In most North American tribes, the woman and the dogs did the work. In some tribes the treatment of women was so cruel that mothers would sometimes resort to killing their baby girls rather than have them live in such slavery! We have only shown a very few brief samples of paganistic cruelty to humans, we could mention shrunken heads, people thrown to sacred crocodiles, cannibalism and so on. Paganism always has a very low value on the individual human life! The cruelty of pagan practices against animals is even more revolting: In Tibet special bears were raised and then tortured to death on holidays. In one oriental country a tiger would be captured then imprisoned in a compound and given no food or water. It would be constantly driven about in its pen until exhausted; then the people would rush in and beat it to death, tear it to pieces and eat it. This was magic of course, to get the power of the tiger. Bull fighting is the remnants of ancient practice of tearing to pieces a live 'sacred' bull and eating it to get its sexual prowess. In some ancient Halloween-type ceremonies a wicker figure would be stuffed with live cats and burned while people danced around and sang. Even today in Ireland is the remnants of a ceremony of hunting down a tiny song bird, beating it to death, nailing it to a stick and then parading it through the streets. In South America condors met the same fate. "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Pr 12:10 "Well", says someone, "What about the offering of lambs etc. as sin offerings in the Old Testament?" It is a fact that these animals had to be raised and carefully cared for as if there was even a wound or mark on them, they could not be used for a sacrifice. Also when they were killed, strict rules made sure it was as humane as possible. Never was the torture of anything promoted by God. The sacrifice of the lambs etc. was the only way that God could keep before man the deadly nature of sin, until the time came when the Creator Himself, the Lamb of God, would hang on the cross, His life crushed out by bearing the sin of this sad world! People say that the native Americans had a more harmonious relation to nature, well in some ways maybe so, but having seen pow-wows and native dancers all decorated with various parts of the anatomy of animals and birds, one wonders if the animals march into camp and just donate these skins, heads etc. So far I have not seen that happen. The oft mentioned idea that Indians would not kill more than they needed to live on, is not so much virtue but practical. Hunting is a lot of work and the preserving of the meat takes a lot of work too, why would one do more than he needed to do? The Indians were no better or worse than any other race of man is. Worshipping animals does not mean that one is kind to them. It was usually the animal that people worshipped that was tortured and killed in religious ceremonies. Also in cultures where animals are on a par with people, it is that people have been lowered to the level of animals. It is sad that so much media and cartoon fiction is being accepted as truth by the young people today. They think they are embracing something that sets them free, when it really enslaves. It is time to stop holding up paganism as the answer to man's problems and look more honestly at its track record! If the paganistic, spirit worshipping lifestyle was so great, why did native peoples often weep with joy when Bible loving missionaries taught them True Christianity? They were so happy to break away from their demon-controlled lifestyle! Sadly, many North American Natives were taught the paganistic type of professed 'christianity', and it is no wonder they could see nothing better in it than what they had! It is said that the Apache Indians, noted for cruel torture, learned their arts from priests sent to convert them! There IS a better way of life; a way in harmony with nature because it is in harmony with the Creator God. It is found in the pages of the world's most ancient book, the Holy Bible. It is no wonder that paganism and apostate Christianity through the ages of history have hated that book! You owe it to yourself to find out the other side of the story, the True side! John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. |
