[ExI] Update on the Hawaiian observatory shutdown

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting Rafal Smigrodzki:

> On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 2:02 AM Stuart LaForge via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> The telescope is only a casualty if the money is spent somewhere else.
>> If astronomers are patient, they may not have to settle for the second
>> best locale.
>>
>
> ### So any harm is the astronomers' fault, after all.


What? No. How did you get that from what I wrote above? The  
astronomers are getting screwed, Rafal. All I am saying that the  
astronomers should not give up. How is that blaming the astronomers?


>> Game or dirty fight, they are winning this round because federal law
>> is on their side:

> ### Really?

Yes. I posted a link to the wikipedia article about the federal law in  
question earlier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Religious_Freedom_Act

And here is a link to the actual law:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1996

Relevant quote: "On and after August 11, 1978, it shall be the policy  
of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians  
their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the  
traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and  
Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use  
and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through  
ceremonials and traditional rites."

The Hawaiians claim that Mauna Kea is a religious site for them. Is it  
really a religious site for them? Maybe or maybe not, but that doesn't  
matter because we are talking about religion. Religion is not based on  
fact it is based on belief. And if the law does not require Christians  
to PROVE that Jesus was the son of God, then the government cannot  
require Hawaiians to prove that Muana Kea is sacred to them.

Therefore, so long as the Hawaiians BELIEVE it is a sacred site to  
them, then the First Amendment and the American Indian Religious  
Freedom Act (which explicitly includes the native Hawaiians) clearly  
guarantees them access to the site.

I am not a lawyer or a judge, but the language that the law is written  
in is not all that obscure for legalese. If you interpret the law that  
I quoted differently than I do, please explain.

>> We must reconcile with the native Hawaiians or risk violating our own
>> laws to remove them from the mountain by force. That is the reality of
>> the situation for the time being.
> ### "We" need to reconcile with violent lawbreakers?

So far the protests have been tense and volatile but there hasn't been  
any violence yet, as far as I know, from either side. If the  
alternative to reconciliation is violent conflict, then yes I prefer  
reconciliation by all means. Not because I am a pacifist necessarily,  
but because the USA is in precarious situation right now. I have never  
seen such toxic partisanship in domestic politics like I have in the  
last few years drawn along socioeconomic and racial lines.

The hostility is palpable and it feels like a powder keg ready to go  
off. Sending in the military to forcibly quell the Hawaiian protests  
could be the spark that sets off civil war in the U.S. And that would  
be devastating to our civilization. If you think that these protests  
hinder astronomy then imagine what kind of set back to all of science  
an all out civil war would be.

> So let me ask you just one political question:
>
> On whose side are you?

I am annoyed by the protestors, and I wish they would just go home and  
let the TMT be built. In fact, I agree with John Clark that they  
probably didn't really decide the mountain was sacred until they found  
out it was valuable to the Haoles. But there is no way to prove what  
somebody does or does not believe when it comes to religion.

So ultimately, I am on the side of the U.S. Constitution and holding  
the republic together. Therefore I prefer to find a solution to the  
standoff that doesn't involve shooting American citizens (which the  
Hawaiians are) even if it involves delay or compromise. After all to  
quote Benjamin Franklin, "There never was a good war or a bad peace."

Stuart LaForge