I’m deeply bothered. Bothered by it all. I have watched the
video and I still don't think it's clear what happened. I have read the articles—both for and against the occupation. There is a
part of me that wishes I could choose sides as easily as the masses I see
around me. Applauding or condemning, at will, but I cannot. Maybe I know too
much. Perhaps too little?
I’m not here to argue or convince. Merely to try to make
sense of it all for myself. A man is dead. I didn’t know him personally, but I know folks
who did. And from what I can tell, he was a good man, if imperfect. It saddens me to witness
people who cheer his death, and tout that “he got what he wanted”. Probably
because I see it differently. While he may have said he would prefer death to
prison, it seems to me that what he really wanted
was to stand up for a cause in which he believed, to support the healthy use of
public lands and to stem government overreach. Were his methods the most
reasonable choice? I don’t know. And I don’t think you can REALLY claim to know
either. All you can know is what you would have done and what you feel is
justifiable for yourself. Unfortunately, we see only a micron of what
is happening on both sides of the story. We see only what each side would have
us see, for that is their reality and all they can ultimately show us.
I concede that you are entitled to your opinion on the
matter, as am I, but when did it become okay to dismiss the life of a man with
complete disregard for the fact that he was a man? Where has our humanity gone?
Have we, as a society, become so incredibly selfish that the death of another
member of the human race is irrelevant? Or worse, a cause for celebration?!?
Can we not agree to disagree without exacting a death sentence? Can we not be
loving and accepting of one another, even when there are differences? And what
of moderation? Isn’t it reasonable that we find a way to use and conserve the
lands simultaneously? Every part of me believes there has to be a way to do
just that. Stewardship over the land has to be the answer.
Unfortunately, moderation doesn’t sell the people. Extremes
do. And if the masses can be polarized under the pretense that one side is wrong
and the other right, victory can be claimed and camp set up on personal moral
high ground. Ironically enough, each side will claim said victory and the right to be on that moral high ground. Go
figure, right?
Yes. I do know the leaders of the movement. They are cousins,
somewhere down the line. Men I have spent days with at our family
reunion. They are God fearing men who love the outdoors, ranching, horses, dancing, and family. They are tellers of stories and practical jokers.
To a certain degree, I understand their plight, if only as an observer. I know
the fight over public land usage in the West is tense. I have been privy to it
for as far back as my memory reaches. Whether it’s a fight over land use, water
rights, development, mining, air space, endangered species, or a myriad of
other topics, it has had a place in my life. Still, at the end of the day, he
who controls the water, controls the land out here. It’s just the way it is. Anyone
who tells you that water rights in the desert southwest is an easy matter is
either uneducated or incredibly naïve. There is nothing easy about water rights
out here. Even Senator Barry Goldwater is fabled for saying something along the
lines of “We’ll sell you our gold and share our women but if you come after our
water you’ll have a fight on your hands!”
This situation is not black and white from where I sit.
There is no clear right and wrong. There is so much ambiguity and bias that we
may never fully understand the truth of the matter.
So, I suppose, at the end of the day, my plea is simply
this…
Seek to understand the whole truth in the matter, not just the truth that
suits your fancy. Be moderate and reasonable as you form your opinions.
Understand that when someone disagrees with you, it doesn’t make that person
inferior, stupid, or evil. Just different from you. Stop the name calling
and belittling. Be willing to ask the hard questions and receive the answers
that come. But most importantly—see the humanity of the situation. There are,
after all, humans on both sides of this fight who are doing what they believe
to be right.
