Tasiyagnunpa Livermont

I have a few words in answer to my loyal Internet-hate following (if you happen to not be familiar with it, check out the comments on my other articles on www.sdsucollegian.com).

I’m going to attempt to explain myself a little better to my critics, mainly because it seems I haven’t been blunt enough for some people.

I don’t hate men. I don’t hate white people. I don’t hate anybody. And no, I don’t want free cable.

Why, then, do I defend women? Why do I have mostly disdain for the culture we live in, propagated by selfish white people? Why do I need God to remind me that men have value? Why do I champion the rights of children, born and pre-born? Why do I write about all of this?

Because I’m a Jesus Freak. I’m also a mixed-blood Lakota woman, born in Pine Ridge, S.D., who happens to be going through a divorce. Because I’m a mother. Because selfish men of any ethnicity irritate me. Because white people do not have the answers to all my people’s problems, only God does. Because our country’s First Amendment guarantees me the right to say whatever I want and print whatever I want, as it gives the same right to all my critics.

I read once about a Lakota minister who, for years, tried to “be white” in order to “be Christian.” After years of denying his ethnicity, he finally realized that he had traded one sin-stained culture for another. In God’s eyes, both cultures have faults. After my own crisis of faith, I decided the same thing.

Hate me or love me, I am me. God, in His infinite mercy, loves me just the way I am, the same way He loves all of you. But that doesn’t mean He wants to leave us there. He wants to change us from glory to glory, to be more loving and Christ-like. This is an ongoing process, and I have far to go.

But that doesn’t mean I have to buy into a white, patriarchal culture to serve Him. My standard is the Bible, which was not written by white men. I am not perfect, but I follow the one who is. I don’t hate men, even my soon-to-be ex-husband, because I’m told not to hate. I don’t hate people, though I hate evil actions, whether my own or someone else’s.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, was here Thursday night to speak to our campus about the inherent rights pre-born children have. King, a fellow born-again believer, did not come at us with lofty words. She exuded humility and love. Jesus, even in the midst of dying, had only gentle words for his murderers.

So I close with this: I do not hate anyone. However, do not expect me to act or write a certain way because it would make you more comfortable. My only aim is to please my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“Obviously, I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Galatians 1:10 NLT.

And no, I will not shut up.

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