Washington ordered “total annihilation” of Mohawk villages and extended it to other Iroquois lands, resulting in burned villages, destroyed food supply, and mass death; how should Christians process a revered national founder using tactics the chapter labels “war crime and ethnic cleansing,” and what does that do to the way we attach moral meaning to national heroes?
Another way to ask: How should Christians think about Washington being honored as a great founder while ordering attacks that the chapter calls “war crime and ethnic cleansing”? How does this change how we judge the goodness of national heroes?
Direct Answer
Based on the transcript, Christians should face the moral reality honestly: national greatness does not make actions righteous, and reverence for founders must not override clear descriptions of atrocity.
Support from Transcript:
Bercot states: “George Washington ordered the total annihilation of the Mohawk villages,” and that the order was extended to “all of the villages and lands” of the six Iroquois nations.
He reports that in summer 1779 colonial armies “burned down 40 Indian villages,” destroyed “all the corn and grain,” and cut off access to “every fruit tree they could find.”
He says “Thousands of men, women, and children were massacred,” with survivors fleeing to Canada.
He directly labels these tactics: “Nowadays, what the colonists did would be called a war crime and ethnic cleansing.”
He adds the colonists “held it as a glorious achievement,” showing how hero narratives can baptize evil.
Discussion Follow-ups
How can Christians honor historical leaders’ good actions without calling their evil “necessary”? What happens to our patriotism when we refuse to excuse slaughter?
