“We must seek out the spiritual people, because only that is going to help us survive. We have a great force – a great brotherhood. This brotherhood involves all living things. And that, of course, includes us all. We are talking about the natural world, the natural force, all the trees, everything that grows, the water. That is part of our force.
“But when you gather spiritual force in one place, you also gather the negative force. We begin to perceive the enemy now, the power and the presence of the negative force.
“There is a great battle coming.”
Chief Oren Lyons; Faith Keeper of the Onondaga Nation
Recent events in the rural, upstate town of Sidney, N.Y., mirror many of the most important issues facing communities, states, and our nation today. Although Sidney is a tiny puddle, it is made of the same water that is found in ponds/cities; in lakes/states; in the sea/USA; and, indeed, the ocean/world. It is simply a matter of scale, and if we cannot filter the gross contamination from the water supply that creates puddles and ponds, it builds and forms the sludge that poisons everyone's water supply.
I spent approximately twenty years, for example, working with local residents in Sidney Center on a Super Fund Site on Richardson Hill, where area industries had illegally dumped toxic wastes in and around the Richardson Hill water reservoir. The US Environmental Protection Agency eventually deemed this to be two Super Fund Sites, even though the truth was that it was a single, 120-plus acre dump site. And while Richardson Hill may seem remote, the fact is that it sits in such a position that the water supply there goes in two directions: directly into the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. Hence, the poisons that were dumped on that remote hill – under the direction of the Sidney Town Board, many years ago – reached the drinking water in New York City and the Chesapeake Bay.
Clearly, not all industries are “bad.” But those that place profit motives before human safety are. Likewise, government agencies – including individual elected representatives – who behave in ignorant, selfish, petty, and hateful ways do damage to the human environment, and that damage always spreads. The combination of these two creates the negative force that Chief Lyons spoke of.
On the international and national level, we are witnessing the rise of a monster, in the form of ammoral and immoral corporate behaviors, ranging from the BP oil “spill,” Wall Street theft; and the “frack” drilling that is destroying the environment. Likewise, we see the rise of militant extremists, rearing their ugly heads around the world, selecting “others” as the targets of their paranoia and hostility. These merchants of hate target groups and individuals they believe are defenseless, and who happen to have differing social, political, and/or religious views, or our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. They cloak themselves with religious texts and – in our country – the US Constitution (although as Christine O'Donnell showed, they are unfamiliar with its very foundation).
There are times when the average decent citizen could conclude that things are so out of control, that they are helpless to affect meaningful change. However, as Senator Robert F. Kennedy told an audience in South Africa that no person should be discouraged by “the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills – against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence …. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
“It is from the numberless, diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice.”
We have seen a change coming in that tiny, isolated community of Sidney, N.Y., when a large group of citizens stood up to the Tea Party members of their Town Board, and put an end to their ugly attack on the Islamic residents of the town. I am pleased to have the opportunity tonight to travel to Sidney, and meet with those brave residents. The local and regional news media continues to report favorably on this citizen action – one that, by no coincidence, is protected by the Bill of Rights.
More, a good area candidate has spoken publicly about the crisis in Sidney, in a letter-to-the-editor of an area newspaper. David Sagar, of Jeffersonville is running for the NYS Senate in District 42. Here is a link to his letter:
http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2010/10/19/the_mountain_eagle/opinion/doc4cb70ee35ed6c674744630.txIt is important for people of good will to attend public meetings; to write to local newspapers; and to get out on election day and cast their votes. It is how we can define this generation.
Thank you,
H2O Man
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