In the Fall of 2014, we took a family trip to Boston. That was the semester we focused on early American history. We walked the Freedom Trail... we sat in the seats where historically famous people went to church... we visited the grave site where Mary Chilton (the first person to exit the Mayflower) was buried... and we took a train to Salem. On Halloween. My son was not so thrilled about that part of our trip!
My only remembrance of the Salem Witch Trials from school was the tiny photo of the House of Seven Gables in the margins of my history book. I knew it was a thing and I knew it caused a lot of raucous... but I didn't remember all the details so Monica and I decided it would be a fun addition to the educational experience of our trip. We boarded a train with a few ladies in witches' garb who looked like people out of a Harry Potter film (from Gryffindor House, of course) and whose appearance indicated we were headed in the right direction... and then we spent the day engrossed in the Puritan way. I took a selfie with the statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne because I wanted to use it as a teaching tool when we read The Scarlet Letter. We passed artwork that paid homage to Samantha, the leading lady of the television show, Bewitched. And we learned a lot about the Salem Witch Trials. After the day was done and we were on the train headed back to Boston (before dark, I might add), I asked my students what they learned about our day trip. My son's response was as follows:
"I learned two things. Number One: People need reasons for why things happen. Number Two: People's reasons for why things happen are fine until they affect someone important... then those reasons are no longer good reasons."
His first point was in reference to the reason the Witch Trials began in the first place... people needed an explanation for the behavior of some young girls. His second point was in reference to the reason the Witch Trials ended... because the governor's wife was accused of being a witch. I couldn't have agreed more with his assertions from Salem and, to this day, they remind me so much of the events that led to a trial that paved the way for my salvation.
I have long said, in the absence of information... people make stuff up. We have to have reasons... explanations... motives that make sense. Our brains don't like to not have reasons for things which is why we often reason our way into wrong thinking. I also think it's often the reason people have a problem with faith... because faith requires us to trust something we can't see and to many people... that's not reasonable.
When the Pharisees were challenged in their stance on religion and the law, you know... all the "You have heard it said"... "But I say" statements (Matthew 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43) ... it became the priority of the important people of the day to trap Him in His words. They were reaching for reasons to remove Him and it became a witch trial, of sorts. And the last question of His trial... the one where the inquisitor answers himself, is this...
"The Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"
He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." - Mark 15:2
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