Read the story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,563885,00.html?test=latestnews
I will probably come across as being insensitive to share what I am about to share, in light of this tragedy.
But - I think it is sad that more and more people feel such practices are necessary to get in touch with God.
Worse is the fact that these people paid $10,000 or more to be a part of this ceremony.
Putting the mind and body through extreme duress to get in touch with the spirit world is part of the Lamanite tradition - so is the use of drugs, such as
peyote.
I don't think we should seek enlightenment through these practices.
My reasons are two-fold.
For one, they are not Scriptural.
Secondly, I would remind everyone of how God viewed the Native American culture at the time when the white men came.
Below, Nephi is shown a vision of the last days by an anegl of God.
[1 Nephi 3:134] And it came to pass that I beheld after they (the Lamanites) had dwindled in unbelief, they became a dark and loathsome, and a filthy
people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
[1 Nephi 3:149] And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise;
[1 Nephi 3:150] And I beheld the wrath of God that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles, and were smitten.
What the white man did to the Indians certainly seems unjust and cruel, ...but also never forget that it was prophesied to their seed centuries before, and it
was said that it was the wrath of God poured out upon them for their abominations. Yet, he would not allow them all to be destroyed, and the Gentiles would
come unto a light, and then share that light with the Lamanites.
Why would we, who were given that light to share with them, think to find God by instead seeking out the old religious practices, which God called
abominations?
I speak these things as one who has long had a love for the Native American people, and who used to love to study their traditons. I used to attend a pow wow
whenever I could. Read whatever literature I could get on Native Americans. Watched any movie I could about Native Americans. I studied under a Cherokee
professor in college. I wrote papers on the subject, and expressed my feelings of guilt as a white person for what was done to the indians. But, the truth had
long eluded me, that I had not done these things to the Native Americans. My eyes needed to be opened to the fact that I was opperating under a delusion. It
was the Gentiles who had done these things, and they did so as part of God's wrath .... but out of those Gentiles, there would also be a seed of Ephraim,
and it was the destiny of Ephraim to reach out to and help their older brother, Manasseh, not slay him. Indeed, the early Restored church did just that. They
never stole from, or hated, or killed a Lamanite, but reached out to them. I am Ephraim. Not a Gentile.
Custard (clearly a Gentile) once spoke to a Chief about the white's military exploits against the indian people, and said something along the lines,
"before the white man came, if indians wanted horses, they went to a neighboring tribe and stole
them. If they wanted a woman, they were willing to take them from another tribe, against their will, whether they were already married to another, or not.
Tribes often raided one another and indians killed each another to get what they wanted. Now, the whites have come and they do no different. We just have
superior weapons to do it with."
That is not an exact quote, but it is the essence of his speech. I learned of it from my Cherokee professor.
For years I had been guilty of romanticizing the Native American culture, and had not seen the truth. It's plainly written in our Scriptures. Although
innocent lives were lost, as their are always some innocent among the wicked, and though attrocities were certainly committed, there was a reason why God
allowed it to happen .... and it was for the abominations among them, and for the attrocities they had previously visited upon each other. Because of this, my
advice is to be careful about embracing a culture that God had to come against because of its abominations. Embrace our Native American brother, and share the
light of the Gospel, but be cautious of embracing his "old ways" or traditions. It is neither necessary, nor expedient, for the sake of drawing
closer to your creator. And at its worse, it may lead you down strange paths that are at the very least, tainted with those abominsations the angel spoke
of.
Whether or not my words were chosen perfectly, please forgive my weakness and not disregard the truth.
My words my come across as cruel, or insensitive, but I speak them not to put down a people, or any person who has or would participate in such practices, but rather... I speak them as a voice of warning, to be careful brothers and sisters.
