Column by Josh Butler I believe history is the foundation upon which the present is built.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Columns | Send mail to The Voice Take a second look at 9-11 Shortly after 9-11, Richard Twiss, a native Christian author, said, "The church has not valued enough the importance of perspective. As the sun's rising in one place can appear setting in another, so something like 9-11 can appear very different to a Western European or a Jew [than] it would to a Native or Palestinian." I discovered the truth of this statement when I left corporate suburbia to work on a reservation. While there, I heard a pastor identify the United States with the "Babylonesque" imagery of Revelation. This was in stark contrast to the sentiment in commercials such as "Jared eats Subway...God Bless America," and e-mails about the Christian West vs. the evils of Islam. I prefer natives speak for themselves, but because most of us at Multnomah are white, I will have to offer one of many reasons for this difference in cultural perspective. Perhaps native people are enraged because every treaty the United States has entered into we have broken. Ac-cording to Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, of more than 800 treaties entered into with native people, "the United States refused to ratify 430 of them, even though the government charged the Indians with having to live up to the terms of those treaties. Even more tragically, of the 370 treaties that were ratified, the United States proceeded to violate provisions in every one." In short, we've lied. A lot. Many Americans might respond, "But we are God's people; it's justified." And yet when Israel broke a treaty with Babylon, Ezekiel asked, "Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?" (Ez. 17:15). Although Babylon was the enemy of God, Israel was still held accountable. Furthermore, Christ commanded us, "Let your 'Yes,' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one," (Matt. 5:37). I have also heard the excuse, "But that was history. I didn't do it. It doesn't affect me." But doesn't it? Although I don't want us to get caught in a guilt trip, I believe history is the foundation upon which the present is built. And what are some examples of what this present looks like for native people? The Western Shoshone of Nevada have earned the dubious title of "the most bombed nation on earth" by UC Berkeley geographer Bernard Nietschmann, given the more than 1,000 nuclear tests carried out in the area. Nearly all nuclear testing and dumping in the United States occurs on reservations. The Lakota in the northern Midwest live in the most impoverished conditions on the continent as billions in gold are mined from the Black Hills around them. A Creek-Cherokee scholar, Ward Churchill, said that with the wealth plundered from reservations during the 20th century, native people should comprise per capita one of the wealthiest ethnicities in the world. Yet "North American Indian populations suffer virtually the full range of conditions observable in the most depressed of Third World areas." Clearly, we cannot separate this modern reality from the history that has created it. Maybe there's a reason other cultures such as native people have a different perspective about 9-11. And maybe it's important that we in the body of Christ, interested in true reconciliation, take that seriously. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Columns | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2002 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.