感恩節的歷史背景與清教徒的社會政治經濟觀

以下是摘之Rush Limbaugh III的"瞧,我告訴過你吧."一書,由紐約Pocket books 書
行出版(也是Simon & Schuster的分行之一)1993年,第69到第72頁

清教徒的故事起源於十七世紀前頁(對加州Rio Linda一帶的人來說,是1600世紀).英
王詹姆斯一世統治期,大英國教教會大肆迫害任何一個不認同它專制宗教權威和世事
勢力的人.那些置疑主教權威,那些堅信崇拜自由的人無不被追,被捕,甚至為他們的
所信被處死.

一群主張脫離國教的人率先逃離,來到荷蘭建立了聚居地.十一年後,其中四十來人相
約要冒險遠征新大陸,那裡,他們必會面臨艱難險阻,但也可能生存下來,並可聽由他
們良知的引領去禮拜上帝.

1620年八月一號,五月花號啟航了,帶着一百零二位船客,期中四十位正是牧師威
廉.布萊福特 帶領的分離派清教徒(PILGRIM又稱朝聖者，和以後大批移民新大陸的
清教徒PURITAN英文名有所不同，這裡暫以大家熟知的清教徒稱之------譯者按).在
航程中,布萊福特主持制定一份共守合約(即著名的"五月花號公約"----譯者注),擬
定了無關人們的宗教信仰的,新移居團體中所有人合守的公正平等法律法令條例.這
革命性的五月花協定的思想是從何而來的?正是從聖經而來.這群清教徒在新舊約教導中浸淫良多.他們視遠古的以色列人為榜樣,而且正是因為聖經經文裡列
列記載了這些神聖先賢事跡,清教徒們也從不懷疑他們的實踐將會成功.

不過朋友,這可不是一趟令人愉快的巡遊.新大陸遷徙之徵十分漫長而艱苦.當清教徒
們十一月在新英格蘭登陸時,他們發現,就象布萊福特日記中仔細描繪的:這是片陰冷
,貧瘠,廢棄的荒原野地.他寫道:沒有友朋的迎接,沒有遮身的片瓦,更沒有客棧可以
容他們稍復體力.

而這,僅是為自由而犧牲的開始.第一個冬天,一半的清教徒,包括布萊福特的太太,死
於飢餓,疾病和寒冬無遮.當春天終於來臨時,印地安人來了,教這些殖民者如何種玉
米,抓鱈魚,剝海狸皮製衣.清教徒的生活在改善,但是他們仍是未達成功!理解這一點
非常重要, 因為現代美國歷史課程往往停留於此.感恩節在某些課本里竟然被解釋成
是清教徒為感謝印地安人的救命之恩的節日,而不是作為立基於新舊約的那種感恩的
虔誠表徵.

這裡是被遺漏的部份:清教徒們與他們倫敦贊助商簽署的原始合同中,要求清教徒們每
樣出產都歸入一個公共貨棧,集體中的每一位成員都擁有一份公共份額.所有他們清
理出來的土地和建造的房屋也是集體共同擁有.布萊福特,也是殖民地新總督,意識到
這種形式的集體主義讓清教徒們代價不扉且極具毀滅性,不亞於第一個嚴峻寒冬對他
們的摧殘.而那一寒冬已奪去如此多的生命.他於是決定採取另一個大膽的行動.布萊福特給每個家庭劃出一塊地,讓他們自己管理操作,因而釋放了市場經濟的能量。

不錯，早在卡爾。馬克斯出世之前，這些清教徒們就已經發明和實踐過只能被稱作社
會主義運動的事了。結果呢？行不通！意外啊意外，是吧？布萊福特和他的夥伴們
發現再有創造力，再勤奮的人也不願意比任何其他人多干，除非善用可激發個人意
願的力量！

在世界上大部份國家都經歷過已持續百餘年的社會主義運動，並正試圖着改造，完善
和再生它時，清教徒們早就決定永遠的擯棄它了。布萊福特有關社會主義運動的着
作應該編入每個小學歷史課里。如能果成其事，我們實可以防止將來無必要的痛苦。

“這場試驗，在共同進退的前提和課程里，嘗試了不同的時段，用取消個人資產，來
讓集體共產共富，好象應能讓大家幸福而豐饒，就好似他們要比上帝還聰明”布萊
福特寫道：“試驗對這個集體而言，我們發現倒引發了許多困惑和不滿，而且阻滯
許多職業，而那本應是為他們謀福和慰籍他們的。而最適合去勞動和服務的年輕人，
又不滿為別人的太太孩子們耗費時間精力去工作，還毫無報酬。這，被認為不公”

清教徒們發現無獎勵就不能指望人們仍能工作傑出。那布萊福特下的人們下一步是如
何試驗的呢？他們把原先免費福利事業解套，運用分散資本打包給各資本所有人(資
本家)的方式，讓每家都分得自己的一片地，而且可以任意操作，所得出產可拿到市
集出售。結果如何呢？“這可是非常的成功，”布萊福特寫道，“那可讓每一雙手
勤奮不已，栽種下的玉米量史無前例。”布萊福特聽起可不太象個克林頓式的傢伙
吧？那麼供方市場的經濟有沒有可能在1980年代前存在呢？有。讀讀創世紀裡41章
里約瑟和法老的故事吧。聽了約瑟的建議，(創41：34)法老在七個豐年中減稅至20%，
“全地出產極豐。”(創41：47)

不久，清教徒們發現他們的收成自己根本吃不了。他們於是設了交易所和印第安人交
換財物。利潤讓他們還清了欠倫敦的贊助商的債務。普萊矛斯定居的成功和繁榮吸
引了更多的歐洲人而開始了那場後被稱作“偉大的清教徒移民”活動.

被普萊矛斯成功而吸引來新大陸的人中，有一位叫湯瑪斯。霍克的人在康乃迪克州建立
了自己的領地。那裡成為第一個正式憲治的區域，而且是世上可知的最自由的社會。霍
克的領區受康州基本法令限制，這法令對政府許可權有着嚴格的限制。這基本法是極
具革命性的且是如此成功，以至麻塞諸塞州移用了其中人身自由的部份，包括98條
單獨成立的個人權益保護條例。如‘書面徵稅’,‘法律訴訟程式’,‘陪審團審訊制’
以及對‘粗暴，不尋常懲罰’的禁止令.

這一切聽起來很耳熟嗎？應該是。這些思想和概念直接引入了美國憲法裡的民權法案。
然而，至今，這些早期新英格蘭的朝聖者和清教徒還經常被誹謗成燒女巫的和被描
繪成蠢貨。其實正相反，正是他們對多元化和自由崇拜的執着才讓這些理想在美國
人的生活中賦予了實質。

The following is an excerpt from See, I Told You So by Rush Limbaugh III. New York: Pocket books (a division of Simon & Schuster), 1993; pp. 69-72

The story of the Pilgrims begins in the early part of the seventeenth century (that’s the 1600s for those of you in Rio Linda, California). The Church of England under King James I was persecuting anyone and everyone who did not recognize its absolute civil and spiritual authority. Those who challenged ecclesiastical authority and those who believed strongly in freedom of worship were hunted down, imprisoned, and sometimes ????uted for their beliefs.

A group of separatists first fled to Holland and established a community. After eleven years, about forty of them agreed to make a perilous journey to the New World, where they would certainly face hardships, but could live and worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract, that established just and equal laws for all members of their new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example. And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in ????ure, they never doubted that their experiment would work.

But this was no pleasure cruise, friends. The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found, according to Bradford’s detailed journal, a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves.

And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims—including Bradford’s wife—died of either starvation, sickness, or exposure. When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod, and skin beavers for coats. Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper! This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments.

Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of the marketplace.

That’s right, long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn’t work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation!

But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years—trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it—the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently. What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild’s history lesson. If it were, we might prevent much needless suffering in the future.

“The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years. . . that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing—as if they were wiser than God,” Bradford wrote. “For this community was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense. . . that was thought injustice.”

The Pilgrims found that people could not be expected to do their best work without incentive. So what did Bradford’s community try next? They unharnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the undergirding capitalistic principle of private property. Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result? “This had very good success,” wrote Bradford, “for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.” Bradford doesn’t sound like much of a Clintonite, does he? Is it possible that supply-side economics could have existed before the 1980s? Yes. Read the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Following Joseph’s suggestion (Gen. 41:34), Pharaoh reduced the tax on Egyptians to 20 percent during the “seven years of plenty” and the “Earth brought forth in heaps.” (Gen. 41:47).

In no time, the Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves. So they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London. And the success and prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans and began what came to be known as the “Great Puritan Migration.”

…One of those attracted to the New World by the success of Plymouth was Thomas Hooker, who established his own community in Connecticut—the first full-fledged constitutional community and perhaps the most free society the world had ever known. Hooker’s community was governed by the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which established strict limits on the powers of government. So revolutionary and successful was this idea that Massachusetts was inspired to adopt its Body of Liberties, which included ninety-eight separate protections of individual rights, including: “no taxation without representation,” “due process of law,” “trial by a jury of peers,” and prohibitions against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Does all that sound familiar? It should. These are ideas and concepts that led directly to the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Nevertheless, the Pilgrims and Puritans of early New England are often vilified today as witch-burners and portrayed as simpletons. To the contrary, it was their commitment to pluralism and free worship that led to these ideals being incorporated into American life.