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The leaders of Mauna Kea’s Thirty Meter Telescope protesters may be held legally accountable for the added law enforcement cost there for falsely claiming, based on Hawaiian cultural religion, that the mountain is sacred, access to its summit necessary for religious services, and for convincing the innocent of this falsehood as a way to increase the number of protesters.
The truth, according to our history books, is that King Kamehameha II abolished the Hawaiian cultural religion in 1819 by ordering god images burned and heiaus demolished on all islands. This order also ended the killing of Hawaiians for sinning (breaking the kapu), many of whom were not aware they had sinned. Moreover, there has never been a church that practiced this religion during the past 200 years.
These leaders of protesters also are disobeying King Kamehameha II’s order. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs should be scolding, and not siding with, them.
Bill Punini Prescott
Nanakuli
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