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July 1, 2011 Print

The Second Mayflower?

by Bruce Hausknecht

The leader of England’s Orthodox Jews, the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, is warning that the rise of secularism and non-discrimination laws — known as ”equality” laws in the U.K. — is causing an unprecedented level of oppression of people of faith. In an interview with the London Telegraph, Lord Sacks was direct:

“I share a real concern that the attempt to impose the current prevailing template of equality and discrimination on religious organisations is an erosion of religious liberty.

“We are beginning to move back to where we came in in the 17th century — a whole lot of people on the Mayflower leaving to find religious freedom elsewhere.”

The Mayflower metaphor is eerily ironic, since the first Mayflower was overflowing with people of faith fleeing the tyranny of England’s established (state-sanctioned, funded and privileged) church. The upcoming Mayflower — to continue the analogy — will be caused by the country’s descent into secularism, especially with its particular elevation of homosexuality at the expense of religious conscience.

If you’re interested in reading a report on the oppression of Christians in Britain, check out The Christian Institute’s publications page on religious liberty and look for the title “Marginalising Christians – Instances of Christians being sidelined in modern Britain.” If you haven’t been following the stories out of the U.K. over the last several years, I guarantee that you will be shocked.

In a further bit of irony, if the Mayflower II ever does set sail, it won’t find Massachusetts a particularly welcoming port-of-call the second time around, since religious adoption agencies have been forced to close their doors and parents have been told they must allow the state to indoctrinate their children about homosexuality.



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  • Stephen

    The so-called pilgrims did NOT leave England to escape religious oppression. They had been living in Leyden for 11 years when they became concerned that their children were assimilating into the life of the Netherlands – that is the specific reason they gave for their migration. So they set about finding somewhere they could go to wait for the second coming and stop their children becoming Dutch. They were so credulous and unskilled they were swindled and lied to all along the way till, having aimed for somewhere between New York and Virginia, they got lost and ended up in Mass with only one of the pair of ships they had chartered, the Speedwell having put back into part after their first departure. Also, they spent so much on the voyage that half the number was not part of the congregation, so this idea of a united group arriving and falling to their knees to pray is just that – a myth. They were, in imitation of the Primitive Church, communists, believing that no man could own land and that all possessions were held in common. They also refused to conduct marriages, believing the practice to be pagan. Within 22 years the colony had more or less dissolved, so many moving away that there was no longer a congregation sizable enough to warrant keeping the church open.

    • Bruce Hausknecht

      Interesting story. Please read the Mayflower Compact.

    • Tammy

      Stephen,
      It’s amazing that your revisionism hasn’t really been contested. Perhaps you should read some real historical journals and documents instead of making things up and expecting people to believe them. It just proves that anyone can say anything on the internet and claim that it is true and if people read the lies and don’t seek the truth they will be misled. Stop lying to people on the internet please. We aren’t stupid!

  • Steve

    Define Irony.

    A religious group seeking to impose, through legislation, its will on a nation citing the reasons for the Mayflower.

  • morris

    There are Jews attending synagogues in the UK, known people, who are in the business of facilitating the Gay culture.

    Shouldn’t the Chief Rabbi start with those that call themselves Jews?

    • Bruce Hausknecht

      How do you know he isn’t?

  • Jeff Davies

    Secular societies only understand secular reasoning. Thus the pilgrims “secular” response. If you read the speeches and political commentaries from the puritan times through Thomas Jefferson you will find them filled
    with religious belief and fervor. Look up the requirements to be a congressman, governor, or mayor and see the religious requirements.

  • Paul

    Although the puritans, or pilgrims, did leave England to escape religious persecution, (this is beyond dispute), they were free to worship as they pleased in the Netherlands. In fact, the government of Holland desired the Puritans to stay in their country because they were honest, industrious, and ideal citizens while residing there. The Dutch hated to see them go! But the Puritans were certain that the God of the universe had a higher calling for them: to found a “City on a Hill” where the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine freely and brightly. And, although they did have communistic ideas, and tried to make them work in the New World, after less than one year passed, they realized their error and made the necessary corrections. Regarding the statement made by Stephen, that the puritans believed marriage was a pagan ritual, not to be practiced, what planet are you from, Stephen?

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