The wildlife we cherish at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were threatened by radical Constitutionalists who wish to dissolve all public lands. Sympathizers closer to home are revving up the fight for the hearts and souls of Grant County citizens.
The Bundy group failed to break apart the refuge, but the danger is not past. The day their leaders were arrested, they were in route to Grant County to plant their ideas in fertile ground. A community meeting proceeded without them, and I listened to their testimonies throughout the evening.
This community group, filled with conviction, spoke of love, of freedom, of coming together, of fears about losing their rights. They don’t seem to believe or to understand that those who oppose their agenda hold those same values. So why the great divide?
Well, for one thing, they are vested in demonizing all federal authority and anyone who doesn’t believe in their ideology. Meanwhile, in describing the occupation of the refuge, speakers described all the love there, what a wonderful place of freedom and peace they experienced there. Did they ever connect that, with a threat of violence, they stole that treasured place from others who make the pilgrimage there year after year to experience the same serenity? They displaced some wonderful, caring, hardworking staff and thousands of visitors who seek the peace of the refuge. They, in fact, made tyranny their own method of controlling others – just as they accuse the federal government to be tyrannous.
They don’t have to describe how Malheur Refuge can invoke feelings of fellowship and serenity. People who belong their already know its power. Occupiers stole it from us. The armed occupiers held onto their Utopian encampment at the cost of the rightful occupiers whose productive lives had been dismissed. I did not hear one word of care or concern about God’s creation at Malheur – the wildlife dependent on caretakers of the refuge and that enrich the lives of thousands of people throughout the seasons.
The John Day community meeting speakers were self-righteous. They were not able to respect those who disagreed with them. They mock those who do not think like them. I’ve never before heard a room full of people who were so focused on blaming the government for their angst about how things are going in their world. As a group, they had zero positivism. No wonder they used the word “oppression” so often. I heard no imagination. I heard no creativity, I heard no inspiration. There was no light. There was endless foreboding.
Healthy attitudes give traction to people, allowing them to move ahead, resolve differences, succeed in solving problems. January 26, 2016 was an evening of extreme negativity and sad, sick mindsets. How do you reach out to such people rooted in such darkness?
As lovers of wildlife and of our community, we felt a duty to attend meetings. And we will continue to support those in our community who bring messages of positive action for safe, productive lives.