God
is Red fascinated me. Vine
Deloria Jr. (1933–2006) was a Yankton Sioux activist. His great-grandfather was a medicine
man. His grandfather was a chief who became
a priest. His father rose to an
executive position in the Episcopal Church.
Deloria graduated from a seminary, but chose not to become a minister,
because of his father’s frustrations. He
sought a path that could be of greater benefit to Native American people.
There are three editions of God is Red (1973, 1992, 2003), spanning
a turbulent 30 year era — aim for the newest version. The book provides important views omitted
from the glorious saga of Western civilization.
Even the 1973 edition was well ahead of mainstream society in foreseeing
ecological catastrophe, the destination of our runaway train. We’re not a good path. Why are we on it? That’s the question that drives this book. Deloria’s search for understanding is presented
from a Native American perspective.
All civilized people are descendants of tribal ancestors. Unique religions emerged in each tribal homeland,
fine-tuned to its landscape, ecology, and climate. Every homeland had sacred places where the
community participated in special ceremonies.
All members of the tribe had deep roots in the homeland, and all shared
the same worldview. A tribal person
“does not live in a tribe, the tribe lives in him.”
In modern society, neighborhoods are constantly-changing swarms
of occupants having highly diverse incomes, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and
political views. People may live side by
side for years, yet have nothing in common, and sometimes intense differences. Many do not know the names or faces of most
folks in their neighborhood. This is not
a coherent community sharing a profound sense of responsibility for the
wellbeing of their ecosystem.
The Western conception of time is not about the eternal cycles
of passing seasons; it is linear — a bloody one-way pilgrimage from the miracle
of creation to the tumultuous end of the world, a constantly intensifying cyclone
of population, progress, pollution, and bad craziness. Humans are simultaneously the crown of
creation, superior to all other life on the planet, yet each newborn inherently
flawed, via the curse of original sin.
Jesus of Nazareth was a radical and intriguing Jewish thinker
who lived in occupied Palestine. He was
not fond of the Roman storm troopers, materialism, or greed. Just live simply and be nice. At that time, in the Mediterranean basin, and
in many surrounding regions, the tribal era was long gone. It had mutated into a number of
civilizations. Common folks lived under
the thumb of elites. Life was
harsh. Regional bloodbaths were common.
For a while, the members of the Jesus movement were all Jews. When Jesus died, his followers believed that he was the long anticipated Messiah, and that he “would return almost immediately
with an angelic army to judge the world.”
So, they quit working. Before
long, they went bankrupt. They had no
doubt that he would return during their lifetime. They were wrong. He didn’t.
A bit later, they opened the door to allowing gentiles into
the Jesus movement. From this point
forward, it was no longer a community having a common ethnic identity. This was the first step on the path to
becoming a multinational religion, the one and only absolute truth for everyone,
in every place, for all eternity.
Over time, the Jesus movement expanded into other
regions. In Rome, many joined the parade. Growing numbers led to the birth of a
religious institution — the Roman Catholic Church. By and by, the Roman Empire was rotting away
from decadence and delirium, softening it up for a spectacular blind date with
vicious mobs of bloodthirsty barbarians.
The collapse of the Empire created a power vacuum that was taken over by
the Church, which proceeded to expand its domain and accumulate enormous wealth
and power.
True believers waited for the return of the Messiah for
years, then decades, then centuries. This
was getting boring. One day, a
revelation from God arrived — the Messiah could not return until all nations had
heard the story of Jesus. So, believers shifted
their preaching and teaching into high gear.
Like the Roman Empire, the Roman Church became devoted to perpetual
growth and the accumulation of wealth. Kings
and Popes worked hand in hand to conquer, colonize, and convert distant
lands. The missionaries wanted to save
heathen souls, and the states wanted to relieve the converts of their valuable
resources, exploit their labor, and collect taxes.
And so, Christendom spread across Europe, Africa, Australia, and
Asia. Colonists eventually arrived in
America. Epidemics of Old World diseases
rapidly spread, killing maybe ninety percent of the Indians. The buffalo robe fad exterminated 40 to 60
million bison. Fur traders nearly eliminated
the beavers. Loggers mowed down vast
virgin forests. The cavalry slaughtered
those Indians who resisted surrendering their freedom.
Tribal folks were not amused.
They were confused, perplexed, and pissed. A missionary would convert them to the one
true faith, and a year later the next missionary would inform them that the
first one was a demonic fire hose of lies and deceptions. All the black robes read the same book, but none
agreed on what it meant. WTF? Especially aggravating was the enormous gulf
between the beautiful beliefs they taught, and the relentless brutality of the
colonial society, and its frantic gang rape of their ecosystem. Meanwhile, back in Europe, instead of
brotherly love, Christian nations endlessly waged war on one another.
When the Church shifted into globalization mode, and the
Reformation shattered it into numerous denominations, the sweet teachings of
Jesus largely got thrown under the bus. Many
express deep concern for zygotes embedded in uterine walls, but display far
less compassion for the infants that eventually squirt out of the womb. When American economic interests are
threatened, reverence for human life stops, and the Marines are sent to mow
down the enemy of the month, as well as innocent bystanders.
Deloria maintained a sense of humor. He had a lot of fun with his chapter on
popular Christianity — the theme parks, Jesus freaks, pussy grabbing faith
healers, shameless money-hustling televangelists, and mega-church prosperity
cults. “The evangelical and
fundamentalist wing of Christianity dwells on the figure of Jesus, and on the
theology of old time religion. Yet their
knowledge about Jesus, his times, and the early church is nearly nil.” Sunday school taught me nothing about the
Crusades, the Inquisition,
or the Thirty Years War.
Today we’re flying along on a joyride to Judgment Day, which
is mere months or days away, maybe. In
polite conversation, it remains rude to contemplate our responsibility for
leaving behind a somewhat habitable planet for the kiddies. “It takes incredible willpower to pretend
that history is the unfolding of a divine plan for humanity. In less than two and a half centuries,
American whites have virtually destroyed a whole continent.”
Deloria concludes, “Who will find peace with the lands? The future of humankind lies waiting for
those who will come to understand their lives and take up their
responsibilities to all living things.
Who will listen to the trees, the animals and the birds, the voices of
the places of the land? As the
long-forgotten peoples of the respective continents rise and begin to reclaim
their ancient heritage, they will discover the meaning of the lands of their
ancestors. That is when the invaders of
the North American continent will finally discover that for this land, God is red.”
Deloria, Vine, God
is Red: A Native View of Religion, 3d ed, Fulcrum Publishing,
Golden, Colorado, 2003.
YouTube offers a number of Deloria videos.
4 comments:
Pretty brutish understanding. Theology is often hijacked by opportunist people . spin city TV show Michael j fox demonstrated this
Hi Paul. Yes, the Sioux have taken quite a beating from the "love thy neighbor" team. They have a lot of hard feelings about this. Deloria strongly expressed them.
White supremacy will never understand anything holistic. Their brain is just not build that way. Everything is about being the winner, being the most powerful, being the one who cannot be questioned. When they run out of arguments they blame so-called opportunists, liberals, socialists, etc. Their slogan: " Don't confuse me with facts, my mind is already made up."
Yup! White supremacists, and many other groups. We may have big brains, but they are often easily confused.
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