The recent intense rancor on social media surrounding the actions of NFL players last weekend started me thinking about how much more productive discussions might be if we did what Native Americans did in order to establish respect between their tribe and another, as well as the white man. Some of us who grew up watching classic Western movies, have seen the images of the gatherings in tee-pees, where the peace pipe was passed from person to person, each taking a puff to acknowledge a pledge to honor the talks and the agreements.
For those of you who have not watched old western movies and may not know exactly what the ceremony is all about, the use of a Native American peace pipe occurs often in a spiritual ceremony. During the ceremony, Native Americans will smoke from the peace pipe and say a prayer to the four directions. The Native American peace pipe is not restricted to being used only be Native Americans, but it is a spiritual thing, and what it symbolizes must be respected by everyone attending the ceremony.
More information about the peace pipe ceremony can be found at Indians.org.
And here is my own peace offering. The last of my roses.
This news was announced on Thursday:
The Trump administration will waive federal restrictions on foreign ships’ transportation of cargo to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, after having declined to do so earlier this week.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted Thursday that President Donald Trump has “authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico,” in response to a request from the governor.
The Jones Act is a federal law that prohibits foreign-flagged ships from shuttling goods between U.S. ports. Republicans and Democrats have pushed Trump to waive it, in order to get desperately needed supplies delivered to the island more quickly and at less cost.
Too bad it took over a week for that to happen.
On Wednesday, The Daily Podcast covered the story of the mis-information that came out of Twin Falls, Idaho in 2016 when a 5 year old girl was sexually assaulted by refugee youths. When the story first broke, as fake news long before fake news became a household word, the perpetrators were said to be adult males who raped the girl, urinated on her and held a knife to her throat.
Because of the nature of the alleged attack, the news quickly went viral and stirred the basest of responses in people. The rhetoric around this event was fueled by fear and misconceptions, and the anger was fueled by racist remarks by Steve Bannon and Breitbart News, specifically reporting by Lee Stranahan, who works for Breitbart.
Since the perpetrators and the victim were minors, the case was sealed and journalists were limited in what information they could obtain, and families declined to talk to mainstream media. Stranahan, who has a reputation of reporting without all the facts, was able to get an interview with the victim’s family, but he went on to report “fake news.”
Stranahan wrote that what took place was a “horrific gang rape” and wrote graphic details about the incident, which the Twin Falls Police say are untrue. Police and city officials could not counter the fake news with details of the truth, so they were accused of a cover-up, which fueled even more anger directed at Muslims.
Repeatedly Stranahan, and those who took up the racist chant, used the words Muslims, terrorists, Islam, immigrants, lumping them all together as if they were all dangerous and bad. More about this can be found at Longreads.com that ran a story The Panic In Twin Falls.
Just like all the misconceptions surrounding the controversy over the athletes’ actions, we have to stop perpetuating falsehoods in our news, in our blogs, in our Facebook posts, and in our Tweets.
FRIDAY FUN – Don’t want to leave without something fun to bring a smile after all the heavy news.
Two guys are walking through a game park & they come across a lion that has not eaten for days. The lion starts chasing the two men. They run as fast as they can and the one guy starts getting tired and decides to say a prayer, “Please turn this lion into a Christian, Lord.”
He looks to see if the lion is still chasing and he sees the lion on its knees. Happy to see his prayer answered, he turns around and heads towards the lion. As he comes closer to the lion, he hears it saying a prayer: “Thank you Lord for the food I am about to receive.”
Q: What is the difference between a cat and a comma?
A: One has claws at the end of its paws and the other is a pause at the end of a clause.
Okay, maybe those jokes aren’t laugh-out funny, but they are cute. If you have an opinion about any of the topics covered today, including the jokes, please let me know with a comment. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be helping my son celebrate his birthday. I won’t tell you how old he is going to be, as then you will get some idea of how old I am. LOL
The peace pipe ceramony is an act of alignment between peers, between warrors, between men of honor.
The fellas that “dis” the Stars and Strip are mearly entertainment “stars”. What little I have heard of their character denies honor honor being a part of their path or destiny. They have strength without honor. Their owners have money without honor.
A peace pipe with them would be meaningless – in my humble opinion.
Karl, thanks for pointing out that detail of “alignment” in the use of the peace pipe. I had not thought of that, but it is very true. My decision to use it to start off the blog today was a call to peace, and alignment to all people. Not just what is going on with the athletes. We are a world of dissent and injustice and war and terrorism, and I just wish it would all stop.