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| Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor (William Halsall, 1882) |
In an ironic reversal of the "Mayflower myth" (i.e., that all
those on the Mayflower were fleeing to America for religious freedom), an American family was recently "lost at sea for weeks in an ill-fated attempt to leave the United States over what they consider government interference in religion…"
Greg Moore of the Associated
Press further explained what this family was specifically fleeing from. He
quoted the mother, Hannah Gastonguay, as saying:
Jesus isn't the head of the [U. S.] church.
God isn't the head of the [U. S.] church…
Gastonguay also stated that the family was being "forced to pay these taxes that pay for abortions we don't agree with."
The Gastonguay family (Hannah, her husband Sean, their two small children, and Sean's father Mike) therefore set sail from San Diego for Kiribati (a small group of islands halfway between Australia and Hawaii). As with the Mayflower, the passage became particularly rough.
Beset by storm after storm, the family was left with nothing but "some juice and some honey" after two months on the open sea. Nevertheless, Hannah reported: We were in the thick of it,
but we prayed. Being out on that boat, I just
knew I was going to see some miracles.
They were eventually rescued by a Venezuelan ship.
Hannah's brother-in-law Jimmy had contacted the U.S. Coast Guard (more irony) in order to help "keep track of the family…"
The Gastonguays are now heading "back to Arizona" in order to "come up with a new plan."
Resources
http://news.msn.com/us/religious-family-abandons-us-gets-lost-at-sea?ocid=ansnews11
Copyright August 13, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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