CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, October 28, 2024

Recalling some of History’s hits and misses

History makes many twists and turns, some on purpose, some accidental. What if I said, But-for Henry VIII’s break with the Vatican, the State of Israel might not exist today?

For example: Henry wanted a divorce which the Pope would not bless. Henry severed England’s ties with the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently, the study of the Christ-centered New Testament fell out of favor while the study of the Jewish History-centered Old Testament rose in favor.

Future British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour’s mother read to young Arthur almost exclusively from the Old Testament. In 1917, Sir Arthur Balfour issued his famous declaration that set in train the movement leading to the creation of the State of Israel

"His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. Perhaps, Henry’s break with Rome was, in part, triggered by an accident when Henry’s horse fell on Henry’s leg during a jousting match. His leg wounds became painfully septic, causing terribly violent mood swings that could have added to Henry’s anger against the Roman Church.

Now, here’s an historical accident which, had it taken place earlier in time, might have prevented Henry’s break with Rome. In 1928, doctor Alexander Fleming, in haste to go on vacation, left some petri dishes covered with the bacteria staphylococcus aureus,in his lab sink. On his return, Fleming found the bacteria had been destroyed by a mold which he named Penicillin. Had the drug been available in the middle of the 16th Century, Henry’s septicemia could have been cured and Israel might not exist. Sir Alexander Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945

Tort lawyers argue "But-for" event A, event B, (the accident, or harm) would d not have occurred. That’s the theory behind "proximate cause."

And what if Kaiser Wilhelm II’s left arm had not been damaged during his breech birth, causing him to hide his shorter left arm by resting it on the Hilt of the sword that went with the military dress of the time. Might the Kaiser have grown up less militant and less eager to invade Belgium and France in 1914?

Add to that, The Law of Unintended Consequences. For example, Thomas Crooks, and .Ryan Routh, the wannabe assassins of President Trump, probably did not intend to cause an upward spike in President Trump’s poll rankings.

Had President McKinley not been assassinated, Teddy Roosevelt might never have been President. Moreover, without Teddy Roosevelt, the Panama Canal might never have been completed and the creation of our system of National Parks might have been long delayed.

And what if JFK had not been assassinated in 1963, when it was not too late to withdraw from Vietnam?

And now, on the eve of an historic election, we wonder what could possibly go wrong or right?.

©2024. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com