Another great article. Yes, the entire history of expansion seems to have collided with morality for The Church and States of 'Merika. Apparently it's not a stable period of time but it happens a lot. This time we have the environment closing in on us so not much time to settle these clashes.

It is too easy to say they weren’t really Christians. Indeed, most atrocities done by the Church are dismissed in this way. On one hand it does call people’s attention to the apparent contradiction between the Bible’s admonishments of love and care, but it also works to absolve the Church of the harms it perpetrates. Structures like missions and residential schools are filled with people who, in carrying out the tasks of the institution, are capable of compassion and cruelty. But it is the institution that gives them the theology through which they justify their cruelties, and it is that theology that must be examined for where it can lead.