Curious

I'm not just talking about internet trolls. People witness about the glorious wonders of Christianity everywhere, not just on internet forums. They knock on my door all the time.

I'll use a very dear and close friend of mine as an example of what I'm talking about.

He was taken from his home on the reservation - ripped from his mothers arms at the age of 5 because Christians decided she wasn't a good enough mother. His relatives wanted to take him in, but the Christians decided they weren't qualified. He loved his mother dearly.

He was raised in an orphanage, fostered out occasionally, but was told nobody wanted an angry and unruly Indian boy. They beat him hard and told him no one would ever want him.

He was an adult by the time he left the system. He had to start from scratch because he didn't even know where he'd been plucked from. By the time he found his home, his mother and father were dead.

Like any other prison system, it turned him into an animal. He survived on crime and alcohol.

He cleaned himself up and got a college degree. The only work he was ever able to find was serving coffee. The degree doesn't matter because nobody wants to hire an Indian where he lives.

He's 50 years old, currently out of work and his wife and kids are leaving him. He's suicidal at the moment, and I'm not talking just ideation. He's been kicked down EVERY single time he tries to do the right thing - for as long as he can remember.

How nice it would be to invite him to our Sanctuary or the Survivors of Suicide forums, but I can't. Christianity will never bring him comfort, regardless of the integrity of the individual or perfume in their prayers.

At the opposite end would be the New Agers who also "love" Indians. Because of our history with the native community here, it's a MAJOR trigger when people say they love Indians. It makes them feel like they're about to be raped.

This is just one person's story. There are thousands more like it on that board. It sends me into a tizzy to watch the ones who smile so sweetly and claim to be "true" Christians ridicule these people who are already suffering an insurmountable amount of pain. They ridicule the Indians only because they couldn't turn them into sheep, control the Indians and make themselves feel good.

I don't know if I'll be able to keep my friend alive all on my own. I don't know how I'll be able to contain my anger if I lose my friend.

This isn't history. It never ended - it continues today, but the media blocks out what the government is doing to the Indians.

This also isn't just our history with American Indians. I'm watching our attempt to promote that history throughout the world. It worked with the Indians, but we had bigger guns and an ignorant society back then.

We're in a war now that can't be won with murder - can't be fought with guns. We're repeating history, but using the old and outdated manual. We have been and will be judged for each step we take. It frustrates me to watch this country do the moonwalk when they really should be paying attention to the world around them.