YOUR CAUSE IS JUST,
BUT I CAN DO NOTHING FOR YOU
by Loren Edward Pearce
The Bundys are multi-generational members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka, Mormons. The founder of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith, was the victim of much persecution and denial of due process under the Bill of Rights. Joseph Smith recognized the importance of the constitution and, like the Bundys, held it in high esteem. Some of the writings attributed to Joseph Smith, speak to the high regard for the constitution of the United States, as laid upon his heart by the Lord:
Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. Doctrine and Covenants 101:79-80
Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever. Doctrine and Covenants 109:54
In consequence of land and property being illegally and forcibly taken from them, false imprisonment, murders and rape of their people, and other injustices, Joseph Smith, in company with a Judge Higbee, made two visits to President Martin Van Buren, to deliver a redress of grievances and explain in more detail the many injustices that had befallen them. At the second visit, President Van Buren was rude and disrespectful, telling them,
“Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you…if I help you, I will lose the Missouri vote”
MEETINGS WITH STAFF FROM REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS STEWART,
SOUTHERN UTAH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
On two occasions, I had an opportunity to speak by phone to Gary Webster and Adam Snow from Rep. Chris Stewart’s office. The first time, was in front of the Las Vegas federal district court in response to a letter that I had written to the congressman.
While I appreciated their willingness to reach out to me, I kept getting the feeling that they were finding reasons why they could not help us. Mr. Webster first claimed that the Nevada trial and the matters involving the federal prison in Pahrump, were matters for Nevada congressional reps, not Chris Stewart. I reminded Mr. Webster that two of the imprisoned Bundys, Ryan and Dave, were residents of his district in southern Utah. Additionally, Ammon Bundy owned land in southern Utah. I explained to Mr. Webster, that our congressional representatives were charged with representing us on federal matters, wherever they were located, including federal prisons and federal courts. Recounted here
DOWN TO BUNKERVILLE, NEVADA
In my second conversation, I spoke to both Gary Webster and Adam Snow from Stewart’s staff. Adam Snow said that he came from a ranching family and was very familiar with the Bundy’s plight. However, he was careful to maintain a neutral view of the situation. I updated him and Webster on the recent torture and abusive treatment of Ammon Bundy in the 3 foot by 3 foot shower stall. Any hope I had of getting a shocked response from them, quickly faded away as they remained non-committal in their reaction.
I was pleased to learn that Adam Snow was going down to Bunkerville the next day to meet with some of the wives and get more details on the situation. I wrote them a follow-up letter expressing my belief that they would get all the details they needed to get more traction and interest in the situation. Surely, once he heard it from the suffering wives, he would shake his neutral attitude and get energized to help the Bundys.
THERE IS NOT A LOT WE CAN DO FOR YOU
Again, to his credit, Adam Snow did make the effort to visit and listen to the women at the Bundy ranch. They were able to tell him in great detail what had happened to Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and several of the other defendants. It was emphasized that, regardless of guilt related to the federal government’s charges, the defendants were entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty and that over 460 days had gone by without a conviction and that the right to a speedy trial had been denied. Chris Stewart’s staff mentioned the complex nature of the case and that seemed to be a reasonable justification for the time delay.
I have learned from one of the wives, that the general response from Adam Snow was,
“I will pass it on to the congressman, but there is not a lot we can do for you.”
Typically, the politician will have several excuses:
1. Separation of powers. It is another branch of the government, therefore, I cannot interfere.
2. Another congressional district. It is not my turf.
3. I am swamped with many constituent issues. There is only 24 hours in a day to address all the concerns.
Yet, in contradiction to their excuses, elected officials will often claim that one can rely on them to get things done and changed, “We have a democratic system that usually works, you should write letters, make phone calls and let us know your opinion. We value it and take it seriously. But, we cannot do everything for everybody. Keep working within the system, if you try long enough, maybe you will get something changed.” However, when it doesn’t work, and the suffering is extreme, then it is very tempting to take other measures, such as civil disobedience.
When one hears excuses from an elected official, one feels the same way that Joseph Smith did, when he heard, “your cause is just, but I can nothing for you.”
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN THE SYSTEM DOES NOT RESPOND PROPORTIONATE TO THE NATURE OF THE EMERGENCY?
Again, the law and order people, those who trust government to mostly do the correct thing, those who believe we have forever left the days of colonial tyranny and injustice and that today, will say, “We are blessed with a well-informed society, a free press and a well designed system of checks and balances, and that, whatever you do, don’t be civilly disobedient! No, this is not 240 years ago, this is the age of golf courses, jet travel, Disney World, Hollywood, CNN, 50” flat screen TV’s and smart phones, and all the mainstream blessings that our forefathers did not enjoy. Today, there is no excuse for being civilly disobedient.”
Mainstream society generally holds that no matter how extreme your situation, no matter how pressing, no matter how painful, no matter how life threatening and no matter how unjust, you must work within the system! If you don’t and you decide to go the resistance, civil disobedience route, there are several thousand SWAT teams and militarized law enforcement, anxiously waiting to get you back in line.
This led me to write a two-part article called “Ballot Boxes Versus Bullet Boxes”
Ballot Boxes Versus Bullet Boxes, Part 1
Bullet Boxes Vs Ballot Boxes, Part 2
So, absent the Bullet Box, what can we do?
1. Keep a scorecard on your congressional representative. I plan to do a survey or poll asking people to grade Congressman Chris Stewart on how he handled the Bundy et al situation.
2. With that scorecard, print several thousand flyers and pass them out at Walmart parking lots, door to door and at large crowd events.
3. Do what LaVoy Finicum and his friends did, educate yourselves and educate others. Study the constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers and then when you meet with politicians, you will be able to make a strong case to them.
4. Do a triage on the issues, have a fire danger wheel. If the issue is highly dangerous, such as torture of political prisoners, show it on the high danger side. Prioritize and rank the issues.
5. Stay active on social media. Share, share, share and wake others up. Pop bubbles, bring people reality.
6. Run for office yourself. You may not win but your message will be heard.
7. Make an appointment with your elected representative, prepare a written statement of what concerns you and why.
8. Stay involved politically. Attend town hall meetings, political caucuses, delegate conventions and legislative sessions.
IT WON’T BE EASY, IT MAY BE THE HARDEST THING WE EVER DO
We got ourselves into this mess by being asleep, apathetic and distracted. We thought we could give the keys of power to the politicians and the government worker and then go back to our TV and entertainment. Now that we are finding out things are not fine, we find ourselves in a deep hole, or having to turn around a monster who doesn’t want to be controlled. It will take patience, it will take unity and it will take hard work.
Through the ballot box and becoming involved, let us get rid of the politicians with the attitude that the system works most of the time. The system is broken, especially when they tell us, “there is not much we can do to help you.”
As far as I am concerned, armed takeover of a government facility deserves jail time, a lot of it! Peaceful protest is another matter entirely, but that’s not the way this situation went down. I am sure since he is white, he won’t get it too bad. I say his actions demand a prison sentence, violence is not the way.
Your “cause” may be just but your actions were not.
Pam, the point that is being missed is that the Bundy et al prisoners deserve a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. All prisoners, other than those guilty of a capital offense, deserve it. Even if you feel they are guilty, they still have not had a chance to defend themselves. The greater crime here is on the government for putting people in prison for over 480 days, and never having been found guilty. Would you want that to happen to you or someone you care about, before having a full trial?
Pam, if I may
Ammon and all the first 7 defendants it the trial in Oregon were determined to be NOT GUILTY. No person at the refuge was ever harmed or threatened in any way. Folks from the surrounding area were welcome there. Call someone who lives in Burns and ask them how many times they went to the local airport during this time. FBI agents point guns at folks, they don’t offer you a bite to eat-especially the HRT&Anti Terror teams that were in Burns. As to violence-the only people who resorted to force and violence were the government employees-in both instances Bunkerville and the Wildlife Refuge……..
not a narrative—-fact
when I speak to the Southern Utah office over the last years on these issues, I get the same feeling. as this article relates. A Do Nothing it seems.
Stewart will be in Richfield Utah high school 7pm Friday 12 of may, tomorrow. thus anyone close should go, I plan on going. For I desire to speak with him. After all his massive mailed note cards did say / ask for our input.
Our BIG problem – the elephant in the room – for the last half century our public school curriculum has been slowly modified to NOT teach anything meaningful about our government; how it works and what part WE play by running for office or even what ‘public virtue’ is.
Therefor today we have a situation where the only viable candidates to take others places are those who are already entwined within the local government circles; people who are just as bad as those we must get rid of. Even with this awareness it will take a few generations to undo this improper learning and restore America’s ideals within our children . . .
It is quite disturbing to here elected officials make excuses. They forget their Oath of Office and their duty to hold government employees accountable to their Oath of Office. They forget the life, limb, and treasure given to preserve the Supreme Law of the Land for our posterity.
There really and truly is no excuse for these government people who disregard their Oath of Office and don’t have the courage to make a phone call holding other government employees to their Oath.
It is pure cowardice, dishonesty, and fear of upsetting the apple cart. These idiots have no vision of the past, nor any vision of the future. They are like talking to walls. They think they can fool you, cause you to believe their spin, and send you on wild goose chases instead of forcing themselves to abide by their Oath of Office. Pure cowardice and dishonesty…
It wasn’t Mormons who settled here in America it was Christians who were being persecuted. Joseph Smith is not Jesus Christ and the the book of mormon is an abomination for it is not the Word of God in which the Bible is. Mormonism is a cult and Joseph smith is a fraud. As far as separation of church and state is a whole other topic which is another atrocity in this country. The law was created to keep the government out of the affairs of the church because that is why they fled and came to America from persecution.. That was the intent and meaning of that law. It was never intended not to teach the Word to all walks of life. The Bible was the only book in schools at one time. All our historian documents has the Almighty all through them. The quotes of our founding fathers has the Lord all through them. That is intent and reality. The only way to change that is to remove history by changing quotes and removing reminders of actual history and events and anyone who is part of that carries the spirit of the anti-christ. So be observant because the people running around changing history and changing the quotes from our founding fathers and removing alters and the Ten Commandments and don’t want the Lord to be taught in schools and remove the confederate flags carry the spirit of the anti-christ. There job is to get people not to believe that God ever existed. God does exist and Jesus Christ is the only way. No other faith or religion will get you to heaven. Jesus Christ is the the way the truth and the life and their is no other way to heaven. God Bless
This case was more about religious hatred than anything else. The Bundys and LaVoy Finicum were hated because of their religion more than they were for anything they did. The bigotry is no different than that of Hitler against the Jews. Many people think it was perfectly ok that a Mormon was gunned down. No one did anything to deserve the gestapo response that got a man killed. Everyone who helped orchestrate that response deserves to understand the full extent of the extreme nature of what was done that day.
Aw, I dunno about justifying a generalization saying the majority of people were ok with gunning down a Mormon. Mr. Finicum seemed like a passionate patriot and a man who tried to be good, takes a lot of character to foster as many children as he did. American patriots lost a good man with his murder.
That being said, I don’t know whether I can call myself a Christian, I have read the Bible and appreciate Jesus Christ but I am a child of reason and nature but in that I don’t think Jesus Christ was contradictory but Christendom at large is hugely liable to being contradictory…and to put it simply I do not understand Mormonism probably as much as I don’t understand Christendom. The man who was the Chairman of our local Tea Party was a Mormon in the term before I was explained Mormonism this way, “In the early 1800’s there was a huge revival movement, eagerness and curiosity about the place Christianity would play in the continent ahead.” And thus Mormonism sprang up from those variables. Worse things have happened…though I would not say I agree. However, in 1806, to lend credence to that observation, one of the mandates Thomas Jefferson gave to Meriweather Lewis in 1806 on his journey across the continent was “to look for signs of the lost tribe of Israel”…as odd as that may seem it was a concern at the higher ups of our government apparently…and if so, then who can dismiss that curiosity at the common religious level.
And this is all to be held in conjunction with the fact that from 1496 to 1608 the Spanish Catholic Christians were “settling America(s)”. Would a Protestant call a Catholic a Christian in 1520?
All in all, Jesus Christ would probably just sigh and say the point was missed as he knew it would be.
As the people defer more and more of their independence and responsibility to the government, feeding the growth and overreach of said government, their voice fades as does their importance to a system that is only considered with preserving the system.
Excuses #1 & #2 hold no water.
1. “Separation of powers. It is another branch of the government, therefore, I cannot interfere.” Congressmen pass the budget for the entire federal government. That makes every part of the federal government their concern. If Congress gives them money, it’s their concern.
2. “Another congressional district. It is not my turf.” Every Congressman votes on issues that affect the entire country. Congressman Stewart votes on issues that occur in Pahrump and Las Vegas as well as in Cedar City. Therefore issues in Pahrump are of his concern.
Excuses #1 & #2 not being valid, one’s Congressman cannot plead excuse #3. He is one’s representative in Congress and it’s his job to deal with one’s concerns. If he feels he doesn’t have the time, he should hire more staff and / or adjust his schedule to make the time.
Ammon did call our encampment this afternoon, and he’s much more himself, even a few laughs.Not to diminish this grim situation, but we were very glad to hear he’s feeling better.