Do you have to pay for the sins of your ancestors
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
November 10, 2008 7:45pm CST
This topic came about because of what went on in the period before the Second World War and also from the history of the Southern States and that many of the blacks are descended from the slaves. Now today, Germany is suffering a population decline as is much of Europe, and in the Stats, there is affirmative action and other methods made to make up, some of the African-Americans are asking for compensation, etc.
being that there are people here who are not descended from the Southern American slaveowners, but are immigrants, or from the North, how much does one have to pay for the sins of their ancestors or assumed ancestors?
And what compensation? Loss of good paying jobs? Your line dying out? Poverty? Getting persecuted? I think that the Europeans are so filled with guilt that they are punishing themselves by living high off the hog and not having as many children? We already have this original sin to contend with. How far does one have to go to make up for the crimes of one's ancestors?
Oh my father was German, but he joined the Canadian army and went over there in Normandy.
5 people like this
18 responses
@bfarrier1 (2082)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I dont believe we should have to pay anything for what are ancestors did,I think that each person is responsible for their own actions,I myself did not or will I ever have a slave and it is not my fault that there were slaves,I believe that everyone is the same in Gods eyes and he made us all different for reasons I know nothing about but it would have been alot better if everyone in the world was of the same race,maybe then there wouldnt be so much hate for other race's.I dont believe I have to make up for the crimes my ancestors did.You have a great night.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
15 Nov 08
No one should pay for the sin of our ancestors. We have enough trouble with original sin which is the tendency of man to hurt others and the only thing that keeps them from doing so is that he is afraid of getting caught or God changes his heart. That in itself is enough trouble that we do not need to be punished because one of our ancestors was a slave owner, a horrible Viking war lord, or a guard in a concentration camp, or whatever it was.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
11 Nov 08
Nope not me, anything that happens bad to me would be of my own sin or a test for me..The paying for others sins went out when Jesus came.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
11 Nov 08
That is what I feel. I have a hard time paying for my own sin without having the extra burden of paying for the sins of my ancestors. I do think that there is a very evil Viking in my ancestry, by the way and he should have paid for his own sin and probably did by dying of a horrible disease, his children not listening, or being conked over the head with an axe.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
13 Nov 08
I saw this old early Medieval drawing of this Viking who was responsible for murdering and massacring hundreds of Christians before he became one himself and I said, "he looks a lot like my cousin!" That was scarey.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
11 Nov 08
Oh I know what you mean..I have a side of my family that would definitely be considered the Black Sheep...They are Wild..
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
12 Nov 08
I don't feel that we should pay for or make up crimes our ancestors did because we had no control over what happened so long ago. We can make sure it doesn't happen in our lifetimes but that is all we should do. We shouldn't have to carry the burden of what our ancestors did or how they acted. It was a different world in those days and I am glad it is changing.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
20 Nov 08
Thanks for the best response I appreciate it alot.
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
11 Nov 08
as all this happened over so many years ago dont see how we would be accountable for any of this.
Slavery was way over in the 1860s
They will just have to get over their selfs
As I dont feel like people born in the 1900s didnt have a thing to do with any of this.
I have no knowledge of any of my people having slaves.
as most ones that came over hit the upper east coast.
and if they were in the north they got well took care of.
And as we are all Americans now I cant see where they can claim to be afircan/ Americans of where ever they came from us whites dont go around saying we are Irish Americans or German Americans!
For I am part of the ones that were here to begin with and now I have to say I am part Native American! Makes no sence to me!
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
11 Nov 08
I am German Austrian English Welsh Canadian. If we had to hyphenation everything then they will have to give us longer spaces to fill our our ancestry on those forms. Seems rather silly to me. I am not responsible for my ancestors nor am I responsible for those of my various ethnic groups who did horrible things.
@elemental69 (1561)
• Ireland
11 Nov 08
Europeans are no way feeling guilty. We have nothing to feel guilty about!!! The younger generation just have different priorities than we used to. They are putting their careers first, buying their homes. They leave getting married and having kids last and most of the time late in life. Sometimes too late for some.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
13 Nov 08
That is too late. I have friends here in Canada who marry young and have their kids, and then work part time at the school or other jobs when their kids are in school. It works. I think having the career first is wrong. You may find the right one when it is too late or you may marry someone just for the convenience.
1 person likes this
@elemental69 (1561)
• Ireland
13 Nov 08
yes it may be wrong and it may be too late, but each individual has the right to choose when they get married and when they start a family. For some a career is the only option, or they want to make sure they are financially secure before they start a family. Many do not want to start a family when they know that they cannot afford to look after a child..
1 person likes this
@rosdimy (3926)
• Malaysia
11 Nov 08
I don't think we should pay for the sins pf our ancestors. I fail to see the logic why we should be responsible for all the wrong doings carried out by them. The way I see it if we say that this is compulsory and this opinion is accepted then we are opening the gates to claims and counter claims. This will never end and instead of pooling our energies and resources for mutual good we are wasting them over legal wrangling. For example the Red Indians would have the right to claim compensation for the loss of the North American continent, the destruction of their culture, and the killing of their ancestors. The examples can go on right to modern times and I think you get my drift.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
11 Nov 08
I am thinking of suing those horrible Anglo-Saxons of invading Britain and driving my Roman ancestors over the border to Wales or across the sea to Brittany, but some of my ancestors were also Anglo-Saxon. But then I would have to sue the Normans who came over, and one of my ancestors was a Norman, and later on one of my ancestors married one of my ancestors who came from Wales, etc. And that is the English side of my family. Now my father is part German and Part Austrian so should the Austrian side sue the German side because of the invasion before the Second World WAr?
The way it will turn out, I will have to sue myself. Does not sound very practical does it? 
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
11 Nov 08
And, what about people's whose ancestors helped on the underground railroad or in other ways during those time periods? Do they get compensation, too? Of course not.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
15 Nov 08
No they don't. So if the descendants of people who worked on the Underground railroad get compensation, neither should the descendants of the people who were Nazis, were slave trades, were evil, etc. get blamed.
Oh as for the first part, neither should the Canadians whose great great or great grandfather was one of the The Devil's Brigade (saw the movie) pat themselves on the back and think they are so great.
Had to put them in.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
11 Nov 08
I don't have to pay fo my parents sins let alone my ancestors
people make mistakes and unfortunately some of these mistakes are just too big they might have ruined a good reputation of certain tribe, race, religion or probably the whole nation
If any of my ancestors did something like that and they were punished
I wouldn't hold grudge because if I made a mistake I had to pay for it why would my ancestors be different? If what they did was bad enough to ruin my reputation why do I have to pay more for something I didn't do and wasn't even born at the time they did it anyway?
Unless this is some kind of debts that has to be paid by the next generation if they die but even in that case it has to be a written agreement so that the creditor can go after the next generations for payment
Other than that, no, each person is responsible of their own doing
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
14 Nov 08
I think that way as well. It does not work out that way, sometimes. Sometimes people judge you by what your parents did. Or you unconsciously do the bad things your parents did and sometimes it does not work out as you planned. i mean life was different then. And also children often copy their parents, but that is how they are punished for the sins because they repeat what wrong their parents did.
@izathewzia (5134)
• Philippines
11 Nov 08
I don't think we have an obligation of paying the sins of our ancestors although most of the times, it is bound to happen. But if we will make right decisions and change the path we are heading, away from what our ancestors had chosen, then we can be free of paying their sins. And create a life of our own. Without the shadow of their sins.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
13 Nov 08
I usually seems that we do, but really we should not, if our life is different from theirs. But what happens is that, for instance, if your grandfather was a murderer, then it happens that you may not be allowed to mingle with polite company and may wind up marrying a character who is like your grandfather. So in that case, you have to show that you do not inherit the family tendency of hitting people over the head with a poker.
And it does happen that sometimes you do wind up paying even though you have done nothing wrong. And sometimes you pay for your own sin even after you have already changed your life for the better. Sometmes life sucks.
@kayree2002 (259)
• United States
11 Nov 08
That topic made me think of what I read about in the Bible. Alot of sins that people committed their descendants paid the price for what was done. Like Adam and Eve, they were told that they would die. And die they did, but the rest of us suffer the same fate also. I think it's because you are warned and know what you're doing so if you deiced to go against it then it happens that this same fate is going to fall to your children since they follow your legacy.
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I think that we pay for our ancestors and unless we decide to change the course of our lives. We can all change these curses and choose to make them right, but if we don't then it will lead to destruction and will pass for many generations.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
11 Nov 08
Well the Bible says to the fifth generation, but that is about the ancestor's influence, so if the ancestor is a thief, he will teach his children, and they will theirs. But if one of the great grand children decides that he will not be a thief, then the curse should not apply to him. It will apply to the others, who will not get others to trust them, who will have to deal with getting short changed by the fence, etc.
That is a simplistic example, but why should you if you are living a good life pay for the sin of your ancestor that took place in a massacre or was a close associate with Captain Kidd, giving two examples/
@hellcord (673)
• Romania
11 Nov 08
I don't think there's such a thing as sin, there's just behavior. At one point or another in history, some group decided that they were bigots, or slave owners, or conquerors.
To me, the idea that we pay in any way for that is ridiculous. And What sort of ancestors are we talking here, biological relatives ? People who lived where we live now and spoke the same language we do ?
If a man kills your family, then kills himself, do you go after his kids, to get 'justice' and make them 'pay for' his 'sin' ?
I think it's just behavior, and if bad things happen I think that's the universe giving us back what we send out, or what we sent out a long time ago. Has nothing to do with what our grandparents did. They will get their rewards for their own actions, good or bad, in this life or the next one(s).
my 2 cents :)
1 person likes this
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
11 Nov 08
Being an Indian, I am not really in a position to discuss the racial sin you have mentioned but going by the general view of the discussion, I must say that yes, we pay for the sins of our ancestors. I firmly believe in the saying ‘old sins have long shadows’. I have seen it in my family. One of my ancestors in times long ago, started the business of finding suitable matches for girls of respectable families of his time. It is said that in lieu of money and other advantages (tracts of land and so on), he would many times marry off more qualified girls to less deserving men or men many times older and infirm. It is also said that in the process, he collected the curses and the sighs of these women and their family. Whatever be the truth in such myth, the present day truth is that none of the girls in my father’s family (including me) have married well into good prosperous households. We all have had to struggle a lot and for some of my aunts, the end has not been happy.
1 person likes this
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
11 Nov 08
Oh this is a tough one...There is something in the Bible concerning this,but what i think it is all about is....say your ancestors were guilty of mistakes which caused things to turn around,from which they would have normally been, and say they brought upon themselves problems,well those things they did affects their followers,like their family members...so to speak....I don't think that you are totally responsibile,but what they did would affect you in some ways,so in affect you would be paying for their sins in a way..because had they NOT done certain things,then your life might have been better...I hope this makes sense to you...
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I don't think it's fair to expect descendants to pay for the sins of their ancestors. It the abuse is in the past an apology should suffice. If the effects of the abuse are still going on, every effort should be made to right it. But if it's all in the past--like the British causing the potato famine that made my ancestors suffer so horribly--it's gone and the people of today can do nothing about it. They don't even feel like their ancestors did, why should they be expected to right something that has no effect on me but only on my family history?
1 person likes this
@kenah2008 (58)
• Philippines
11 Nov 08
not of course, if juan had made it , then let Maria to pay it its unfair.It's not quite good that the person who doesn't even know the sins he is obliged to pay it.
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