A Long Journey Home: The Skeletons in Our Closets

By Rev. Bud Heckman, Executive Director, RFP-USA

Throughout my childhood, my parents took me to the cemetery to honor our deceased veterans and fellow countrypersons. In the whispers and walks, I learned lessons about life, about respect and about honor. With each approaching Memorial Day and Veterans Day, we would work for weeks ahead; checking the markers on the veterans’ graves, dusting them off, and placing flowers and flags.

I vividly remember the year we combed through the two overgrown forests at either edge of town, to uncover, identify, and re-establish the gravestones of the long forgotten. Every stone was checked and every name verified.

Few things are as powerful as seeing a sobbing hulk of a man embrace a gravestone, or a cemetery plot blueprint, realizing he has found his lost comrade’s final destination. Love of country becomes entwined with love of neighbor and friend, and the connection to the departed is even stronger, the sense of honor more elevated.

The news of a concluding report on the discovery of the frozen body of airmen Leo M. Mustonen in the melting snow of the Sierra Nevada brought back memories of those graveyards in that small town in Ohio. Our military’s meticulous effort to fulfill its “most sacred of promises” catalogued in Michael Wilson’s NY Times article demonstrates society’s deep respect for honoring the dead. In fact, as recent discussion over Slobodan Milosevic’s final treatment should remind us; in life’s end, many differences are set aside for our final recognition.

Over six decades had passed since the fatal failure of Mustonen’s parachute. Yet some of the 425-member staff of the Joint P.O.W./M.I.A. Accounting Command worked for months to resolve his case. Nearly 90,000 missing service persons remain. And we will keep searching, as we should.

However, in stark contrast to such an effort is the fact that the United States government and private organizations have possessed the human remains of over 100,000 persons for more than a century and have not - or, in some cases, will not - return them. Think of the human suffering and anguish involved. The difference is that the remains are those of the first Americans. The disparities are glaring.

In 1860, the U.S. government ordered military troops on the frontier to collect the skulls and other remains of Native Americans and ship them to Washington, D.C., for scientific study. Through time, remains of thousands found their way to displays, dusty shelves, and forgotten drawers in museums, universities, and depositories across the country.

In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. All federally-funded institutions are now required to return remains as well as sacred objects to the Native American tribes and nations from which they came. Many remains have been returned, mourned, and buried with dignity. But the process is slow and under funded. Many believe that the dedicated staff at the National Parks Service is doing their best, especially given the tensions and parameters within which they must work.

Today, 118, 358 Native American remains have still not been returned. In most cases it is because they cannot be identified as belonging to a federally-recognized tribe. They are labeled “culturally unidentifiable.” Often we know the region they come from, but not whom to give the remains to. Still these once-beloved mothers, fathers, friends and children are waiting to be returned and honored. Americans of faith and goodwill must respond, if we are to succeed in righting this wrong.

The first step in the final chapter of this “long journey home” for such Native Americans took place on Saturday, April 1, 2006. Fulfilling a dream, Cheyenne Peace Chief Lawrence Hart and tribal representatives from the South Central Plains region broke ground on a regional burial site in Clinton, Oklahoma. Working in partnership with the National Congress of the American Indians, with the over 50 US religious communities of Religions for Peace-USA, and with other religious and Native American partners; the Return to the Earth project, as it has been dubbed, works to fulfill that “most sacred of promises,” even for those who cannot be brought “home.” Native Americans will receive remains of their ancestors and handle them in ways that they see as appropriate. They will be assisted by religious communities as humble accompaniers in the process of repatriation.

While needing to obviously acknowledge a history of silence and even collusion in the historic wrongs against Native Americans, religious communities can bring unique assets. For example, their scriptural understandings of forgiveness and reconciliation give strong imperative to their involvement in the process of restorative justice needed today. And they want to move beyond the handful of formal apology statements that have trickled into existence.

I still remember some of the simple lessons of childhood – “clean up after yourself,” “put things back where you found them,” and “don’t take things that aren’t yours.” Now that I am older, however, those sayings come into sharper reflection. For instance, nearly 10,000 of those 100,000 plus Native American remains came from Ohio, probably some of them from in or near my hometown. There is a further irony here. The cemeteries in which those American service men and women are respectfully resting – the ones where I shaped my first understanding of honoring the dead - are situated in what was once completely Indian territory. The lingering knowledge of this fact is seemingly only left in the name places and school mascots of the region.

America’s focus today is largely on terrorism and security. It might be a helpful and humbling reminder that we have “skeletons in our own closet,” literally. It is time to own up to our own domestic history, and make peace with ourselves, even as we seek peace in the greater world.

Jain Center of Ameria Youth Organization JIVA NY

By Riddhi Doshi

On Saturday, October 7, 2006, over twenty young Jains set out on the first ever Jain Center of America camping trip. These young adults, ranging from ages fifteen to thirty, all met at the Jain Center of America temple, located in Queens, New York, from where they began their trip.

The first stop on the way to the campsite (which was located in Branchville, New Jersey) took them to Siddhachalam, a religious ground founded in the 1970s by Shri Sushilmuniji. At this retreat ground, the group prayed together, by doing Chaityavandan, a sequential series of prayers. Many stavans, or religious hymns, were recited and everyone sang together. Before they left the main temple for the dining hall, the young Jains had the opportunity of conversing with the visiting Sadhviji Shubhamji, a very well known and esteemed nun from Rajasthan, India. She provided inspirational words and commented on the motivation shown by our youth-led group.

After a wonderful lunch provided by Siddhachalam, we moved on to the campsite which was approximately a half hour away from Siddhachalam. From Saturday afternoon to Monday morning the group had a phenomenal time camping. In addition to camping mainstays like hiking, volleyball, cards and frisbee, the friends cooked all sorts of strictly Jain food (no meat, fish poultry, eggs or root vegetables). The highlights of the evenings were the vegan s’mores roasted over a campfire.

In an effort to further everyone’s learning, we participated in a sophisticated debate about the role of Jain philosophy in regards to war, the draft, and political intervention. One of the principle tenets of Jainism is anekantvad, meaning multiplicity of viewpoints. To exhibit this notion, the group was divided into two groups. One group defended the idea of purposeful conflict while the other argued against conflict and violence for any reason. Both sides agreed that violence is to be minimized and avoided by any means possible, but differences arose about the way to affect that outcome. In Jainism, Ahimsa (nonviolence) is the foremost tenet. So it was difficult to argue in favor of war, but political viewpoints and social arguments emerged. The dichotomy of viewpoints illustrated the idea of anekantvad and a debriefing discussion allowed us to better understand how multiple viewpoints can be a powerful value.

The 2006 camping trip was by far a major success. The youth were able to connect with each other and had a great religious experience.

Cotton: America Makes It, Africa Pays For It

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

The United States has dominated the global cotton market for nearly two centuries. Few things in the global market stay constant for so long, but America has worked hard to maintain its position. Every year, U.S. taxpayers spend tens of millions of dollars on research to improve the nation's cotton industry. The federal government also gives cotton farmers more than $1 billion a year in subsidies, which provide even more competitive advantage. There are university and government cotton research centers all over Texas and the South, all of which help U.S. cotton farmers compete in the global market. And it's working: U.S. cotton makes up 40 percent of world exports. No other country comes close.
And they are paying for it.

African governments have long complained that U.S. and European agricultural subsidies drive prices lower, making it difficult for African farmers to make a profit and nearly impossible to end Africa’s cycle of poverty.

A typical African cotton farmer will earn between $300 and $400 a year from his crop. Usually he will grow other food crops to feed his family, but cotton is often the only avenue to cash. Some estimates show that between 2001 and 2003, U.S. subsidies cost African cotton farmers about $400 million. Cutting cotton subsidies would raise prices 10-12 percent, costing an extra $30-$40 per year, an insignificant price for a Western farmer, but a momentous gain for his African counterpart.

Despite falling cotton prices, U.S. cotton production rose 40 percent between 1998 and 2001. This extra cotton is being dumped on the global market at below the cost of production.

Last year, the World Trade Organization upheld a ruling against the United States stating that American cotton subsidies are illegal. The United States has moved to eliminate export subsidies, but under the farm bill which expires in 2007, the vast majority of payments to U.S. growers continue.

America thrives in this new age of globalization, but we must remember that with a global economy comes a global partnership and a global responsibility. Elected officials may have decided that dominance in the cotton industry is worth the billions of dollars it costs taxpayers, but it it worth the hundreds of dollars it costs African farmers?

Source: NPR

America's Growth Spurt

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the population of America is expected to reach 300 million within the coming week. America is the third most populous nation, trailing behind China and India. With an estimated growth rate of one person every 11 seconds, it would seem that America, currently in its 230th year, is still in a growth spurt, and a rapidly increasing one at that.

After the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it took the country 139 years to reach 100 million in 1915, then only 52 years to reach the 200 million mark in 1967, and now another 39 years to achieve 300 million. According to census projections, the next 100 million will take only 37 years. According to William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institute, a change in immigration law in 1965 unintentionally reignited immigration-led population.

As the population rises, though, so does the quality of life. Longevity has increased to 78 years, the percentage of adults with a high-school diploma has reached 85 percent, homeownership has risen to 69 percent, and the cost of a gallon of milk is half its cost in 1967. Immigration may yield even further benefits. Frey believes that foreign-born residents and their children will surge into the workforce, and their payroll taxes will help reduce funding shortfalls for Social Security and other social programs that benefit older people.

However, this assumes that immigrant children will be educated well enough in American schools to find competitive jobs in the global economy. Poverty rates for children have exceeded poverty rates for the elderly for more than 40 years, and Hispanic and black children are between three and four times as likely to live in poverty as whites.

With elections looming in November, immigration has once again risen to the forefront of debate. Political rhetoric is rife with discussions of securing American borders and protecting American jobs. Yet we must ask: Is immigration failing us, or are we failing our immigrant children? By putting their lives and their futures at risk, are we not simply risking our own?

Peace: Not Just About Non-Violence

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

In 1864, Cheyenne Peace Chiefs passed through Denver heading for a peaceful sanctuary in Colorado when they were massacred at Sand Creek. This massacre was one of hundreds of such incidents that took place from the colonial era through the end of the 19th century, devastating the Native American population. In 1860, the United States government ordered military troops on the frontier to collect the skulls and other remains of Native Americans and ship them to Washington D.C. for scientific study. Remains - like those of the Cheyenne peace chiefs of the Sand Creek, Colorado massacre - were among thousands that ended up in displays as well as on dusty shelves and in forgotten drawers in depositories, museums, and universities across the country.

In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, requiring the return of human remains and sacred objects to Native American tribes and nations from which they came. Yet today over 110,000 remains still cannot be identified as belonging to a particular tribe. These once beloved mothers, fathers, friends, and children are waiting to be returned, honored, and buried with dignity.

In 2003, Native Americans and religious communities joined together to form the Return to the Earth Project, which supports Native Americans in burying unidentifiable ancestral remains now scattered across the United States and enables a process of education and reconciliation between Native and Non-Native people. The project has made significant progress in the past year, including erecting a building on the burial site and producing a study guide to start the healing process. Additionally, an awareness conference is scheduled for Monday, October 9, 2006, featuring Cheyenne Peace Chief, Lawrence Hart and Dr. Timothy McKeown of the National NAGPRA Office as speakers. However, there is still much more that needs to be done.

At the VIII World Assembly of Religions for Peace in Kyoto, Japan, Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan declared, “Now, more than ever, we must remember that peace is not just the absence of violence; it is the active creation of trust, recognition and empathy.” If we, as Americans, hope to facilitate a global peace, we must create trust, recognition and empathy within our own land first.

Government + Religion = Unsure Future?

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

Facebook, an online social networking service with a rapidly expanding membership has recently added a new category of groups to which its members may subscribe: campaign issues. Within these categories people have created groups for every conceivable platform addressing issues relating to social welfare, nuclear proliferation, and even religion. In fact, with a membership nearing 40,000 and still growing, one of the most popular groups to date is entitled, “Government + Religion = Disaster.” This Facebook group is only a small representation of what has become a widespread sentiment among the American public. Millions of people view religion as a source, if not the source, of conflict in the modern world and demand the removal of religion from the political process in order to pave the way for sustainable peace.

If religion is to remove itself as the source of conflict, it must become part of the solution. At the VIII World Assembly of Religions for Peace in Kyoto, Japan, over 800 senior religious leaders from across the world spoke in one voice and declared:

As people of religious conviction, we hold the responsibility to effectively confront violence within our own communities whenever religion is misused as a justification or excuse for violence. Religious communities need to express their opposition whenever religion and its sacred principles are distorted in the service of violence. They should take appropriate steps to exercise their moral authority to oppose attempts to misuse religion. What can we do as individuals? - Resist and confront any misuse of religion for violent purposes, including the promotion of religious stereotypes in sermons and in the media; - Become effective educators, advocates and actors for conflict transformation, fostering justice, peacebuilding, and sustainable development; - Draw upon our individual spiritual traditions to educate our members on our shared responsibilities to advance shared security; - Strengthen peace education on all levels.

To help accomplish these tasks, Religions for Peace - USA has made available themed papers on Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security, Conflict Transformation, Peacebuilding, and Sustainable Development, along with a toolkit on the Millenium Development Goals, and new resources will constantly be added.

Together we can ensure that Government + Religion = Peaceful Future.