Rev Kuespert

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  2. Never Ending Story

    in Creative Expression & Cultural Arts

    Posted

    And so dies Mr. Nipplestein.

    Marty Nipplestein died in the church and was buried along with his name

    Nobody came

    Vanna White, wiping the dirt from her hands as she walks from the grave

    No one was saved

    All the lonely people

    Where do they all come from?

    All the lonely people

    Where do they all belong?

    Indiana, in a little town called......

  7. The Cowardly Lion

    in Stories & Texts Archive

    Posted

    Growing up traveling I became inurre(sp) to the every day violence of gangs and terrorists (who in my mind are no different than gangs only on a broader/bigger scale).War and threat of war was a norm.

    It wasn't until I had to physically defend myself and my children from a maniac (to whom I happened to be married to at the time) that I learned fear. All of my growing up life I was trained in self-defense never thinking I'd actually have to use it, much less against a man who claimed to love, honor, and cherish me.

    As a result I have been living with a fear of relationships and have not, and do not have a man in my life. I had a hard time realizing what I was doing to myself in allowing that fear to take over my life.

    I am now doing the things that I need to do to get my "self" back.

    Love, Theresa

    The worlds a better place with you in it. You will return to the place you need to be to accept love and give love without fear. Relationships between 2 people who share a mutual love for one another, sometimes suffer hurt and pain emotionally in everyday struggles of life but should never under any circumstances bring physical pain and abuse to each other. I'm sorry for your experiences, let them make you stronger as a woman. Let the world around you heal you as only mother earth can. From your roots, a stronger, loving woman will emerge and I am glad to know you.

    Love Bill

  9. Native Americans

    in Stories & Texts Archive

    Posted

    Post made by OddyseyT in Open Pulpit:

    Martin Luther King Jr. affected a whole generation or two. Black people are slowly gaining their civil rights. It's been a much slower process for Native Americans, however. Native Americans don't generally like being treated like black people. It's a whole different set of cultures. They have separate religious freedom issues. They have a problem, generally, with Native American mascots in sports. Apathy is killing them. It's important for people to stick up for the underdog, in this case Native Americans, instead of just standing by letting injustice happen. People tend to ignore Native American activists.

    It doesn't help that there is still segregation going on in our schools. I always wanted to make friends with some Native American kids in school. There is corporal punishment in some Indian schools. Our history classes and books don't tell much of Native American history. History books would need to be rewritten to reflect a much more balanced and accurate picture of history. We teach prejudice in our schools through history classes. This is reflected even more, by how much the TV and radio ignore Native Americans. It's almost as if though we believe the more we ignore them, the more likely they are to go away.

    They'd like their sovereignity, a lot like Ireland would. Anglo-saxons seem to take the angelic connotations of their name a little to seriously and are convinced of their right to rule over everybody else. That includes putting their culture first. But there is much to be gained from allowing other cultures to rule next to them. The Celts should be able to rule their own countries, just like Native Americans should be able to rule their own nations. Granted, banning corporal punishment in schools should be universal, but Anglo-Saxon culture is lacking some color.

    The majority of white society is convinced of their superiority. It's a rare Native American in politics. This is ironic considering this was all their country to begin with. Freedom is preached, but not praticed. It can predominantly be blamed on religious bigotry and the ostracization of Goddess culture. Great Spirit is love; God is love. It's all the same God. God made all people, knows all people, and people celebrate God in different ways. Also I believe in the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman, and that She is Goddess. There should be no reason for telling them they can't have their sun dances and rain dances. And I happen to think the peace pipe ceremony is a good thing. The Bible is good because it has stories about Jesus in there, but it was written by fallible men. There's very little proof that the story of Adam and Eve was the truth. Native Americans have interesting creation stories, too.

    White guilt doesn't help either. Nobody should feel guilty for being born white. Ignorance is inevitable, one has to do a lot of extra curricular study to cure ignorance about Native American cultures. This can be blamed on the politics of public education. It was our ancestors who set up the country this way. It doesn't help to apologize for something you didn't do or didn't know. Most of racism is propagated by murderers and child molestors. It should help to remember we've contributed a lot to their cultures like modern medicine, science, math and Jesus. We should let them influence our culture more. They've built great societies, and we could have a lot to learn from them.

    My mom is Native American. She's a pretty normal person. There shouldn't be the kind of chasm there is between our cultures. They aren't exotic birds to be caged and studied. My mom is a buddhist. She doesn't know what tribe she's from because she is a child of rape. Her biological father was a rapist and didn't bother to tell her white mom what tribe he was from. I learned about prejudice from my girl scout leader. She ripped off my mom $30.00 by saying I had replaced the candy bars I was selling with rocks. It was a lie.

    Modern day mythology attributes special powers to Native Americans. They don't have any special powers. This view of them tends to blot out the poverty and various other problems that are common on reservations. On the Navajo reservation, few people have electricity. In 1997, the government was relocating Navajo elders to a nuclear dump site to make way for Peabody coal. They were digging up sacred burial sites. I met a woman whose uncle was run over and killed by a bulldozer from the coal mine. Nothing was done about this murder. Very few people helped them out during this relocation. People need to help, because Native Americans don't have the kind of power it takes to stop this abuse.

    When they do fight back, people refuse to understand. Leonard Peltier is in prison for defending himself and his people against murderous FBI agents. He may or may not have shot back at them. They should let him go. It was self defense.

    The police are propagating prejudice by ignoring crimes against Native Americans. I had a Blackfoot friend who witnessed the murder of another Blackfoot teenager who was a civil rights activist. Nothing was done about this murder, even though it was a child. Nothing was ever done about the murder of my friend's uncle either.

    I think it would only be humane to rebury dead Native Americans instead of studying them. Many Native Americans would prefer their dead to be reburied. We don't need to study them this badly. lt isn't as if the information archaeologists gain from studying the dead makes it into public schools anyway. Their studies are polluted with ethnocentrism, too. Why does white society take this sort of thing for granted. How would you feel if they dug up your grandmother and refused to rebury her? A grave is a sacred site to God, no matter what.

    People need to stick up for Native Americans and what they need. There aren't enough of them to carry this burden alone. I stick up for the underdog, whether it be children or Native Americans and I am rewarded with a great sense of peace. I've found Native Americans to be generous hosts, in general and very understanding. They've helped me out a lot in return. Whenever I've been down and out it's always been Native Americans who are there for me. Obviously they know already what love is. I know my mom does.

    October 14. 2006

    --------------------

    Theresa M. Lennon

    geocities.com/TheresaMarieLennon

    Thank you for posting. I coppied it here in hopes of creating discussion over the topic.

  10. Letter To The Hensley Family

    in Good Wishes, Gratitude, Blessings and Prayers

    Posted · Edited by Rev Kuespert

    My condolences go out to the Hensley family. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. My thanks go out to the Hensleys for the ULC and the family I have found.

    Weep not for Lida, rejoice in her accomplishments! The torch she carried is handed down now to her children while she joins her husband in the afterlife. As the torch still burns brightly for all those seeking their way through this life, the Hensleys accomplishments on this earth forever light the way for those stumbling in the fog seeking their way, their belief, their god and their reason for existence. For this, we give thanks and God bless.

    Rev. Charles (Bill) Kuespert

    ULC forum moderator

    ULC Saint

    Rolling Prairie,In