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#1 2004-05-20 02:16:33

Trebuchet
Banned
From: Florida
Registered: 2004-04-26
Posts: 419

Re: Pointless but sort of funny - A remote tribe worships America

Kinda funny...

The John Frum movement first emerged in Vanuatu in the 1930s when the islands were jointly ruled by Britain and France as the New Hebrides. Rebelling against the aggressive proselytising of Presbyterian missionaries, dozens of villages on the island of Tanna put their faith in a mysterious outsider called John Frum.

They believed he would drive out their colonial masters and re-establish their traditional ways. The cult was reinforced during World War II when the US military arrived with huge amounts of "cargo" - tanks, ships, weapons, medicine and food.

On Tanna, islanders became convinced that John Frum was an American. They have spent the past 60 years dressing up in home-made US army uniforms, drilling with bamboo rifles and parading beneath the Stars and Stripes in the hope of enticing a delivery of "cargo" again.

The story got even more surreal because the islanders in question have started a holy war with the local Christians.

Just when I thought life couldn't get more surreal... :laugh:

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#2 2004-05-20 02:18:41

Trebuchet
Banned
From: Florida
Registered: 2004-04-26
Posts: 419

Re: Pointless but sort of funny - A remote tribe worships America

Oops.

Link:http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/08/1083911455208.html]The Story

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