The Thinklings

"As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing. "What has happened?" the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby-carriage along the sidewalk. "Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well," replied the man; "and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City." "Hm!" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?" "I really do not know," replied the man, with a deep sigh. "Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.""

- L. Frank Baum, "The Land of Oz"

Friday, July 9, 2010

The Shocking Truth About Pitcairn Island

Posted by Philip @ 9:55 am CDT
Filed under: Bible, Contemplation, Current Events, Devotionals, Humility, The Gospel

In my previous post, (right below this one, just look down) I told you what happened to the mutineers of the H.M.S. Bounty. They took some women from Tahiti and settled on an island in the South Pacific. After all but two of the men had been murdered or killed, only one man remained. He found a Bible, turned his life over to Christ and led the women and children on Pitcairn Island to become a Christian community.

It was originally written as a column for my local paper, and I posted it here at Thinklings at about the same time I submitted it to my editor.

I told my wife the story and she thought it was so cool, that on Thursday morning at Ladies Bible Study at our church, she came to my office and asked me to come tell the ladies the story. They thought it was cool too, as it illustrated what they were studying about reforming Kings who turned their people back to God's law.

I, of course emphasized that the fact that the current residents of Pitcairn Island are still Christians is a testimony to the power of God's word.

Enter Thinklings commenter Jonathan W. In only the second comment by a reader,in which he told me that most of the island's grown men (including the mayor) had been charged with sexual crimes against children going back decades.

You can go see the drama unfold as the truth does under the original post's comment thread. (Of all the articles linked there, this is probably the best one.)

Imagine my shock and dismay to learn something like that after I had written triumphantly about it here, in my local paper and shared it excitedly with a bunch of ladies in a Bible study.

I told everyone that all of the Island’s current inhabitants are Christians. Turns out they weren’t acting like it. The girls on the island were “coming of age” sexually speaking at ages 12-14, at least that’s what the residents of Pitcairn claim. Their argument in court was that because of their inherited Tahitian culture, that it was culturally acceptable. Some of the women who had been victimized for years said differently. (And for those of you who might remind me that Mary was around 14, on Pitcairn Island they weren't necessarily getting married young, grown men were having sex with girls as soon as they hit puberty, and probably some before that.)

What are we to learn from this? Does this horrible new information mean that the point of the previous post is invalid? After all, I was trying to demonstrate how God’s word changes lives, and I pointed to the fact that the island’s current residents are still Christians as evidence of that. Does their rampant immorality disprove that premise?

I don’t think so. Instead, it teaches us another lesson: just because one generation embraces the Gospel, doesn’t mean the next one will. It also shows us that religion can be empty and meaningless if it is missing the most essential ingredient.

The most essential ingredient is knowing and trusting Jesus personally. The Gospel doesn't change your life just because you hear it on Sunday. Your children may continue your religious traditions, but that doesn’t mean that they have what matters. In fact, if religion is all they have, they have nothing.

This important truth is why Moses stood on the banks of the Jordan telling the new generation what God had done in their parents’ generation. (That’s the entire book of Deuteronomy.) He also asked them to renew the covenant with God that their parent’s had made. He knew that if the new generation didn’t deliberately choose to follow God, they wouldn’t.

Again and again we see this pattern repeated in the Bible. For example, the entire book of Judges is about how one generation turns back to God after suffering for their sin, and crying out to him, and then each succeeding generation forgets about God again and “does what is right in their own eyes.” Many generations later, King Josiah rediscovers the book of the Law of God which had been forgotten in a back room of the Temple. (Ironically, that book was probably Deuteronomy, the very book whose whole purpose was to remind the next generation to remember God and to choose him for themselves.) This discovery causes him to lead his people in repenting of their sins and dedicating themselves to the LORD.

There’s a reason that Moses (yes, in the book of Deuteronomy!) says that, you are to teach your children to Love YHWH with mind, passion and action (6:4-7).

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

And at some point they must make the decision for themselves. Each generation has a choice: whether or not they are going to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before, for good or evil.

Of course, that lesson here isn't quite so shocking. It's as old as the very first "second generation" --- Cain and Abel.

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Comments on "The Shocking Truth About Pitcairn Island":

1. Bill - 07/09/2010 12:24 pm CDT

Great post, Shrode - thanks

2. Shrode - 07/09/2010 1:21 pm CDT

Thanks for looking like a fool, and then trying to make a save? ;-)

I'm just kidding. I know that's not what you meant, but that's how I feel. :gshrode:

3. Bobbi - 07/09/2010 2:22 pm CDT

Good lesson here. Even if you Google it you still may not learn the truth. The internet is not trustworthy but God is!

4. Bill - 07/09/2010 3:37 pm CDT

I'm just kidding. I know that's not what you meant, but that's how I feel.

Well, you shouldn't. I find this totally intriguing. Especially now that a genuine Pitcairner has commented.

5. Shrode - 07/09/2010 4:13 pm CDT

Man, I hope she comes back. I really would like to hear more from her.

I too am intrigued. I'm going to be publishing this post as next week's article in our paper. And if Sue can give me good info about how things are doing better there now since the trials, I'd love to write a third (with her permission.)

6. Shrode - 07/09/2010 4:16 pm CDT

Bobbi,
That's true, but God also uses people like Jonathan W. and Sue to give us what we can't find ourselves. :-)

I'm so glad for this blog! We have the best readers in the universe.

And you are right Bobbi, only God is totally trustworthy and true.

7. Dave - 07/09/2010 9:52 pm CDT

You shouldn't feel bad about any of this. You were simply responding to the information you had. But I am glad Sue spoke up. I was wondering, like Sue said, why the whole of the island would be measured by the sins of those few men who committed these crimes. What about the victims? What about the other people on the island? There must be more to their story than what these men have done? It's hard to believe that everyone on the island could be party to this kind of thing. -- I'm hoping Sue will come back too.

8. Shrode - 07/10/2010 10:20 am CDT

Dave read the link

Sue, I do hope you'll come back. I would really like to hear about all the good things on the island.

And I'm serious about that. Please come back!

9. Sue - 07/10/2010 11:43 am CDT

Hi there,
I am so pleased that my comments made people think about us here on the island. I do apologise for the assumption people have made that I am a Pitcairn Islander, I am a New Zealander who moved here to live with a Pitcairn Islander born and bred, for the curious Google Pirate Pawl and you will find many an article.
Shrode please contact me next week to remind me and I will write you a more in depth response about life on the island.
Cheers Sue

10. Shrode - 07/11/2010 6:20 am CDT

Sue,
I'm so glad you came back!

I was serious about my offer. If it's possible, I will turn what you write into a main post onto the main page. I would even adapt it for my local newspaper column if I can. (That's a totally different venue though, and I have less freedom there, then I do here. The nature of that article is a Bible column from a local pastor, so it would need enough content, new info and some kind of Biblical connection.)

By the way, I knew you weren't a native Pitcairn Islander because you said you moved there in 2008. But I figure you are now. :-)

I don't actually know what you meant by "curious Google Pirate Pawl", but I wasn't able to find anything about current life on the island from a google search. I did see that there seems to be a renewed effort to welcome visitors and tourists. And I found the website www.visitpitcairn.pn - which I hadn't seen before.

We really look forward to hearing more. I don't know how to contact you, so I'm hoping that you checked the "notify me via email" box below.

Thanks again for coming back Sue and for being willing to help us. I really am grateful. (And a little bit excited!)

11. Shrode - 07/11/2010 6:56 am CDT

Oh hey, Sue, I 'm really curious about something.

I know this is a dumb question, but how does the island provide electricity for 48 or so people?

I figure there's not a power plant, and I can't imagine electric lines being buried under water from New Zealand, so are there large generators?

I'm sorry for the ignorant question, but I'm dying to know! :-)

12. Sue - 07/11/2010 2:30 pm CDT

Hi there Shrode,
My personal e mail is sueok1@gmail.com and I am open to communication from anyone interested in Pitcairn Island.
Send me an e mail with a list of questions you would like answered.
Pirate Pawl is my partner's name, he is a seventh generation Pitcairn Islander and can trace his ancestry to Fletcher Christian and Edward Young of HMS Bounty
Cheers Sue
PS Yes we have 3 diesel generators here on island which generate between 0800-1300 and 1700-2200 on a daily basis

13. Herbert Ford - 07/11/2010 6:15 pm CDT

Thank you for this lesson that all must be on guard against sinning. While it is true that six Pitcairn men were convicted in this matter (four were living on the Island, two in other countries), there is much more to this story than has been revealed in the sensationalized news reports and a book written about it. There were, of course, other Pitcairn men who did not succumb to these criminal acts. If as long and as hard a look for such absue were to be taken in England or America or South Africa as the United Kingdom took in finding what it did on Pitcairn, is it possible we might find much the same as was found there? The numbers - because there are fewer than 50 Pitcairners on Pitcairn Island - are more dramatic, of course. While there is no excuse for criminal sexual abuse - anywhere - it is well to remember that there are Christian people living on Pitcairn Island today who do not and would not stoop to such acts. The Bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that if we say we have not sinned we make of Him a liar (1 John 8-10). That's no excuse for sinning either, but it does put the matter of all sin - whether committed on Pitcairn Island or in downtown New York City - in proper focus. And the great answer to it all is God's eager-to-be-given forgiveness for all truly confessed sin. - Herbert Ford, Director, Pitcairn Islands Study Center, Angwin, California - pitcairnstudycenter.org

14. Shrode - 07/11/2010 7:43 pm CDT

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

I am so honored to have the both of you here.

Sue, I will email you. (My "real name" is Philip Schroeder, and you'll be hearing from me soon.) I did google Pirate Pawl and found some really great articles about Pitcairn island, two in particular were written by people who visited there and had great experiences visiting you and Pirate Pawl.

I'm looking forward to the exchange.

Mr. Ford, I'm likewise honored to you have you at our blog. (You don't happen to know Sue and Pirate Pawl, do you?)

I think it's great that there's a study center. I plan to read more on your website soon. One of the things I saw was a list of headlines/news releases about Pitcairn Island. There was definitely some positive news there, good stuff.

I extend to you the same offer. If you'd like to give me some positive info/content, I'd be happy to publish it as a post on the main page of this blog.

Or maybe you can just direct us to a few particularly good links on your website.

Any way that you might be willing to help us, I'd be very grateful for.

Please write again. (Good words by the way, Mr. Ford.) You wouldn't by chance allow me to interview you too would you?

Man, this is so exciting! Thank you both!

15. Dave - 07/12/2010 3:02 am CDT

Thanks for the link. Makes me wonder: Is there a church on the island? Is there a pastor? If they think of themselves as "Christians," then what do they mean by that?

16. Herbert Ford - 07/12/2010 1:42 pm CDT

Philip, thanks . . . yes, I know Pawl quite well, traveled with him on his return to Pitcairn from the outside world a few years ago, and had a big hug from him when I left the Island on a subsequent visit a couple of years ago. I know Sue by reputation as a welcome companion to Pawl. . . . There is one church on Pitcairn Island, that of the Seventh-day Adventist faith . . . the predominant faith of the Pitcairn islanders since 1890. . . . I would be happy to answer any questions at any time, interview-wise or otherwise. Meanwhile, fair winds to you Sir. - Herb

17. Debby - 07/13/2010 4:13 pm CDT

What a wonderful exchange has begun here. I am Debby, from North Carolins, an occasional lurker among Thinklings. One of the issues here described reminds me that while there is forgiveness of sin, and as Christians we would love not to sin again........ we still do, and we suffer the consequences too. Is there a degree of sin or just consequences? The Corinthian Christians were admonished against some pretty icky stuff, but had the need for correction not been there, who would have discussed very serious issues which confront The Church Universal? By implication, Christians were doing really bad things. So, generational curses aside.......... whatever we dwell upon colors our minds and spirits, and can cause us to sin in that direction. Who can sin in secret for long among so small a community? It must be terribly difficult to live among 50 people and have any private agony. To discuss this is amazing, but so unfair, seems to me, among those of the World Wide Web. What can we learn about healing and restoration?

We all long for the "fair winds", especially that fresh fire, the cleansing wind of the Holy Spirit.

18. Debby - 07/13/2010 4:18 pm CDT

19. Bill - 07/13/2010 10:27 pm CDT

Debby,

Welcome :-)

20. Herbert Ford - 07/14/2010 11:49 am CDT

If it is appropriate to carry on these thoughts about sin any longer, I have always found the Dutch Christian holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom's illustration about confessed (to our Heavenly Parent) sin heartening: She says that God wants us to take our confessed sins to the deepest place in the oceans and to drop them overboard there. Then, she says, He places a sign at that spot. It reads, "No fishing here!" About sin, as with our sometimes failed attempts to find full verification of the Bible in archaeology, "Where we cannot trace Him, we must trust him."

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