February 28, 2002

Letter to the editor:

Re: Arizona Daily Sun editorial on 2/22/02, "Tribal sovereignty over Peaks a stretch"

Once again we see the arrogance and disdain that Anglos and modernists have had towards indigenous peoples since the beginning of time. Any time that modernists or as they are better known "missionaries" enter onto the lands of indigenous people they immediately call their way of life "uncivilized" or refer to them as "savages" because their religious practices do not conform to "Christian" beliefs. In their editorial of the San Francisco Peaks the editors of the Arizona Daily Sun certainly continue to foster this ill construed "zero tolerance" belief.

The editors mock the idea that indigenous peoples' belief system is less worthy of respecting because they "elevated [the peaks] to unnatural stature and to which they have attempted to extend a religious sovereignty." They imply that those beliefs are some how wrong. If that's the case, then the people in Tampa, Florida that say they see the image of the virgin Mary on the window panels of an office building are also out of their minds because they have elevated to an unnatural stature. So much so that they have erected a shrine and want the building protected. This certainly is unnatural and there can be no claim to religious sovereignty. What will those Christians want next, place the Ten Commandments in a courtroom? If they are placed there, they will be obscuring the clear distinction of the separation of state and church. Especially, since what belongs in the courtroom is the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution.

What I find most troubling is the editor's assertion that not only should we dismiss the indigenous peoples claim to the divinity of the Peaks but also their attempts to keep them as pristine as possible. Why is it that we must conquer and destroy all of our natural blessings? The Peaks are not there for us to destroy and make as much money as possible from them. They are there so that they can continue to provide us with their natural value. The value provided to them by a higher power, a divinity more powerful than humankind.

The editors argue that the "tribes continue to make claims on the Peaks that no other ethnic or religious group would get away with." Certainly they have not forgotten how hundreds of religious groups around the country construct buildings they call churches and then declare it and its land a "sacred place." What right do Christians have to make those claims of lands that previously had a paved parking lot and no religious value?

They also argue that the indigenous peoples have no right to demand that their religious practices and beliefs be honored because as the editors state, "the problem with that position is that this country is not a theocracy. Religious groups are free to worship and express their beliefs. But they are not free to extend those beliefs and practices into the civil arena." If this country truly had religious freedom then homosexuals would have the freedom to enter into civil unions; Mormons would be allowed to continue their religious belief of the practice of polygamy; Indigenous peoples would be able to use peyote, as did their ancestors; Voodoo animal sacrifices would not be outlawed.... In every corner of American society we see how Christian extremists have imposed their religious code into the civil arena and forced the rest of us to live by their standards. Anything deviating from their religious standards is met with "zero tolerance." And your editorial mocking the beliefs of the indigenous peoples is adding to the continued prejudice, bigotry and intolerance that continues to cause violence and fear into those who do not share the same religious ideas as the Christian extremists.

Voice of Freedom
2605 West Kennedy Blvd
Tampa, FL 33609