White House Issues Proclamation Praising Leif Erikson's Judeo-Christian Values

10/10/2020

A powerful storm hit eastern New York on Wednesday and took out electrical service for much of the area. While some parts of the region are still without power, fortunately my power has been restored. My internet service came back on just before 10 PM last night. As a result, I have been unable to keep up with my usual work this week. However, I could not let the week pass without noting the proclamation that Pres. Trump issued yesterday declaring Oct. 9 to be Leif Erikson Day, in honor of the Norse explorer often credited as the first European to reach the Americas.

More than 1,000 years ago, the Norse explorer and Viking Leif Erikson made landfall in modern-day Newfoundland, likely becoming the first European to discover the New World. [...] Accomplished in the face of daunting danger and carried out in service of Judeo-Christian values, Leif Erikson’s story reflects the fundamental truths about the American character. On a mission to evangelize Greenland, Leif Erikson and his crew were blown off course. They had to brave the cold waters of the northern Atlantic to find safe harbor on the North American coastline. In surviving this ordeal, these hardened Vikings tested the limits of human exploration in a way that continues to inspire us today.

It is interesting that the White House uses outdated terminology about “discovery” to describe the Norse arriving in a continent teeming with people, but it is more interesting that the Trump team have interpolated Judeo-Christian “values” into a story that the Sagas do not describe as motivated primarily by Christianity, much less an ahistorical “Judeo-Christian” set of a values that Europeans of the Middle Ages would not have recognized. The Sagas describe Erikson, newly baptized, bringing a priest to Greenland in 999 to baptize the natives, but this does not extend to Vinland, which Leif only reached in 1002, presumably without the priest still working back in Greenland, and it is unclear why the White House wants to associate Christian “values” with violent, forced conversion of the natives anyway. I guess that is the fundamental truth about the American character Trump was talking about.

The interesting thing about this is that in the nineteenth century, during the creation of the myth of Viking discoverers of America as a foil to Italian claims based on Columbus, propagandists used these same arguments. While the Sagas do not describe any priests traveling with Leif beyond Greenland, Victorian writers assumed that one did because of those same Christian values. “He and those with him must, therefore, have gone as Christians,” one typical Victorian source writes, “and as they went to remain, they must have been accompanies by a Christian minister or ministers.” That assumption is not necessarily true. History records the first notice of a priest visiting Vinland in 1059.

36 Comments

Doc rock

10/10/2020 10:25:41 am

Not too long ago Trump was making a serious run at Minnesota for the election. Wisconsin and Michigan are in play. Probably part of Trump's usual 3.0 version of circa-1850 political spiel or just tossing a bone to the upper midwest scandies to pick up some votes, or more likely a little of both.

Another interesting thing

10/10/2020 10:44:13 am

Why isn't God doing anything about this Covid pandemic ?

T. Franke link

10/10/2020 10:59:50 am

Hm, the proclamation "stretches" history, yet it is not downright wrong.

- Leif Eriksson was a Christian.
- He had a priest with him who converted to Christianity.
- Not on the first voyage to Vinland, possibly (we do not know), but later also there.
- And from his point of view it clearly was a discovery.
- It makes no sense to ask for modern contemporary views of so-called Christian values when judging historical views of Christian values.
- And it may be allowed to ask the question whether Christianity was not an important step of progress in these times? Christianity ruled out cruel cults, brought literacy, and hidden deeply in Christianity was the wisdom of antiquity preserved in monasteries, ready to emerge in later times.

For a political statement, it is ok.

What Christianity did

10/10/2020 02:09:49 pm

Christianity did what it did to promote itself and to impose by force the Bible. Look how Christianity has systematically wiped out the cultural identities of peoples around the globe throughout history. How South American natives were transported to another continent to the Vatican so that the clergy could debate whether or not the natives had a soul,

10/10/2020 04:13:45 pm

Now, and what do you want to say with these words in respect to the question raised? That a US president never shall mention Christianity again? Or that he shall condemn Christianity, and condemn Leif Eriksson? What is it? Tell us, please.

What will you think if a president Biden will issue similar proclamations? Biden is a Catholic and he is campaigning with his faith. As a president, he will visit the Vatican, you can be sure about this.

I doubt that American Indians were brought to the Vatican in order to debate whether they have a soul. And even if so, the result was clear:

"In Sublimis Deus, Paul III unequivocally declares the indigenous peoples of the Americas to be rational beings with souls, denouncing any idea to the contrary as directly inspired by the "enemy of the human race" (Satan). He goes on to condemn their reduction to slavery in the strongest terms, declaring it null and void for any people known as well as any that could be discovered in the future, entitles their right to liberty and property, and concludes with a call for their evangelization."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimis_Deus

Kent

10/10/2020 09:24:48 pm

"I doubt that American Indians were brought to the Vatican in order to debate whether they have a soul."

This is not The Katzenjammer Doubt Corner. Your doubt has no weight whatsoever.

They brought back tomatoes, why not Indians?

That said, the main debate seems to have been about enslavement, not souls.

Hogwash from T. Franke

10/11/2020 07:21:07 am

The current Christian ceremonies only date from the Middle Ages and the concepts were quite unknown to the Church Fathers, never mind not being found in New Testament

10/11/2020 01:11:20 pm

Kent, a debate about the soul and enslavement of tomatoes?! Why not. Indeed, the Italian kitchen "enslaved" tomatoes for many purposes ...... delicious! :-)

Tupac

10/11/2020 07:40:28 pm

There were a number of loopholes in the rules against enslaving Indians. Denouncing slavery while permitting loopholes and permitting the Encomienda and Repartimiento systems was hypocritical.

Bezalel

10/12/2020 12:33:10 am

To reinforce what WCD's comment alluded to above...The leaders of the Christian church literally and forcibly HURLED all of Europe into the dark ages, where it remained for more than 500 effing years.

So for anyone to suddenly give credit to later Christians for somehow bringing "culture" back into Europe (or spreading it outward), after they systematically WIPED OUT all other culture is either blindingly disingenuous or stupefyingly ignorant

10/12/2020 04:37:08 pm

Kent, after the mess was complete, there was no going back, only a going forward. Christianity first helped to destroy ancient wisdom, partially, and then it helped, partially, to recreate it (partially not).

Don't forget the other reasons for the downfall of ancient wisdom: The end of the Roman Republic and the madness of Roman emperors, Germanic tribes and climate changes, and diseases.

When the Germanics had invaded the Roman Empire, it were Roman Catholic bishops who negotiated with them and who represented education versus barbarism, e.g. Gregory of Tours and the Frankish kings. Just watch this Yale course:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uMZVj5b0Qo

10/12/2020 04:38:12 pm

Bezalel, my last posting was addressed to you, not to Kent.

10/13/2020 01:39:24 am

I hope no one has put you in charge of even the most trivial of envelopes because you are not qualified.

Darold knowles

10/13/2020 12:16:43 pm

He’s actually one of the more intelligent Trump supporters I’ve come across.

Pablo Calahorra

10/11/2020 10:15:38 am

You are completely right. The cultural relativism which seems to be so in vogue in these times for certain people leads to nowehere in my opinion. Besides, the anti-christian -and by implication also anti-catholic- bias of some of the people who wrotes here tends to forget facts, like that the Western way of life -the much reviled "Judeochristian capitalist civilization" is the gold standard which other people strive to have worldwide.

Marco polo

10/11/2020 12:17:06 pm

Except that China is doing fine on the world stage with a decidedly non-Judeo-Christian belief system and their own hybrid version of capitalism.

10/11/2020 01:16:51 pm

Pablo Calahorra, exactly. We should always be aware that we live on the sunshine side of this world. If I had serious criticism concerning this proclamation, then it is that the heritage of antiquity is not mentioned. This is the main part, in my humble opinion. It came only encapsulated with Christianity in Leif Eriksson's days, but I would see it as a heritage in its own right. It is not enough to refer to Christianity alone. Christianity alone means Middle Ages. Only with antiquity we come to the Renaissance and Enlightenment.

E.P. Grondine

10/10/2020 11:34:21 am

Hi Jason-

In David Cusick's"Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nationa".he relates several tales of their encounters with Norse. Once you adjust Cusick's dates, they fall into place,and indicate Norse on the Saint Lawrence.

10/11/2020 12:47:48 am

Cusick's opus, though uncorrect, is uncorrect only because it reports uncorrect stuff. He also mentions Indians who left the east coast, got to the Rocky Mountains, were spooked by a giant and skedoodled back to the east coast. No one will be surprised when they find no mention of Norsemen in Cusick's work.

My theory is that Mr. Grenadine (hat off to whoever made that up!) is betting that no one else has actually read it. It's available on Amazon.

10/11/2020 12:48:17 am

10/11/2020 02:01:49 am

10/11/2020 05:57:51 pm

It should be noted that the software on this site rejects duplicate posts so the repetition above is not my doing. On a similar note, Joe Biden's current commercial that is flooding the radio in my area begins with "Listen to me!" Screw that noise, when someone says "Listen to me" I respond with "Eff you." To be fair, I'm equally pissed off about the Trump recording robocalls. Mitt Romney's looking pretty good right now, huh? Sorry America, you had your chance in 2012 and YOU BLEW IT!

Jim

10/11/2020 08:02:59 pm

" Mitt Romney's looking pretty good right now, huh?"

At this point Typhoid Mary would be an improvement,,, she only killed 3 people.

Chitrali Bob

10/11/2020 08:22:01 pm

Yeah, and Weiner's account was hacked.

Kal

10/10/2020 12:33:01 pm

Trump is not versed in history enough to know anything about the Vikings. To him they're a football team in Minnesota. This was probably written by one of his staffers to hide his roid rage tweets after being pumped oin a cocktail of experimental Covid drugs. It's not him. He was probably also watching reruns of Vikings on TV.

Roge

10/15/2020 12:45:58 am

Trumps mother was from the isle of lewis,stornoway was was founded by the vikings so he has probably read about vikings
My name in Gaelic means a viking lord

10/10/2020 05:08:37 pm

Oy, again with the "Judaeo-Christian".

"I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleaned the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?"

Cat Steven

10/10/2020 07:36:44 pm

I bid four goats. Her price lessens greatly because she is educated and has been outside of close Male relative direct supervision for extended periods. Goats delivered after the circumcision ceremony.

Suzanne

10/10/2020 07:36:09 pm

I don't know who wrote this for him, but it's definitely a two for one wink to Evangelicals and his white supremacist fans enamored with Vikings.

10/11/2020 01:27:10 pm

Suzanne, I understand the wink to Evangelicals, but a wink to white supremacists? No, I can't see anything like that.

At the same time, Mike Pence is on a Latinos-for-Trump event. Is this a wink for Catholic fundamentalists, now? No, come on, you cannot say this. Please stop this nonsense of overinterpretation.

It's ok not to like Trump / Pence, but these exaggerations all the time don't help.

(Was Biden's "shut up" a wink to all simple-minded Americans who think they can solve problems with a "shut up"? No, no, this exaggeration game is a bad game to play.)

Rick

10/11/2020 09:43:00 am

There's some obvious political pandering here. Some states in the upper Midwest celebrate Leif Erickson Day, and Trump needs them for his reelection. Wisconsin, the one he probably needs the most, has Leif Erickson Day as an official holiday. The question is whether the proclamation also is a dog whistle to some far right groups that seek to revive Nordic practices and Odinism.

I can't comment on the historical accuracy of the story of Erickson's conversion to Christianity, but the claim is that he was converted to Christianity by King Olaf I of Norway. However, the way that this story is used here, the proclamation screams Christian nationalism.

Charles Verrastro link

10/11/2020 03:36:44 pm

The presence of a priest is hardly relevant to the exploration by Leif. The Sagas make it clear the Vikings were not on a missionary bent. When they encountered the 'Skraelings' they quickly pictured them as savages and promptly began a war with them.
Columbus is another kettle of fish. He was a profound mystic who felt he was destined to evangelize the Asian peoples. Even so, and not just because I am Italian, I find the iconoclasts felling or vandalizing statues of everyone from Columbus and Washington to President Truman because of personal faults common to their times goes to far. Better to extol the better souls of those like Franklin who rose above the prejudices of their times.

10/12/2020 08:18:00 pm

But Franklin went to France and boned and bone and boned. He didn't bone his slaves because he didn't have any. He boned other people's slaves.

Paul

10/12/2020 10:07:02 am

If we are celebrating primacy here, let's declare October 9th Dino Day. The dinosaurs certainly predated anyone else. Or perhaps we should just call it Rock Day.

10/13/2020 09:50:48 pm

I'm as disturbed by the mania to topple monuments as the next guy, when it is carried to excess. The point of the original announcement, however, was to use the argument of the "Manifest Destiny" of the White Race to evangelize the benighted dark savages. This is the first time I ever even heard of the idea the earliest Vikings were marauding monasteries and slaughtering the monks to spread Christianity. It took the Saxon King Alfred kicking the Viking King Guthrum's ass to convert him to Christianity.
In any event, it was a transparent attempt to argue against the recent vandalizing of statues of Christopher Columbus without dealing with his racist exploitation and degradation of the Native Americans he accidentally encountered. A much more problematic issue to tackle. The Administration simply used the same talking point applied to someone few people other than specialists could even understand how weird the statement seemed.
I was thinking just today I haven't actually seen an actual dog whistle since I was six. Even when I organized an exhibition of my local police canine squad I learned they use hand signals and voice commands.Maybe that's why Trump has to use a bullhorn for his 'subtle' subliminal messages.

10/13/2020 10:14:51 pm

Just seconds after my last post I hit on a news bulletin (e.g.; clickbait) about the latest meme by the White House bunch that "nobody dies from Covid anymore". But before I could even see the video clip an ad appeared by some joker called Stefano that his grandfather (conveniently dead, I assume) told him all about Atlantis and the 'Root Races' taking us from Theosophy to the Wodenist Aenir/Aryan super race right up to the Reptilians.
I give up. De-evolution is going to kill us, not Global Warming or asteroid impacts (apologies to Grondine). AT least Death by ignorance will be blissful.