Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[1eagle1]

You want religion....here Ya go!!!
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Generally...Many American Indian Tribes Had It Right....Period!
Their basic philosophy should be what WE live by! IMHO!
And I am NOT of Indian descent!
For the most part...They were lied to...cheated...and stolen from...by THIS New Free Country's Manipulators! They did not "fit in" with the plans of power!
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"There tends to be a fairly widespread sense of respect for everything in the world,"

"There tends not to be a sense of sin against some deity but instead a sense of obligation to give back to the community," she said. "If I just take from nature and from other human beings and I don't give anything back, I'm weakening the strength of my community. I need them and they need me."


American Indian Philosophy Offers Unique Perspective and is Worth Studying

In addition to her interest in American Indian philosophy, Marilyn Holly also conducts research in the philosophies of science and social science.

The American Indians can teach us a lot if we're willing to study their criminal justice system, their respect for the environment and their unique form of government, said Marilyn Holly, associate professor of philosophy.

Holly, who has been interested in American Indian spirituality since she was a child, has studied this form of philosophy for about 25 years and has had many essays on this topic published. Her most recent essay is on the American Indian criminal justice system and will appear in an anthology of related subjects.

"They have this fantastically interesting criminal justice system," she said. "In the Navaho nation a criminal is not bad but they're sick, according to their version of health and illness."

The entire community then takes an active role in the rehabilitation of the criminal.

"Criminals are given a healing and justice ceremony," she said. "It's so interesting because the criminal isn't rejected but is helped by family and friends to regain a helpful interaction with the community."

Although most Indian nations place a priority on reforming criminals and integrating them back into the community, Holly emphasizes that dangerous criminals are treated very differently.

"Anybody who is really dangerous, like a murderer, would be isolated from the community," she said. "But this is only in cases where the person is considered harmful to others."

Through her research, Holly has also discovered that most Indian nations share an unusually strong sense of responsibility to the community and the environment.

"There tends to be a fairly widespread sense of respect for everything in the world," she said. "For example, if I killed a deer to eat, I would not kill any more than my family needed and I would pray to the deer to forgive me."

The Indians' respect for their community involves an ethical responsibility to reciprocate for what they take.

"There tends not to be a sense of sin against some deity but instead a sense of obligation to give back to the community," she said. "If I just take from nature and from other human beings and I don't give anything back, I'm weakening the strength of my community. I need them and they need me."

Likewise, because of the belief that everything in the environment belongs to Mother Earth, Holly said, the concept of owning private property and/or land is unfathomable.

"Some Indian writers have said this (private land ownership) is evil, that you can't own pieces of your "mother"," she said. "Even the tribe doesn't really own the land it lives on, but is allowed to live there if they treat the land and the animals the right way. This is a quite different philosophy from the English tradition which actually elects a government to protect property owners."

Another difference between American Indian and Western philosophy is the role government plays in society. For instance, although many people assume the chief is the leader of the tribe, he or she is usually instead simply a spokesperson.

"There was a real misunderstanding when the settlers came over because they thought an Indian chief was like a king but that, in fact, was not true," she said. "In many North American tribes the chief is there to execute the will of the people. The idea of a head of state that independently has power was quite foreign to many Indians."

Women were also active in Indian government, a fact most people don't realize, Holly said.

"In many tribes, women held more active political roles than was, or even is, the case in Western traditions," she said. "In some tribes, women could be chiefs and there were instances of women on the tribal council. This was a different sense of government which allowed greater participation by women."

http://clasnews.clas.ufl.edu/news/clasnotes/9701/indian.html