What is the urgency of Mauna Kea? What is the urgency of the knowledge the Thirty Meter Telescope will reveal, that it undermines Mauna Kea’s sanctity? Where is the urgency in origins or alien life that requires TMT construction to begin now, without yet having come to understand what sanctity means?

Attitudes expressed by some state leaders demonstrate a lack of understanding of what lies deeper. They think it is about due process and a tacit agreement to concede to a process that has never regarded what is most important to those always on the losing side. That this is missed is hardly surprising when self-interest, efficiency and rational choice are the axioms of the day.

But there is no humanity without sanctity. The sanctity of Mauna Kea is witnessed whenever one’s eyes are lifted to her summit. She is her own ineffable value. This is an urgency that brings protectors to her side.

Sharon Rowe

Makiki

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