no right to claim the protection of American forces in this unlawfuland revolutionary procedure. ....Therefore the claim....lives and property indanger is a mere pretext, having no foundation whatever in fact. ...Thedivinity in all these matters is the right of the people to govern themselves."Springer asked (re: annexation), why insist on only white voters, and wasalways told, people of the islands were not capable of self-government andwould be hostile to annexation. The fact is that the people of Hawaii have neverbeen consulted upon this subject. The so-called provisional government did notemanate from them and does not have their sanction. It is a usurpation, whichcould not have had any de facto existence, to say nothing of a rightfulexistence, except for the presence of the overpowering armed forces of the US.He further states, what right has the provisional government to make a treatywith the US government for the annexation of Hawaii to our government? Whogave the PG the authority to speak for the people they pretend to represent?......it claims to be composed of Christians...are representatives of advancedChristian civilization....Such a claim would make the US the moral and religious arbitur of theworld; would constitute us self-appointed crusaders, going about the earthpulling down and destroying alleged heathen and semi-barbaric monarchies, andestablishing Christian governments and civilization in its stead............wouldmake our Christianity a fraud and our boasted republicanism a mockery....Itwould be a declaration of war, and we would be compelled to withdraw ourforces and apologize for our intervention........Anything short of this is a mockery of justice, a disgrace to ourdiplomacy, is unworthy of a Christian nation, and a travesty upon our devotionto the principles of local self-government.E kala mai i'au for making it so lengthy. It was difficult to excise a lotof his statements without losing the tenor of his thoughts. As we can see, notall politicians saw it as Stevens, et al. Springer put out some good points.What he says, can apply to today; whether in Iraq or in Hawaii. Historydoes repeat itself; the buck should stop here in this day and age.Holomua,TaneAPPENDAGE:Re: Stevens warped moralityAs I have stated before, concerted effort to takeover Hawai'i manifested in1841, President Wm. Harrison, a known expansionist who was known asshallow-minded. Tyler (1841-45) was a strict constructionist and pro-slaveryslave owner, extended the Monroe Document, in effect, to the Hawaiian Islandsin 1842. It was he that initiated the annexation of Texas which ended with a JointResolution for statehood.Chester Arthur (1881-85) Although personally honest, he closed his eyes tounethical practices, incompetency, and graft in his office. All the whileSecretary of State, James Blaine, continued to sway influence over congressthroughout several presidential administrations. He ran against Cleveland butlost the election.Cleveland (1885-89 and 1893-97) warned,"...in foreign affairs, conscienceshould always be the one dominant force." During this time, James Blaine wasaccused of being unethical in conduct as Speaker of the House. Remember JamesBlaine, he is a major player along with Lorrin Thurston.Ben Harrison (1889-93), son of Wm. Harrison, had a firm defense of Americaninterests. He was a pro-annexationist and the failure of annexing Hawaiireally pissed him off. Especially so when Blaine had enlisted Thurston todestabilize the Hawaiian Kingdom and used Minister Stevens to invade Hawaii andproclaim it for the PGs which formed the Republic of Hawai'i.McKinley succeeded Cleveland in 1897. He was a staunch pro-annexationists aswas Stevens. Fortunately but too late, he was shot and died on 14 September1901. Poetic justice?As you can see, these covert and overt actions of the US is long-standing.They didn't wake up one day and say, oh! Hawaii wants to belong to the US solet's do it. Therefore there is no need to wonder what the US intentions wereand when. The missionaries were only doing their patriotic duty and broughtthe bible and the plow to set the wheels in motion. Now do you understand whythe US invaded Iraq?Tane
Aloha Tane and thanks for reading and breaking this down for us. I have to read it in small parts because my anger has to subside a little before I go on. I admire the way you and others like you can read through and maintain your emotions enough so that you can relay the message to others like me who sometimes has a rough time maintaining emotions but I'm trying. Mahalo for caring and sharing.
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Yolanda