The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  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.

  Chapter Thirty Two: Sunday Service

  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 w
ith 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 f
ew 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.

  Chapter 9

  Chapter Thirty Three: Autumn in the North East

  Sunday Afternoon: Near Sawmill Pond, Connecticut

  It was Sunday afternoon and Jack had decided after seeing no activity other than lights go on and off Saturday night, he would spend Sunday watching the house and the three RVs. He needed better information before he decided any action was needed.

  He and Heather were together in a house across the street, but one house up, so they could see past the RVs to the front door of the house. Jack had tried a couple of houses until he found one with no dead bodies. There was a fresh grave in the back yard, but Jack had no idea who had buried the people from this house. They must have died early in the process.