Untitled - Awaken Video

Chapter 1. World Views 8
of the various owl species found throughout the country is illegal (and immoral to
some degree), and for the most part, these birds are usually thought of as being an
important part of the ecology of its geographical area. This way of viewing owls
and their relationship to the earth is part of the “standard American” worldview.
However, to many of southwestern heritage such a view is absurd! The owl is,
in fact, evil! The “spotted owl controversy” of the early 1990’s, which started in
the Pacific Northwest, brought these two previuosly insignificant views into conflict
and, in some cases, actually became the source of physical altercations between the
two opposing factions. Though seemingly important to the members of each party
involved, to those taking a neutral stance, the fights appeared trivial, and the idea of
taking sides sounded ridiculous. Who is right depends entirely upon the worldview
from which one is judging. For lumberjacks and Hispanics dead owls are fine; for
Native Americans all owls are to be avoided if possible; and for the ecologically
minded, dead owls were a sin against nature and a blemish on humanity. For folks
of different heritages, relationships such as these can be confusing.
Differences in worldviews have been the cause of wars from time to time. One
group persecutes another because both are unable to create some kind of “common
ground.” The most bloody wars in history have been fought over differing worldviews,
often in the name of religion (which is just another layer in one’s worldview),
such as the Crusades, and some of the cruelest cold wars, such as the Inquisition
which had by some reports approximately 6 million so-called heretics put to death. 2
Indigenous cultures almost always end up being overrun based on the idea that
they are “Heathen” regardless of whether such a statement is actually true. Saamí,
Filipinos, Jews, Africans, Bushmen, and Native Americans of both northern and
southern hemispheres have all been subjected to often more than one attempt at
genocide because the members of the incoming culture were incapable of adapting to
or accepting the native worldview. Even in the year 1999, in countries such as Norway,
Canada, and the United States which are supposed to be technologically and
sociologically advanced and somewhat culturally sensitive, prison inmates, hospital
patients, and persons dying in rest homes are denied access to spiritual practices
if such practices fall outside the accepted “normal” religious definitions. In these
same countries, cults practicing neo-Nazism, racial purity, political exclusivity, and
2 This number has been rather hotly debated. Some members of the New Age movement
(usually neo-pagans) like to claim the highest number which is over 6 million, but this author
has seen reports which indicate that the number may have been much lower. Additionally, the
presentation is such that it sounds like it happened all at one time like a tribal extermination, but
the fact is that the executions lasted over a period of 6 centuries and the deaths included men,
women, children, and folks from all cultures known at the time. Reports of these deaths have also
made it sound as though the folk exterminated were primarily women, but this is also not the case.