Oregon Needs New Voices

Oregon Needs New Voices

Kathy and I are making our way back to Oregon for a week. It’s a quick trip for two different video projects we’re working on.

One focuses on the Timber Industry as we tell the untold story of this industry is Oregon’s history but also a huge part of its future.

We stopped over in Wallace Idaho. We love this town and stay a night as often as we can. At the Wallace Brewery last night we were chatting with the bartender and discovered he is from Roseburg, Oregon.

I said “Did you ever watch the news when you were a kid?” He said “OMG you’re Rick Dancer aren’t you?”

He, like us, is an Oregon refugee. Someone who couldn’t put up with the politics and prejudice of an Oregon that’s lost herself. We talked for about an hour about all the crazy shit we had to do during the “dark time” and how persecuted and oppressed it felt to live there when you are a questioner instead of one of follows.

Wallace, Idaho is like Montana.

People don’t care what you do or how you do it, just keep it to yourself and don’t force your beliefs on others.

I remember when Oregon was like that. (Eastern Oregon still Is)

We had crazy ideas, weird ideas, innovative ideas, but we all expressed them equally and managed to give room for the others to breathe.

Some of you don’t see it but just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. For the Oregon refugees, it’s real and for a lot of people who still live there it’s still there, but they can’t get out, it’s a daily reality.

I was listening to an interview with Actor/Author Kirk Cameron yesterday. He was talking about how public libraries are not allowing him to read his new children’s book series in their facilities.

His books focus on the same things that started this country….God, Family, and Country.

Then I heard an interview talking about drag queens reading in these same libraries and thought, WTF?

Come on guys. Listen, I have nothing against drag queens reading although it’s not something I’m going to take may grandkids to hear, if people want to do that it’s not my business(This is America). But allowing that and not allowing Cameron, is so obviously unfair, bias and goes against everything this country was founded on.

Pre-Covid, my more liberal leaning friends would have seen that. Now it appears they don’t. If I dig deeper, I think they see it, but believe they are so in the right and anyone who doesn’t follow their ideology is so wrong, the unfairness doesn’t matter. I honestly think they believe we are so stupid and they are so much more informed, they do this for our own good.

That is called arrogance and the scariest part is they don’t see it.

It’s gonna come to a head.

Cameron said something really interesting in this interview.

He reminded the audience that this must be part of God’s plan or it wouldn’t happen.

Sometimes to cleanse and restore means allowing it to get so crazy and disjointing, the lies are exposed to the blind.

But remember in the Moses story, when the ruler of Egypt was blinded by God the leaders heart was also hardened. His arrogance ended up destroying his nation.

I love Oregon but will probably never move back. Montana, for now, has stolen my heart. But the early pioneers saw something possible in the great state of Oregon and a new breed of pioneers will arise and get the place back to a state of fairness.

It’s taken forty years to tangle what hardworking Oregonians built and will probably take at least a few decades to straighten it out.

But there are so many amazing people who live there and want what’s best for ALL Oregonians not just their side/ideology.

It won’t just happen.

It’s gonna take bravery and speaking up.

Just my thoughts…feel free to disagree.