Because They Have No Ears
Early in the Moon of Making Fat, the Hunkpapas had their annual sun dance. For three days Sitting Bull danced, bled himself, and stared at the sun until he fell into a trance. When he rose again, he spoke to his people. In his vision he had heard a voice crying: "I give you these because they have no ears." When he looked into the sky he saw soldiers falling like grasshoppers, with their heads down and their hats falling off ... Because the white men had no ears and would not listen, Wakantaka the Great Spirit was giving these soldiers to the Indians to be killed.
- Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
If you can stand the truth, read this book. If you are on the side of justice and against oppression you will cry many times, as I did. I believe suffering with those who suffer involves knowing the truth of the past and refusing to shrug and look the other way. Many of the great leaders among the Native Americans sought the guidance of a Great Spirit, understood that all men are equal, and that the earth belongs to God and should be taken care of instead of exploited.
The motive for breaking treaty after treaty was always greed. If there is gold in the hills where they lived, well, just move the Indians and take the gold without compensation. If the railroad needs to go through hunting grounds, kill the buffalo. If a village is in the way, kill every man, woman and child. It happened ... again, and again, and again.
Did it happen because it was God's will, that in this way we would spread Christianity? No, it happened because we had superior weapons and numbers. God is not on the side of people who take what doesn't belong to them by force, people who can bring themselves to kill others because they believe the others aren't quite as human as them. I don't believe in a God who sides with injustice. The only Manifest Destiny that is in play is that God will one day manifestly establish justice and end oppression. He might sometimes use a mighty Assyria as a tool. But what happens when he finishes with them? Suffice it to ask this: do you know any Assyrians today?
So that leaves me pondering two things.
First, how much of this "might makes right" mentality remains in my psyche as an American white man and must be rooted out? For example, can I accept passively an economic system that creates such extreme winners and losers and is mindlessly self-justifying -- "if I have the power to take it, it belongs to me." How much do I blindly accept this social Darwinism in the little transactions of daily life and merely run over people when I am able to, putting my needs above theirs?
Second, whether we like it our not, this is our legacy and it should not be minimized or forgotten. As Americans, a big dose of humility will take us a lot further in the world today than will calling other nations "evil empires." Remove the plank from your eye before playing eye doctor for the rest of the world.
God endures injustice for only so long. Those who have ears to hear should listen .
"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." - Jesus | 
