Should Native Religions be Given the Same Respect as Christianity


All my life I have seen economic development programs such as roads, mining and pipelines barrel through areas Native Americans have testified are sacred places to them. And all of my life I've heard branches of Christianity wail about their rights to "religious freedom." I've never heard those Christians demanding their rights not to fill abortion or birth control prescriptions say anything on behalf of protesting native sacred sites. So far as I know, the only white people defending native people's religions have been liberal Christians and atheists.

I suppose some of this difference in respect between Christians and native religions comes from Christianity not having scared locations. I don't claim to know much about this but I believe Muslims face east for prayer and have locations that are sacred. Native Americans apparently have places they believe there are places where the divine lives. 

I've been around Christians who scoff at Muslims, Hindus and native religions. It is not hard to see how this happens because there are places and times where these religions scoff, even harm, at Christians. The news mentions almost daily places where Christians are harmed and/or kicked out of other countries. 

Christians should not be persecuted anywhere in the world. Neither should those of other religions. Atheists should not be persecuted either. 

One thing I think I've observed in my long life is that it is hard to understand what it's like to be isolated from others and/or persecuted until it has been experienced. It isn't always necessary but it does seem to change some people attitudes. 

I hope in the future there is more sensitivity to claims by people of native American heritage that there are locations they consider holy and sacred. That is not to say every claim made forever more into the future will be legitimate. It is not possible to ajudicate every religious claim made by every religion in the future. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 29, 2023 at 6:35 AM

    Right, "all my life". When I visited Grand Canyon National Park in 2021 with 4 teenage soccer players I coach, I was told my lifetime National Parks pass was "no good" for gaining access. I had to pay $45/person, $225 for the 5 of us. The west entrance is on land owned by the Hualapai Tribe Nation. I naively asked where I could view the Grand Canyon without having to pay $225. The Indian who was manning the gate admission told me there were no places to view the Grand Canyon unless I drive for hours to enter one of the federally-controlled park entrances. I asked why we couldn't just get out of the car and look around, say 20 miles back. I was told I couldn't do that since it was "sacred" land. I asked if the park entrance was sacred land. The answer was astonishing. Apparently, the entire area upon which the Indians control is sacred except the following. This came out of his mouth.

    The road upon which we drove to the Visitors Center, the Visitors Center and its parking lot, the road to the Grand Canyon from the Visitors Center, and the area which tourists can view the Grand Canyon is land which is not sacred. Every other square inch of the Reservation is sacred. No one in their right mind doesn't know what is going on in this scam. The abuse of the word "sacred" by at least that Tribe is obvious.

    Sacred in nearly all of the United States usually refers to cemeteries, churches, etc. Even then, unless trespassed, one can step foot on nearly all of the USA. People's homes, business, etc. are not sacred but I can't walk into someone's home either.

    I wonder how a casino ever got built on a Reservation when everywhere there is considered sacred? At least at on the west entrance to the Grand Canyon, the term "sacred" is used solely to funnel that $45/person entrance fee and nothing to do with anything sacred.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonMarch 29, 2023 at 8:05 AM

      Anonymous -- "..the term sacred is used soley to funnel the $45 entrance fee and has nothing to do with anything sacred."

      I agree there could well be places where the term "sacred" is being used as a tool for scamming the public. I don't know how to stop it from happening either. In ND the State and Federal governments flooded three native villages to make a huge fishing pond called Lake Sakasegawa. The project that was never finished and native families and communities have been altered forever .

      If there are bogus claims for scared lands, they are only matched by claims of "religious freedom" to get paid but not perform the job assigned them. Also, there is the phony business that one fertilized cell is a human being. Anyone who uses the absurd claim that one fertilized cell is a human being to put women's lives in danger should not complain about tribes using claims of sacred land just because it prevents you from hanging onto $45. The consequences of using the scared-land-religious- claim are quite harmless compared to the "life" claim.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 29, 2023 at 9:38 AM

    Everything is about abortion, even when the topic is Indian lands.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonMarch 30, 2023 at 6:42 AM

      Anonymous "Everything is about abortion, even when the topic is Indian lands."

      Your post was mostly about you, what you want, what you dislike, your definition of sacred. You dislike abortion so much it is always close.

      Delete

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