The Twelfth Insight - James Redfield [31]
“Excuse me,” he said, in a friendly manner.
“That’s okay,” I replied.
He gave me a second look. “Hey, I saw you back at Boynton. You must be looking for the translations.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Where did you come in from?”
I could tell he was sizing me up for some reason.
“Georgia,” I said. He introduced himself as Robert, from Idaho.
“From Georgia, huh?” he commented. “Some people in our group are from there. We have all of the translations through the Third Integration.”
At that moment, another man walked up and handed him a cup of coffee, and Robert asked me if I wanted one.
“Sure,” I replied, certain now that I was being shown something important here.
We walked over to the fire and sat down, and I was handed a cup of coffee that was very hot and smelled wonderful.
“It’s terrific that this Document is coming out now,” Robert said. “The country is in great danger. Maybe this will get people motivated. I’m pretty sure the government will be declaring martial law pretty soon, and people need to be prepared. The first thing they’ll do is take up all the guns and many books.”
It was becoming clear that I was talking to someone on the extreme Right politically.
“Wait a minute,” I said casually. “None of that can happen. There are constitutional safeguards.”
“Are you kidding?” he reacted. “One or two more Leftist judges, and that won’t be the case anymore. Things are out of control. The country we grew up in is being changed. We have to do something now. We think the Document is going to call for a real rebellion against the Leftists.”
“What?” I said forcefully. “I can’t see anyone getting the idea of a rebellion from this Document—maybe a more enlightened Centrism. Have you read it?”
“Much of it,” he said loudly. “Our people are studying it more closely now. They’ll let us know about the details. You may not believe it, but things are about to degenerate quickly. You had better decide who you want to side with when it happens.”
Several other people in the group heard him and began to walk toward us.
“Everyone has to wake up,” he went on. “The Leftists are slowly undermining the Constitution by overregulating. They’re taking advantage of this financial crisis to consolidate power.”
He stopped and looked hard at me.
“I think you’re overstating reality here,” I said. “There was a swing to the Left that occurred during the crisis, when more of a safety net and consumer protection were demanded. But if anything, there’s been a turn in the other direction since then.”
He suddenly stepped back and began to look at me with more suspicion.
“Well, boys,” he said to the others, “I think we have a Lefty right here.”
Before I could respond, several other people jumped in with their own thoughts on the subject, basically echoing the first man’s point of view and arrogantly emphasizing my naïveté. As they continued, I began to feel slightly confused and off center and no longer wanted to argue with them.
So much for this being a Synchronicity, I thought. Best to leave now.
“Look,” I said, walking away. “Everything you are saying can be debated, but you’re not open to that. There is another side to all these issues.” I set the coffee cup down on a rock.
Robert was laughing now, but some of the others were giving me intimidating looks.
“You better wake up,” one of them yelled. “You people on the Left are ruining this country, and we’re not going to stand for it much longer. We’d rather have the corporations take over than you idiots.”
Walking back to the tent, I could feel my clarity of mind finally coming back to me. I had no idea that the extreme Right would have an interest in this Document, if indeed it was a genuine interest. More likely they were just trying to use it for their own purposes. Most upsetting of all was the fact that my energy had collapsed. I felt I had held on to a more rational view with them, which I considered most truthful, but I had definitely been affected