I’m Sorry, You’ve Died from a Snakebite
I can remember playing “The Oregon Trail game” from a very early age. Growing up in the Northwest of America, we could travel to places where the ruts were still visible from the thousands of people who came west looking for land and opportunity. While I knew that there were Native Americans here, my young mind was focused mostly on the appeal of adventure and wildness that games like The Oregon Trail or stories of exploration from Columbus to Lewis and Clark had in my imagination. As I grew up and my worldview became more complex and my understanding of history shifted, I began to see the underside of concepts like “Manifest Destiny” and the “Christianization of Africa” and other places around the world. What I began to see was a mixture of Colonialism and the Gospel of Jesus. There were stories where that gospel did tremendous good in communities that needed hope and faith in a God who loves and heals, but what seemed to come alongside that was also tremendous harm and displacement done “in the name of Christ.” This mixing of religion and colonialism grayed my understanding of the development of the Western world and of the expansion of Christendom. My years in seminary offered opportunities to unpack and explore these themes further, hearing from theologians, historians and even practitioners from non-white or non-western cultures that were seeking to follow Jesus faithfully but do it in a way that was authentic to their non-colonial influences. One of the most helpful voices for me was from Richard Twiss in his book, Saving Jesus from the Cowboys: A Native American Expression of the Jesus Way. He states that, “Jesus did not come to establish a Western European religious system; he came to establish the reign of God on earth. But over time, the gospel has been so deeply entangled with Western culture that many cannot distinguish between the way of Jesus and the ways of empire, conquest, and colonization.”
My most current convictions on colonialism comes from an Augustinian view of politics and culture[1]. While there may be many benefits of colonialism to peoples around the world when it came to exposure of the Gospel, access to technology or connecting the world through trade, there were many harmful and painful things done in the name of God that the Western world must reckon with. We must, however, seek to understand how that harm occurred, being honest about our history and its painful past while seeking to look for new ways forward in a still fallen world. Seeking to erase or forget the past will seemly doom us to repeat it once more, rather than engaging it, understanding it and working towards justice and shalom in the present and future.
Approaching Furedi’s book then gave me an opportunity to examine my beliefs around Colonialism and the various histories I’ve heard and absorbed into my understanding of the concept. It was clear from the introduction to the text that Furedi has strong views about what he calls “presentism” and “Year Zero ideology” that has made the past a blanket problem to be ashamed of and forgotten. This perspective confirms what I already know in the sense that Furedi, in my opinion, participates initially in the reactivism that he rails against in his post. His strong rhetoric matches the strong current of anger that has erupted over the review of historical injustice in the West. I found myself wondering how much of the anger, on both sides, is a symptom of wrestling with the shame and injustice experienced when we see clearly the murky reality of our past. So much of our human nature longs for us to simplify and categorize complex events and it seems like this is at play underneath the “War Against the Path” that Furedi talks about as well as his response to it. I did appreciate his acknowledgment of the need for discussion around decolonization but, in his opinion, “Decolonization today is no longer about gaining freedom and independence from the influence of colonial power. It is a movement that has voluntarily adopted the role of the historical victim and whose identity is entirely dependent on living in the past. Advocates of the contemporary reinterpretation of decolonization cannot let go of the past since so much of their identity depends on its perpetuation.”[2] This is a deadly snakebite that will prevent people, particularly young people, from learning from the past in order to not repeat it. What’s new for me from Furedi’s book is the way he traces the roots of this “War Against the Past” within the cultural wars of the mid-twentieth centuries in the West, erupting in the dismantling of a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Portland[3] or current gender language projected back on the Qing Dynasty[4]. While extreme examples, it was helpful to hear how a particular powerful stream of decolonization is projecting its ideologies onto the past. What is not new, however, is that this has been done for centuries by many from the past. Our perspective, our present, is in many ways the only lens we have in order to analyze the past.
I do appreciate Furedi’s conclusion, though would like to have some more discussion on a positive way of engaging with our past, rather than simply railing against how people are warring against it. Furedi states that “The past is not morally superior to the present, but nor should it be interpreted as a temporal era in need of our moral instruction. Historical societies like those of today should be assessed and understood in relation to the specific circumstances and context of their time. Our role is to learn and understand from the experience of the past and not to subject it to a retrospective ideological or political experiment.”[5] But he fails to suggest how to go about doing this and teaching our young people, how to do this. I’d like to learn how to do this well so that I don’t die from the snakebite of shame and anger that has infected Furedi’s book.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we go from here?
[1] For Augustine, the fallen nature of human beings means that political and cultural life will inevitably be flawed. He argues that while the state can provide some form of peace and justice, it can never bring about ultimate salvation or perfection. Politics and culture, therefore, are not ends in themselves, but tools that should ideally be used to maintain order and justice in this fallen world. (OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com)
[2] Furedi, Frankl. War Against the Past. 15
[3] Portland protesters tear down statues of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt
[4] Guanyin: Bodhisattva, Goddess, Queer Icon | Taft Museum of Art
[5] Furedi, 218.
About the Author
Ryan Thorson
Follower of Jesus. Husband. Father. Pastor. Coach. I am passionate about helping people discover the gift of Sabbath and slow down spirituality in the context of our busy world.9 responses to “I’m Sorry, You’ve Died from a Snakebite”
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Ryan,
Thanks for the post. Is a snakebit better than dysentery? Still have that game on my computer. I mentioned this when I responded to Christy. I think about the Bible and how it highlights both the successes and failures of our heroes of the faith. How many people try to cancel King David for his moral failings? What is stopping us from recognizing within appropriate cultural and historical contexts the success and shortcomings of people?
Ryan,
As soon as I saw your title, I said, “Oregon Trail!” Yes, we are a part of that small yet unique generation growing up at the start of technology. I understand the need for us to reconcile our history and that the removal of statues might not be the best way forward. But what do we do when some of those statues become idolized and their ill-history revered? I think of how Moses was instructed to make the bronze serpent on the pole but then that same very thing became the object of idol worship and was unceremoniously broken down in the middle of night.
Hi Ryan, Thanks for your post. You asked if we had an idea for a starting point. I think your first footnote might have an idea for a starting point embedded in it. Hope so.
Hi Ryan, I appreciate your comment that Furedi participates in the reactivism that he rails against. One ‘next step’ for me is to release the shame I have adopted. I will also be trying to notice positive relational stories to balance negative meta-narratives which are so prevalent in the Culture Wars.
Thank you for your post. Interesting title!
How do you propose we can teach young people to engage with the past in a balanced and constructive manner, avoiding the pitfalls of both forgetting and becoming consumed by it?
Hey Ryan Thanks for sharing this, you had me locked in on the snakebite. From your perspective how can we balance between acknowledging the painful aspects of colonial history while also fostering a constructive and hopeful way forward for future generations?
Ryan, I agree that Furedi’s rhetoric does, in great part, match the increasingly loud voices heard on both sides.
You mentioned the need for a positive way to engage with our past. As a moderating effect, what specific strategies or educational approaches do you believe could help young people learn from historical injustices without being overwhelmed by shame or anger?
Hi Ryan – thanks for your post. Do you see the war against the past affecting younger people’s spirituality, relationship with God, or relationship with the church?
Ryan, you highlight the tension between acknowledging historical injustices and avoiding the ‘snakebite’ of shame and anger that can prevent meaningful engagement with the past. Given your appreciation for Furedi’s critique but your desire for a more constructive approach, what practical steps do you think educators, theologians, and historians can take to teach history in a way that fosters both accountability and hope for the future?