PHILOSOPHY

Respond to the following paragraph. You can either agree or disagree with it. response, should be 150 words

Nature, the Sacred, and Questions of Religious Freedom

I previously heard about the Dakota Access Pipeline in the news and social media but I never looked into it in order to find out what it was really about. Reading all of these articles and blog posts it is evident that the Standing Rock Protest can be approached with a religious freedom viewpoint.

Many people will argue against it being part of religious freedom and the government will probably not agree to honor it because of the prospective financial gains. The problem that the Americans find here is that the Indian tribes have all come together in an effort to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from doing the oil pipeline across their sacred areas.

This is the first time that all tribes come together in a very long time because it is such a significant part of their way of life and religion. Although Native Americans do not consider what they practice a religion they call it this way to make the majority of America understand what they reference their way of life to be. Native Americans believe the secular and religion is together and they are always considered intertwined. Nature, water and land are very important Americans.

Not only is the land being moved from this area but also it is considered a sacred place for these Indians. Sacred places are not to be changed in any way because they believe it will disrupt the lands. People from all the tribes have come together to camp near the construction site and pray.

I believe that this case could be taken as a religious freedom case because water and lands have such a pivotal role in the beliefs of the Native Americans.

In "What Standing Rock Has to Do With Religious Freedom", Chelsea Langston Bambino states, "For Native American "water protectors", advocating against a pipeline which could harm their water supply is a deeply spiritual act, motivated by a sacrosanct duty to protect the earth and the interconnectedness of everything" (Bambino, 2016). The pipelines will disturb their lands and also contaminate the water that is to be used by them.

The Native Americans use this land to do ceremonies and prayers every day and it is considered a sacred place for them. A concern that I have is why the government does not find it unfair that they considered creating the route in Bismarck but did not because of the concerns of the inhabitants. The people living in this location are 90 % white and fought because the pipeline would contaminate their water supply, but this is not a concern when considering the Indian Tribes.

I think both are real concerns and should be thought of as religious reasons but also as environmental reasons. Like mentioned in the articles, understanding the reasons behind their actions is very important. Eventually these actions will affect us all. The environment cannot withstand so much pollution and contamination. The Indian Tribe's religion understands the importance of the Earth to them and future generations.