Guest Post by Alyssa Watson: Looking to the Past to Prepare for the Future

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Today I have a very special treat for everyone because I get to welcome my sweet friend Alyssa to the blog! If you don’t already know her, she blogs over at Seeking the Timeless Anchor. She is a historical fiction author (planning to publish her first book in the near future), and it was great to hear her thoughts on the importance of history, especially in this day and age when history is being “canceled” by anyone who does not agree with it.

So without further adieu … take it away, Alyssa!

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Why is history so important to the times we are living in now? How does it affect us and change who we are? Does it really matter when history is erased and rewritten? 

These are questions that we all have been forced to ask ourselves in the twisted culture we live in. History is no longer being taught in our schools. It is being removed from our cities and erased from our country. 

So we ask ourselves, “Does it really matter?”

One of the common problems our societies are being faced with is governments and organizations attacking history. Some parts of history are blatantly taught in skewed ways, while others are rewritten and made to fit the modern agenda. Still others yet are sugar coated or, even worse, completely left out of school curriculums because they are too “graphic and horrible” to be taught to school children. 

I will be the first to admit that there are parts of history that are in fact extremely difficult to study because they were so terrible. Let’s take one for example that is a very prominent subject in today’s world — slavery. 

I don’t enjoy studying slavery in any capacity. It’s ugly and heartbreaking. I hate hearing of others suffering. It makes me sad. 

What if we don’t study it though? Aren’t we setting ourselves up for failure? The answer is yes! By ignoring it or teaching it in a skewed way, we are setting ourselves up to fall. It still has to be taught and remembered so that it is not repeated.

Just a side note on slavery by the way — it is one of those pieces of history that has been strategically modified to fit the modern agenda. Everyone is quick to jump on and condemn white people and more specifically America for their hand in slavery. What the school books refuse to teach though is the fact that slavery is not an issue of skin color — it’s an issue of the sin nature. The first man to own slaves in the United States was a black man — who owned WHITE slaves and black slaves. You won’t find that in history books though, because it doesn’t fit the “America is racist” agenda. Another thing they won’t teach is that slavery has been going on for thousands of years in every part of the world — way before America was even a country. There were thousands of Caucasian people who were kidnapped and sold into slavery by African people. 

That was a free little side note for y’all. 😉

Another big topic that is being removed from schools is the horrific things done during WWII. 

The terrible things carried out by the Nazis and Imperial Japan are being swept under the rug. No one really wants to study it, because let’s be real here — it’s ugly. It makes us feel sick to our stomachs, and no one likes that. Oh and did I mention that they are perfect examples of what comes from socialism and imperialism? Of course it isn’t going to be taught to children, because it would condemn the socialist agenda that is being pushed from every direction.

History needs to be taught — whether we like it or not. We can’t sweep it under the rug and forget about it. Each paragraph, page, and chapter of history must be remembered. It needs to be shouted from the rooftops! Future generations need to know of the terrible things of the past so that they aren’t repeated in the future. 

You might be thinking I am being completely unfair here. I’m not though. I would be the first to agree that parts of history are ugly and quite graphic, but I also firmly believe that there are ways to teach those parts of history to young people in a way that is not overly gory but also without sugar coating it. 

I read something once that said, “The way you stop tyranny is by teaching American history again.” That is one of the best ways I have heard it described. It doesn’t just apply to American history though. Every moment, place, and time of history should be studied and learned. We are beginning to see the tragedies of history repeating themselves right before our eyes because we have not been taught what these tragedies were and how to prevent them! 

It’s not just the hard parts of history that are being misconstrued and left out of history books. We are seeing more and more good things from history being removed as well. Think about it. When was the last time you heard about an instance where God’s hand was moving in a miraculous way throughout history? 

It’s probably been awhile. Am I right? That’s because history has been lost in the raging current of our culture. 

The sad part about all of these things being removed from their rightful place in history books is the fact that many people don’t even realize why it is important to study and know history. 

God specifically placed accounts of historical events in the Bible for us to learn from. The account of David facing Goliath — it was given for our example. Esther being brave enough to go before the king was given for us to learn from! 

What about accounts like Pharaoh refusing to let God’s people go? It was also given for us to learn from. We are to learn from the mistakes of history so we don’t repeat them, and learn from the good things in history so that they can be repeated. I believe that every piece of history has a purpose and a lesson to be learned.

If history is forgotten, it will have a devastating effect. The modern agenda doesn’t want history to be taught because people who know history are far harder to control and manipulate.

In closing I leave you with two quotes that I think sum things up.

“A generation which ignores history, has no past and no future.” ~ Robert Heinlein

“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

We need desperately to be looking to the past to prepare for the future.

Alyssa,

Hebrews 13:8

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Alyssa Watson is a daughter of the King of kings — ransomed, redeemed, justified and made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. A homeschool graduate, she loves to spend her time reading, studying history, playing music, and writing. Her passion as a writer is to write books that incorporate history with the beautiful message of salvation and hope through Jesus Christ alone. When she isn’t studying her favorite eras in history and enjoying her many other passions, you can find her blogging over at Seeking The Timeless Anchor.