"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." - George Orwell 1984
Orwell's 1984 is more and more sounding like a handbook for Western 'progressive' society in the UK. As a small example of this, take the re-opening last week of the £27 million refurbished museum in Perth, Scotland.
A friend of mine went along and was somewhat shocked to find the following.
The return of paganism
In Scotland, the land of the Enlightenment and the Reformation, the land of learning and science, the government are now sponsoring an exhibition which informs us as fact that, "The River Tay has always been Perth's main artery, shaping the land, providing food resources, and acting as a portal to the supernatural world" (under the heading 'Sacred Waters').
I lived beside the Tay for many years and had no idea that it could take me through the wardrobe into Narnia, or through the Looking Glass, or that it was a portal to another dimension! And none of the good people of Tayside ever thought that either. But the pagans who are re-writing Scottish history and culture don't care. Is it any wonder that so many Scottish children are scientifically illiterate if this is the nonsense that the government and local councils are teaching.
The exhibit goes on to talk about daggers and axes 'thought' to be used as offerings. When my friend asked about the Māori costume, they were told that some of the staff had got up at five in the morning to bless it, before the museum opened.
The demonisation of Christianity
There is one mention of John Knox preaching a sermon which was followed by a riot – but the plaque goes on to say, "Knox became an icon and objects associated with him became almost relic like." As an example of historical and theological illiteracy that is hard to beat. Knox's sermon was against idols and icons. The Scottish Reformation was opposed to idols and icons. There is no evidence at all that Knox was ever considered an icon.
Of course, the purpose of this is to rewrite history and to imply that Scotland's Reformation was really just a takeover by a cult – which thankfully we have now got rid of. Once the Calvinists are gone, we can get rid of the Catholics too – and return to the purity of our pagan past – where we happily portalled into other worlds ...
My friend decided to enquire why there was so little about Christianity in the museum - after all, Perth, Dundee and St Andrews were the heart of the Scottish Reformation. The response was revealing: "That was in the past – this is now. You've had 2,000 years to showcase Christianity."
Apart from the fact that a museum is supposed to showcase the past, and the historical ignorance of the staff member, what is even more shocking is the triumphalist attitude: we've taken over now! We will decolonise the past.
The National, the house newspaper of the Scottish National Party, went so far as to boast about this re-writing of history. "Perth Museum breaks a lot of new ground; it expands on the rewriting of so many wrongs much in need of rewriting and quite brilliantly shows off our much-cherished stone."
Of course, when Christianity goes you have to replace it with another religion. As well as the return to paganism and the Green religion, the third part of this new unholy trinity is the LGBTQI+ ideology. There is a whole floor given over to this. As the museum website explains, "Across four themed galleries, discover the unicorn's enduring presence throughout history and its role as a symbol of Scotland's changing heritage and identity, through iconic loans from around the world, interactive displays, and seven newly-commissioned artworks exploring the unicorn as a modern symbol of the LGBTQI+ community." They conveniently forget that the unicorn was chosen as Scotland's national animal at least partly because of its perceived 'masculinity'. But that's toxic now, so let's rewrite it to be a sexual symbol.
The colonisation of a museum by progressive imperialists who are determined to remake everything in their own image and rewrite history so that it fits their fantasies and current political and social ideologies is not confined to Perth Museum. This is happening all over Britain, funded by the governments (I wonder if the UK government knows that over £10 million of its money is being used to promote this kind of ideology).
Another example is brought to us by Pink News, who tell us that the Hastings Museum and Art gallery has an exhibition which shows that a pair of stuffed pheasants demonstrates 'queer' transgender behaviour in animals!
The Perth Museum has been rebuilt in order to house the famous Stone of Destiny – the stone on which Scotland's kings were crowned and which was recently returned from Westminster Abbey in 1996. But the museum is more about pushing a current progressive agenda than it is about giving an accurate account of Scotland's history.
As the parties of school pupils are shown round and taught the pagan, progressive, sexual ideology of today's cultural imperialists it may appear inevitable that this nightmare will be Scotland's destiny. Yet perhaps there is a sign in the Scottish Highlands which points to something different?
In 1827, in the small community of Glenmoriston, a preacher called Finlay Munro was preaching the word of God. He was receiving a great deal of abuse (he should be thankful – in today's Scotland he would be reported for hate speech!). Munro responded to this abuse by declaring that the very clay in which he stood would testify to the truth of his words and that his footprints would last until his hearers met their judgement, or according to some witnesses until the Day of Judgement. Almost 200 years later you can still visit Glenmoriston and see those footsteps.
Whether or not you believe that story, what is certain is that the Church in Scotland has been through far worse times and survived. That is why the symbol of the Church is the burning bush – 'burning yet not consumed'. The politicians and ideologies of this world will fade away, but Christ is the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Long after the plaques on Perth Museum are gone and forgotten, the Word of God will continue. As Jesus promised, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35).
David Robertson is the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales. He blogs at The Wee Flea.
