Regarding ‘sacredness’
Do you believe a belief is not a fact?
With all the yelping by the protesters that the heap of lava named Maunakea is “sacred,” therefore the Thirty Meter Telescope is a no-no, have they even considered where that idea of “sacredness” came from?
During the reign of succession of the ruling family of the Kamehamehas, Queen Ka‘ahumanu, favorite wife of King Kamehameha the Great, abolished the old kingdom’s system of gods and worship — a consequence of the influence of Christianity, a non-native religion introduced by missionaries.
Now, whether that royal proclamation by the then-Hawaiian sovereignty meant that the ancient belief of the sanctity of Maunakea was also thereby banished is subject to interpretation.
The “sacredness” issue of Maunakea wasn’t brought to attention back then, which led to the allowance of telescopes being built — that is, until TMT traipsed onto the scene.
Protesters then aroused a concept of “sacredness,” or kapu, as a spiritual reason and ideological deterrent against construction of TMT’s observatory.
If the rulers of the Native Hawaiian kingdom repudiated their ancient godly beliefs, would it mean by extension that Maunakea was deemed no longer “sacred,” unlike what the protesters claim? Does this invalidate their insistence that the mountain is indeed sacred?
Hmmm. Ifs. If only we can all agree to agree.
Lloyd Fukuki
Waimea
Trump’s wall
President Donald Trump’s wall protects drug smugglers.
People are buying a power tool that costs less than $100 to cut pieces out of Trump’s border wall.
Some holes are big enough for people to walk through; other holes are just big enough to hand drugs through.
So when the drug gangs go up to their small hole, they pass the drugs through the hole in the wall, and if the police show up, they can only nab the gang members on the American side of the wall.
The gang on the Mexico side can smile and wave to the American police, and walk away as slowly as they want, because Trump’s wall is protecting them from arrest.
Then they come back in a week, 10 miles away, and cut another small hole in the wall with their inexpensive power tool.
The Great Wall of Trump, another epic failure.
Dennis Chaquette
Keaau
