tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37048794.post3910663848923012583..comments2023-10-26T03:01:46.128-07:00Comments on Sacred Social Justice: Defining the SacredPaula E. Kirmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05525909060268135159noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37048794.post-85654642076994563952014-10-04T12:17:45.962-07:002014-10-04T12:17:45.962-07:00This strikes a particular chord with me as I have ...This strikes a particular chord with me as I have had at times a deeply spiritual relationship with nature, whose beauty and majesty refreshes my soul when I immerse myself in it. I worked for a time in the mountains of the Yukon and was often struck by the sheer enormity of the landscape, the nobility of the wildlife and the greatness of creation. For me that land is sacred. At odds with this reverance was the nature of my job: I was prospecting for minerals, and if I was successful I knew the desecration of those mountains would follow as mining companies move in and exploit the resources I would help them discover. I took some solace in the protection of the most fragile and pure land, the St. Elias mountains and the North slope, where the Peel and Porcupine rivers flow. Twenty-five years ago most of the mountains were barely explored, litle had been staked and it seemed that some development would be a good thing, people have to eat after all and the mining companies were mostly small and locally owned, employing local people who had for the most part proven responsible. Things have changed since NAFTA. Now there are many large American corporations operating in the Yukon, most of which are run remotely by executives who have never been to the mine sites and who consider their obligation to their shareholders paramount and the environment expendable. Recently the Yukon government opened up the peel watershed to virtually limitless mining and fracking for natural gas. Things are sacred to each of us as individuals, but there is nothing universally sacred, and people with different values will gladly desecrate what we treasure and revere. That is truly a shame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com