Aussies are worried about Sarah too

US leadership affects the whole world.

The following letter came to me by email. I've been unable to discover the original authorship, but I see it has been blogged extensively already. I also note that the net is full of open letters to Sarah, from all manner of persons! The concerns this one raises, though, seem to me worth disseminating as widely as possible, so here it is again with no apologies. If anyone can refute it by matters of fact and logic, please feel free!

OPEN LETTER TO SARAH PALIN FROM AN INDIGENOUS WOMAN

'Decisions that have been made for the last couple of centuries have been decisions made without the presence of a real God....from the vision, not of God, but of money.'

--Tom P., MOHAWK elder

An open letter to Sarah Palin:

Daughter of the Earth ~

I speak from the heart of my indigenous grandmothers. I want to share my concern with and for you, your family, and our country. We have only three choices in our lives ~ to act from Love; to act from Fear, or not to act at all.

The day you were chosen to be John McCain's running mate, I decided to find out who you are. I looked up your voting record at VoteMatch.

I read your voting record, and my heart plummeted into a well of deep grief. We have the opportunity to co-create a reality that respects all people and belief systems; all living beings; to explore and use alternative energies that will not harm the earth; to feed all thepeoples of the earth; to address an economic system that is not and has not worked for many years. I would hope that you, and all our government officials, would be looking for ways to accomplish these things.

Yet, you are suing the U.S. government to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for Big Oil. And you are backing a senseless and hopeless war that is being fought only to gain more oil.

Jesus, your teacher and saviour, taught peace, harmony, balance and unconditional love for all. When you proclaim Christianity, what I hear is a need to dominate the Earth and All Our Relations out of fear, greed, and avarice - the 'business as usual' mentality which has so harmed us all in the last eight years (to say nothing of the centuries before).

When you say 'the war in Iraq is a task sent from God', I question your authority to speak for the Creator, and I hear the same kind of mentality that guided Adolph Hitler (April 12, 1922), who said, 'My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a Fighter. It points me to the man who, once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews (substitute: Muslim, Native American, Asian, non-Christian) for what they were and summoned men to the fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as sufferer but as fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and of adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish (Muslim, Black, Indian, Hispanic, Asian, non-Christian fundamentalist) poison. Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before - the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice. And as a man I have the duty to see to it that human society does not suffer the same catastrophic collapse as did the civilization of the ancient world some two thousand years ago - a civilization which was driven to its ruin through this same Jewish (Muslim, Black, Indian, Hispanic, Asian, non-Christian fundamentalist) people. '

And, when you proclaim the Iraq war 'a task from God', I hear the same misguided belief systems of the fanatical Muslim sects that proclaim 'jihad', a 'holy war'. HOLY and War do not belong in the same sentence - a 'holy war' is an oxymoron promoted by fanatical bigots who believe only in their own supremacy. I cannot condone such beliefs, and, unlessyou want to take us back into the dark ages of the Inquisition and the Crusades, I pray that you will look at your own beliefs.

You claim that 'We are about to win the war in Iraq'. I question where you got your information. When Bill Clinton left office, we were at -0- national debt - now we are trillions of dollars in debt. . . and no end in sight. To say nothing of the thousands of lives lost on both sides, due to Big Oil's need to perpetuate itself. This is not a 'holy war' ... it is a war of greed. John McCain brought up his experience in Vietnam - one more war fought for the wrong reasons. You're too young to remember, but many of us do remember. Have we learned nothing in the last forty years??

As I read your opinions and the actions you have taken in your short term as governor, I am shocked and apalled, and my heart hurts. You are a mother and grandmother-to-be, yet you are against abortion under any circumstance. Apparently, you'd rather see children all over the world starve to death within a few months of birth because their parents can't afford to feed them, or a mother who beats or throws a child into the garbage because all she can see is the face of the man who raped her.

You don't want any gun control, even though children the ages of yours are killing each other in cities all over the U.S. because guns are so easily accessible to them. Sarah, what if it was one of your children killed by one of those children with guns? Would you still say, 'Guns don't kill people - only people kill people?'

When I listened to your speeches, I don't hear one possible solution to the oil crisis; the war in Iraq; the economic crisis facing our nation. I don't hear anything about better schools, or health care for all, or ways to balance the national debt. I hear ego and arrogance from you; white supremacy backed by fanatical fundamentalist beliefs; the competitive need to slam the opponent so you can 'win' above all else. I do not appreciate the Republicans' 'Perception Management' team 'spinning' lies into 'truths' for the gullible American public's consumption.

My question to you, Sarah, is where is your heart? Where is your compassion, mercy, and the desire to uplift all humanity? Where is your respect for people of other cultures, religions, races? Where is your desire to find true answers to all the challenges our nation is facing at this present moment? You bandy the word 'change' around, but I haven't heard one real word about what you intend to do. At some point, if your voting record doesn't change, indigenous people around the world may start calling you 'Daughter-who-rapes-the-earth'.

As I looked at the crowd at the GOP convention, I noticed very few people of color. Your husband comes from indigenous peoples. In some secret place, his heart must be full of tears and terror.

People of Color - First Peoples, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans - I call on you to look beneath the rhetoric. See the flim-flam of sympathy and self-righteous white supremacist, racist, fanatical religionist 'patriotism'. Understand that NONE of the true issues are being addressed, because McCain/Palin have no answers!! Call for an honest vote count - no 'lost' ballots; no 'miscounts'. . . we all suspected the last election was bogus - it's time to make sure we have a real election now.

My prayer for you, Sarah, is that you learn the true meaning of Love, Service, Humility, Compassion and Mercy. I pray that through this heart opening, you will begin to feel the grief of the world, and all our ancestors. I pray that feeling this pain will level you to the ground, and make it possible for you to examine every belief you've ever held and discard those that do not serve Truth and Love.

And my prayer for my country is that you aren't allowed to 'win' this election. At this time, we need leaders who are open to a new way of viewing the world; leaders who are willing to stop greed and corporate corruption; leaders who will co-create balance and harmony with all. We are moving toward an enlightened age - God willing, we will not fall back into the Dark Ages.

Perhaps, Sarah, in another ten years, if your heart opens and you come to understand a larger picture than the narrow-minded bigotry you presently sustain, you would be a good Servant of the People. In the meantime, the heart of the indigenous peoples will pray for that opening and pray that our country is saved from you and your current belief system.

In love and blessing

An Indigenous Woman