Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Joan of Arc

Ben and I started talking about Joan of Arc last night. He said that when he studied her years ago he wondered about the chain of events that lead to the American Revolution. (Stay with me here)

  • If Joan of Arc had never been born then would England have taken over France or would the Dauphin have conquered regardless and been crowned eventually on his own? Even though Joan was burned she was the one who rallied the troops and crowned the prince. He kept trying to make deals with the Burgundians which kept falling through.
  • Now, let's say that she had never been born and in the course of events England had conquered France. Now, France is gone but English history remains the same.
  • Fast forward to the American Revolution. We are losing our fight for liberty and there is no France to come to our aid. Would we have won? Would someone else have stepped up?

Now (for those of my friends who are Mormon) look at it from a Mormon perspective.
Was Joan of Arc’s mission then to save France in order to some three centuries later gain independence for the United States, thereby making possible Joseph Smith’s restoration of the Gospel?
I would love some comments and opinions! Also, as my girls are studying this right now I would love some reviews on any books or movies for an elementary age group.

3 comments:

Anna said...

Whatever Ben's argument is then I say the opposite. haha.

Well, if Joan was receiving divine inspiration from God to save France, then good heavens he wanted France saved for SOME reason. We know it's not for the wine or the French people themselves!! The snots... but I think he did have a greater purpose.

A Musing Mother said...

The greater purpose was to be another country for Hitler to conquer which put England as a secondary target giving the Americans time to join into the war.

In other words, I have no thoughts nor inspiration. Any books I have come back to WWII.

Wanna talk Europe in 1940ish?

Ben D. Kennedy said...

It is a theory that I also share that without St. Joan saving France to become the strong nation she was in the late 1700's there would be no United States of America.