The Emerald Virus (47 page)

    
The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial, the
right to a jury, the requirement to be tried in the district where the crime
was committed, the right to confront witnesses against you and the right to
assistance with defense.

    
The seventh amendment requires trial by jury in civil cases.

   
 The eighth amendment restricted excessive bail and fines, and cruel and
unusual punishment.

    
Sam started with the first amendment and Christian read the amendment and the
group debated each one, modified a couple of them to the extent they delayed
the parts of a couple of them until the group had settled in a permanent home.
The right of the state to house troops where they wanted in time of war was one
such phrase.

    
After an hour of discussion the group had approved all of the amendments in one
form of another.

    
Sam then said, “I want these rights to belong to all members of our group, but
we need to talk about what rights, if any, we extend to those who are not
members of our group, or citizens of our state, which is where we are headed of
course.

    
“When I say state, I actually mean an independent state to start with. We may
at some point in the future join with other states, but in the beginning it
will be only us. We are the central government for all intents and purposes.

    
“So, do we give these same levels of individual freedoms to those who haven’t
made a commitment to be a permanent member of our state?”

     
The first comment was from a smallish man in glasses who looked to Sam like he
might have been a teacher or administrator of some sort. He said, “All of us
have seen the effect of immigration on our country. But the future is going to
be different than the past in that many people who came here were amongst the
have not’s who were trying to improve themselves. And most of them would gladly
have accepted citizenship had we offered it to them. Here we are all equally
rich, at least according to Sam, and if a person came to us it would be because
they wanted to join our group. Maybe they like the type of government we
establish, or they like the security we’re might be able to offer, or the jobs
we have created, or something along those lines.

    
“If I look at immigrants from that perspective I’m not sure we should withhold
rights from them, especially if they have something to offer to the group, like
a needed skill.”

    
The next person to talk was a middle aged woman who said, “Isn’t that the key?
Shouldn’t someone have something to offer? A skill or maybe just a willingness
to work. What I don’t want to see is people not willing to participate who come
to us looking for an easy life.”

    
This statement was met with sounds of approval from the group.

    
Sam let the discussion continue for five more minutes or so, until people
started to repeat the points and said, “Let’s take the easy way out for the
time being. Let’s vote to extend these rights to all people we accept as
members of our group, between now and our permanent home. Once in our new
location we’ll agree to define the right to citizenship within sixty days. ”

    
Sam waited for comments or questions and when she received none she said,
“Christian, call the vote please.” It passed easily.

    
Sam continued, “The ninth amendment is confusing so I’ll start by reading it, “The
enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to
deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

    
Sam looked around and asked if anyone wanted to explain what this meant. She
was looking at Christian but Danny spoke up. He took the floor and said, “In my
mind the ninth is important because the framers were afraid that if they
granted individual rights in the constitution that others would look at that as
a reason to deny additional rights to the people. That is, if the right wasn’t
granted in the Constitution it rested with the central government, not the
people. The ninth was passed to make sure the constitution was never construed
that way. The rights granted to the people were simply so important that they
warranted individual mention.

    
“The ninth was not intended to restrict or expand the power of the central
government, but to protect unmentioned individual liberties. I believe that is
what the Supreme Court said in U. S. Public Workers v. Mitchell in 1947.”

    
All Sam could do was shake her head as Danny sat down.

    
Christian called the vote and the ninth passed unanimously.

    
The tenth amendment, the states’ rights amendment, passed without controversy.
Although they noted for the record that this amendment would remain unused
unless and until two levels of government were recognized by the members of the
group.

    
Sam thought the tenth would not be needed and was surprised when some people
insisted on including it. Danny again gave his take and cited case law he
thought was pertinent. The tenth also passed unanimously.

    
Sam told the group that they had covered enough for one night and adjourned the
meeting.

    
After the meeting Sam was joined in her RV by Noah, Danny and Ted Green.

    
     Sam looked at Danny and said, “Surely you might have mentioned that you
were an expert in constitutional law?”

    
“Like I was supposed to walk up to you and say by the way if you need an expert
in the constitution I’m it. You know that’s not likely, and besides, I’m not an
expert, although I have made a habit of studying the constitution.”

    
“Well you could have fooled me.”

    
“And you Noah, you might have told me you were interested in conducting a
worship service.”

    
“I’m not sure the group was ready. I waited until the group decided they wanted
a service, not when I decided they wanted, or needed one.”

    
“Okay, I’m glad it worked out the way you expected it to. At least I’m getting
to know you now.”

    
Noah looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smile and Sam knew that probably
no one really knew Noah Yellowbird. But she did know she would learn more over
time, at least she would learn as much as he would allow.

Sunday
Morning: Yellowstone Nat’l Park, Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming

    
Sam, Ben and Noah were sharing breakfast Sunday morning. Noah was more quiet
than normal but didn’t seem nervous at all.

    
Sam asked, “Noah, are you nervous about conducting the worship service?”

    
“Not at all, I’m actually looking forward to it. I think we have some really
good people in our group and I think we’ll have a really good discussion. But I
am going to leave the two of you now. I need to spend sometime by myself
preparing for the service.”

    
Noah returned to his RV and Sam looked at Ben and said, “I’m having trouble
picturing Noah as a preacher, but I’m looking forward to his service this
morning.”

    
“So am I. This is an important subject, one that I’m really interested in, and
I like the thought that Noah has a spiritual side.”

    
Sam, who had always considered religion to be private, was surprised, again.
Mostly that Noah was looking forward to talking if front of a large group of
people, about a subject that could be controversial, was almost incongruous
based on what she knew of this man. The Noah she knew was a very private and
quiet man, and Ben was a lot like him. The service would be interesting.

    
She worried about Ben but she knew that Noah paid a lot of attention to him,
and that Danny was helping out as well. She couldn’t spend as much time with
him as she would like to, but she thought they were doing okay. She thought she
might learn more about both Noah and Ben as a consequence of the service this
morning.

    
Sam arrived early for the service and was surprised that most of the room was
full. Lily and her group had made pastries and put out pots of coffee for
everyone. The aroma was almost heavenly.

    
No one had said anything about pastries so she knew that everyone had come
early for the same reason she had. She was anxious for the service to start and
she wanted to get a good seat. She saw that Colleen was there, and she had
reserved a couple of chairs in the front row. Sam took one of the chairs and
she asked Ben to sit beside her.

    
She saw Danny come in and stand at the back of the room with some of the other
men. 

    
Fifteen minutes later Noah entered the lobby and walked to the podium. He was
smiling and stood quietly at the podium for about thirty seconds before he
started talking about the different religions of the world, and the holy books
of those religions.

    
He cited line and verse from many of them. He compared some of the 700 verses
of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holy books of the Hindu faith, with the Bible.
He talked about the Old Testament and the New Testament and how they guide the
faithful of two of the world’s primary religions. He talked about Confucianism
and Buddhism, religions that had tens of millions of followers, and about how
the majority of the residents of Japan considered themselves members of both
the Shinto and Buddhist faiths, and didn’t see this as a contradiction. And how
the Shinto faith had no source text and no founder and yet morally directed
millions of followers. He talked about the one billion or so Chinese who
practiced Taoism but also revered their ancestors, and how many of them also
considered the moral, ethical and social values of Confucius to also be worthy
of respect and reverence.

    
He then discussed the various Christian sects, many of whom taught different
versions of the bible, and sometimes of the faith. He talked about why Martin
Luther had left the Catholic faith, how the Church of England split from the
Vatican, how some fundamental Christian denominations believed in being tested
by fire, or by poison snakes. He finished with the qualities of the men and
woman of faith who carried the message to their congregations. He emphasized
the number of people capable of sending a message of faith, while they failed
to live by the standards of that message. He stressed a number of times that
this was not the fault of religion, but of man who continuously fought to lead
a life of high moral standards, and who sometimes lost this fight.

    
“He finished by discussing the religion of Native American people, and how
worshipping the earth itself and caring for its resources was perceived as a
sacred duty, and one worthy of emulating.

    
The audience seemed mesmerized by his almost scholarly descriptions. And
through it all he conveyed the impression that he himself was a man of great
respect and faith. When he stopped talking there was silence for a couple of
minutes and then Warren spoke up.

    
“Noah, I think I understand the reason for your message, and I think I can
speak for the group when I say that you have my respect for the eloquence and
strength of conviction you use in delivering the message. But, I’m still a
Christian, and while you haven’t tried to convert us, you haven’t told us what
you believe either. And you haven’t told us why you preached this message this
morning.”

    
Noah smiled and said, “No I haven’t. I think I need to take care of that now.

    
“As to what I believe, I consider myself a true believer in an almighty, just
and single God.” He waited for about ten seconds and continued, “And I believe
that everyone else in the world worships the same God. If there is only one God,
this has to be true, the only difference then would be what name we use.”

      
Warren answered, “But Noah, as a Christian I believe in one God, but I also
believe that Jesus Christ was the son of that God and as such should also be
worshipped.”

    
“I know you do, and I have great respect for your beliefs. It’s obvious that
you’re a man of substantial faith and strong feelings and you have every right,
and according to many, a duty to preserve your beliefs. I would agree with
that. 

    
“This brings us to the other part of the message. I’m asking each of you to have
the patience and understanding taught by your own faith. There are some in this
room who believe that Christ is the son of God, and others who might believe he
is a great prophet, or the greatest prophet of all. That does not keep them
from worshipping God the Father, and living a life based on the teachings of
God the Father.

    
“All major religions teach the basic truths. The Ten Commandments are
essentially found in the major religions, either written or unwritten. A good
life to Mahatma Gandhi is the same good life that you try to lead. And it’s a
better life than I’ve been able to lead. What I’m asking you is to open your
hearts to the beliefs of others. I’d like to do that by using our worship time
to talk about the similarities in the messages of the great men and women of
the major religions.

    
“Maybe later we can talk about the differences as well, but I think that would
be an exercise in curiosity, rather than of worship. It is the positive messages
that help guide us to a good and thoughtful life.

    
“For reasons I couldn’t explain to you I became aware of and tremendously
impressed as a young man by Mahatma Gandhi. I learned of him from a Christian
minister on the reservation. I guess at that age I thought that if a minister
talked about this man than he must be a good man. It didn’t occur to me that
because he followed a different faith that he might not be worthy of heaven in
the eyes of some. And it’s still unconceivable to me that some feel this way.
Let me take a minute and talk about this man who influenced me.

    
“He taught a philosophy known as Satyagraha, one concerned largely with
resistance to evil through non-violence, but active non-violence. That is to
say he had the courage of his own convictions. He did things publicly in
support of his beliefs. Many of you have heard of this quote from Gandhi,
“There are many causes that I am prepared to die for, but no causes that I am
prepared to kill for.” He was assassinated in Feb of 1948 and I’ll paraphrase
Nehru as he addressed the nation of India following Gandhi’s death, ‘A light
has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere’, in my mind a very
fitting quote for a great man.

    
“I believe Gandhi was one of the true holy men of the past century. This man
was asked to convert to different religions during his life time. He always
refused and always said that he considered all religions equal. To Gandhi you
were required to worship and listen to your own God, no matter what name is
used.

    
“So when I preach, I preach a message of a universal God who isn’t interested
in the squabbles of man about which name this God should go by. In my mind the
greatness of God alleviates the need for a name of any sort.

    
“So as we go forward I simply ask all of you to join me in following one God,
one just and benevolent God who is beyond any level of comprehension. I not
only think that is the right thing to do for our future, and for our children’s
futures, I think it is what a just God would expect of us.” Noah stood quietly
at the podium and waited for questions or comments.

    
Not surprisingly Lily spoke up first, “Noah, I’ve seen a lot of religious
strife in my life, some of it in my own family. I’m a life long Presbyterian,
but I can live with simply praying to God, without adding any additional
qualifications. At least until I get with a group of other Presbyterians.”

    
Christian spoke next and agreed with Lily.

    
Others who Sam did not know spoke up and voiced agreement for a variety of
reasons. Sam thought most of the reasons were to support harmony in worship.
Almost everyone reserved the right to revert to their own beliefs if the
circumstances warranted or allowed.

    
After almost two dozen people had voiced their opinions Noah said, “I don’t
want to lead the group astray. I like the thought of worshipping God based on
precepts common to all religions. But if we start this and it doesn’t work for
you we’ll have to talk about options, and there are always options available.

    
“But first I need to know if I’ve offended any of you. I don’t want to act like
I’m the only one in the room that knows what’s best for the group. I’m not. And
religion is a different matter for each one of us. If I’ve proposed something
you simply can’t live with please speak up.

    
The room remained silent for about thirty seconds and Noah said, “Okay, then
I’ll plan on leading a worship service each Sunday to talk about how the holy
men and women of the world have tried to guide us in living that most precious
thing known as a good life.

    
“I think this is a good place to stop for our first service. I would like each
of you to come next Sunday with both questions and answers of what a good life
actually is. For now I’d like to ask for a few minutes of silence as each of us
prays to God for the help we’ll need to continue to make progress towards
understanding what God has asked of us.”

    
After the service people started to approach Noah just like they would a
minister after any service, some complimented him on the message and others
said they weren’t sure they liked the direction he was taking but that would
give it a try until they found more of their own faith to congregate with. 

    
As Noah walked up to Sam she thanked him for a good service.

    
Noah simply nodded, but Sam was sure he looked pleased with the compliment.

    
For some reason the fact that they had had a cohesive religious experience
together made Sam feel that she could lead this group. With the quality of
people supporting her and helping her she could hardly go wrong. The pressure
released just a little bit and she felt more than a twinge of optimism for the
future.