An unusual case is winding its way through the federal court system, one that tests whether the Constitution truly guarantees that each American has the freedom to practice the religion of his choice.
It will also test whether the federal government can keep its promises.
The United States has an unfortunate history of making, then breaking, promises to Native Americans.
Sadly, they’re still at it.
The controversy is centered on Oak Flat, which houses Tonto National Forest in central Arizona. This and surrounding lands have held deep religious significance to the Apache nation since before recorded history, and have been the site of prayer and sacred ceremonies.
The federal government forced the Apaches off their land and onto a reservation in the 1870s, to permit miners to work the property.
The Eisenhower administration, however, expressly protected Oak Flat from mining activities there, in recognition of its religious significance, thus allowing the Native Americans to continue their sacred ceremonies.
Because of the land’s documented significance, Oak Flat has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 2016, and its religious importance has been compared to that of Mount Sinai for Jews.
It’s the site where the Native Americans’ most important and sacred religious practices must take place.
Since November 2013, Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of foreign mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP, has wanted to extract copper from the land, and a year later they got the go-ahead, thanks to a last-minute rider attached to a must-pass defense bill.
The rider transferred the property to the foreign-owned company.
Rio Tinto has a record of showing little respect for culture or antiquities. Three years ago an iron-mining project of theirs in Western Australia destroyed two rock shelters that were used by Indigenous people 46,000 years ago.
After Apache Stronghold lost in both the Federal District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty asked the full 11-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case on the First Amendment religious freedom issue.
The Becket Fund is a Washington, D.C.-based, non-profit public interest law firm that defends the free expression of all faiths both in the United States and abroad, and has always been the point of the spear to protect those rights.
The parties are still waiting for the court’s decision. No matter who prevails, the case will without doubt be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In this case the government fully acknowledges that the proposed Arizona mining project would obliterate the sacred Oak Flat land with a 2-mile wide, 1,100-foot deep crater, making the Apaches’ religious practices impossible.
"It’s wrong, and it’s illegal," Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of The Becket Fund told Newsmax.
"Congress has passed laws to say that if there’s a burden like this, they really need to justify it, and they haven’t.
"And these Native Americans want to continue their religious practices on land that used to be theirs that the United States took from them.
"And for the government to come in and argue, and for the lower courts to find, that this is not a burden on religion at all when we blow a two-mile wide crater, that’s absurd."
It’s especially absurd if compared to more traditional religious sites.
"No one would think that true if you blew up Catholic churches, or blew up a Jewish holy site or a Muslim holy site. Everyone would agree that if you blew it up it’s at least a burden on somebody," Rienzi argued.
In essence, "It’s really failing to live up to our commitment to religious liberty for all, and failing to live up to our promise of freedom and diversity and letting people have their own religions and their own opinions. There’s no reason Native Americans should be second class citizens on that."
"In the Apache case, we first have to wait and see when the Ninth Circuit Court has to say. So any day we should hear from them and then we’ll figure out if the Supremes are going to take it."
The left has been hell-bent on a campaign of destroying statues and rewriting history for at least a decade. But they have to understand that we’re a product of our history — both the good and the bad.
If we don't understand and respect our history — that is, how, why, and when we got here — we’ll be rudderless and lose sight of who we are.
And if the court rules against Apache Stronghold, it will be dishonoring the Founders who fought for religious liberty.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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