Righteous Purpose

Trey Smith

We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or Usen [the creator] would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each.
~ from Geronimo's Story of His Life (1906) ~

This simple statement well encapsulates my beliefs as it relates to all things, not just "tribes" or people, in general. Whatever it is -- I call it the Grand Mystery -- that created life or caused existence to come to be, it had a "righteous purpose" in creating each thing. By "righteous," I don't mean a "divine plan" or a "sacred trust"; I mean more that each being has its place in the overall mosaic of what we call life on earth.

Even further, every entity has its own purpose. Every entity walks its own path. In my mind's eye, there is no hierarchy -- any being or entity is not greater or lesser than any other. This is not to say that each entity is equal. Equality is a human concept and may not mean a damn thing to any other species or the Grand Mystery at all.

Reflections on Brave New World IX: Out on the Res

Trey Smith

There is one aspect of Huxley's futuristic society that turns out not to be futuristic at all. Various indigenous groups are shuttled away from the "easy life" of the World State to live on less desirable land where they must struggle to survive. These special areas are called -- a term very familiar to Americans -- reservations.

If we look at the history of Indian Reservations in the US, we see the blueprint Huxley utilized in Brave New World. Whites would claim all the desirable land and then they would stick the various tribes on the lands nobody else wanted. Sometimes, later on, the land the tribes were imprisoned on became valuable and so they would be tossed off it and be forced onto other lands the Whites didn't want.

What made this process all the more painful is that the Great White Father (the government) demanded that the Indians farm their land, but this typically was a difficult task because a good deal of the land wasn't hospitable to farming! So, the people struggled to get by and legions of them were unable to survive the harsh conditions.

The treatment of the native peoples by the white invaders is a stain that still persists in this country even today. While American Indians have won many legal rights, many continue to be treated like second-class citizens. Unemployment on several reservations is chronically high, abject poverty is rampant and alcoholism/drug abuse is off the charts.

If Huxley's view of future society is even somewhat on target, all this means is that populations who now live their lives behind the eight ball will continue to be in the same position for generations to come.

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 36

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 35

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 27

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 26

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 25

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 24

On the Table

"I support intelligent design," Bachmann told reporters in New Orleans following her speech to the Republican Leadership Conference. "What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don't think it's a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides."
~ from Bachmann: Schools Should Teach Intelligent Design by Peter Hamby ~

The most obvious point to make about Bachmann's assertion is that intelligent design is not science -- it is belief! It isn't based on empirical formulations; it is based on a book written over two thousand years ago by nomadic tribesman. These same primitive people thought that disease was caused by evil spirits, not germs.

That was my initial reaction. However, after further thought, I have decided that I would love to put Bachmann to a test. If she truly doesn't believe the government should come down on the side of science OR belief, would she favor opening up the discussion to a multiplicity of beliefs about the creation of the world?

The Christian version is only one of many. Almost every religion and/or society has their own creation myth. Many of the adherents to these various religions and philosophies believe their rendition is a form of science too. If we don't desire to prejudice the children of this nation blindly to accept the Big Bang Theory, then we need to put all of the them on the table and allow the kiddies to wade through each one.

For example, what about the creation story of the Diné?

According to the Diné, they emerged from three previous underworlds into this, the Fourth, or "Glittering World", through a magic reed. The first people from the other three worlds were not like the people of today. They were animals, insects or masked spirits as depicted in Navajo ceremonies. First Man ('Altsé Hastiin), and First Woman ('Altsé 'Asdzáá), were two of the beings from the First or Black World. First Man was made in the East from the meeting of the White and Black Clouds. First Woman was made in the West from the joining of the Yellow and Blue Clouds. Spider Woman (Na ashje’ii 'Asdzáá), who taught Navajo women how to weave, was also from the First World.

Once in the Glittering World, the first thing the people did was build a sweat house and sing the Blessing Song. Then they met in the first house ("hogan" in English, "hooghan" in Diné) made exactly as Talking God (Haashch’eelti’i) had prescribed. In this hooghan, the people began to arrange their world, naming the four sacred mountains surrounding the land and designating the four sacred stones that would become the boundaries of their homeland. In actuality, these mountains do not contain the symbolic sacred stones. The San Francisco Peaks (Dook’o’oslííd) represents the Abalone and Coral stones. It is located just north of Flagstaff and is the Navajo’s religious western boundary. Mt. Blanco (Tsisnaasjini') in Colorado represents the White Shell stone, and represents the Navajo’s religious eastern boundary. Mt. Taylor (Tsoodzil) east of Grants, New Mexico, represents the Turquoise stone, and represents the Navajo’s religious southern boundary. Mt. Hesperus (Dibé Nitsaa) in Colorado represents the Black Jet stone, and represents the Navajo’s religious northern boundary. Pictures of these sacred mountains can be found by going to http://www.lapahie.com/Sacred_Mts.cfm.

After setting the mountains down where they should go, the Navajo deities, or "Holy People", put the sun and the moon into the sky and were in the process of carefully placing the stars in an orderly way. But the Coyote, known as the trickster, grew impatient from the long deliberations being held, and seized the corner of the blanket where it lay and flung the remaining stars into the sky.

The Holy People continued to make the necessities of life, like clouds, trees and rain. Everything was as it should be when the evil monsters appeared and began to kill the new Earth People. But a miracle happened to save them by the birth of Ever Changing Woman (Asdzaa Nadleehe) at Gobernador Knob (Ch’óol’í’í), New Mexico...

After giving the Diné story careful consideration, what about one version of the Hindu story? There are millions of people throughout the world who claim Hinduism as their religious and/or philosophic belief system.

This is not the first world, nor is it the first universe. There have been and will be many more worlds and universes than there are drops of water in the holy river Ganges. The universes are made by Lord Brahma the Creator, maintained by Lord Vishnu the Preserver and destroyed by Lord Shiva. Since the universes must be destroyed before they can be recreated, Lord Shiva is called the Destroyer and Re-creator. These three gods are all forms of Supreme One and part of the Supreme One. The Supreme One is behind and beyond all.

After each old universe is destroyed nothing is left but a vast ocean. Floating on this ocean, resting on the great snake Ananta, is Lord Vishnu. Some say that a lotus flower springs from his navel and from this comes Lord Brahma. And it is from Lord Brahma that all creation comes.

How does Lord Brahma create? Some tell of how he grows lonely and splits himself in two to create male and female. Then he becomes one again and human beings are created. In the same way he creates all the other living things, from the great animals to the tiniest insects. Others say that everything comes from different parts of Lord Brahma's body. All the different animals and all the people come from his mouth, arms, thighs and feet.

Everything comes from one - Lord Brahma, who is part of the Supreme One - so everything is part of the Supreme One. For this universe, this world and this Lord Brahma, like all those before and all those to come, will be destroyed by Lord Shiva.

How long is the life of a universe? Its length is beyond imagination. One day to Lord Brahma is longer than four thousand million of the years that we know. Every night when Lord Brahma sleeps the world is destroyed. Every morning when he awakes it is created again. When the Lord Brahma of this universe has lived a lifetime of such days the universe is completely destroyed by Lord Shiva.

Everything disappears into the Supreme One. For an unimaginable period of time chaos and water alone exist. Then once again Lord Vishnu appears, floating on the vast ocean. From Lord Vishnu comes forth Lord Brahma of the new universe and the cycle continues for ever...

These represent but two competing "theories" with the Big Bang and Intelligent Design. Many more can be found here and here.

If Bachmann favors allowing Intelligent Design to be taught in America's classrooms, I sure hope she is willing to allow all these other stories as well. If not, wouldn't that mean that government is taking sides?

Afternoon Matinee: Massacre At Wounded Knee

Afternoon Matinee: Geronimo: The Last Free Apache

Afternoon Matinee: How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native Americans