Elected through Terror

Untitled Part 35

I will get back to my stories of that first year in office where the Rajneesh were a major part of my work, shortly.

For those of you wondering why I have started writing about them at this time – thirty years later:

It was time. I had been intending to write for quite some time and had written a few lines, but hadn't put them together and hadn't covered all the things that happened on my watch.

Many have asked me to give a written account of what Wasco County endured during the Rajneesh's time in the county and how if impacted the citizens.

Which brings me to the final reason: Sharia law.

Some politicians even suggested that the Rajneesh be allowed to form their own county – that would be 'ruled' by them. They were trying to see if they could bring 'peace' to the region, but it would have been a capitulation to their demands – their own laws, instead of those of our Constitution would have ruled.

They would have no oversight by anyone.

One of the things that allowed the Rajneesh to get by with so much was the fear of insulting their religion. Many people backed away from holding them accountable to the laws of the land in dread of being labeled 'racists.'

We were fortunate in our County. Though we did not have a large population, we did have enough voters to keep the Rajneesh from coming into power and ruling the county as they did Antelope - illegally.

We have several counties in Oregon that are large in square miles, but small in population. Three of those counties adjoin Wasco County and none of them have over 2000 people.

If the Rajneesh had settled into one of them, they could have overcome county government and made mayhem of our laws.

The Rajneesh insisted that they be given special treatment and used their religion against anyone that opposed them. They were not interested in obeying laws to get their way; and they committed many crimes in the process.

We need to realize that our laws are the laws of the land. People cannot come into our communities and demand that their laws become the laws of the land. It should not be allowed; period.

A large group, bent on getting their way no matter what, can wreak havoc in a small community. To enforce the laws, which were being broken by the Rajneesh, cost Wasco County, directly, hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been used in better ways.

Indirectly there was the additional cost of tens of thousands of hours of employees' time spent trying to defend the county and the citizens. Those costs are difficult to calculate.

And that doesn't even cover the emotional costs of all involved.

We are seeing the demands of Muslims starting to impact the ability of communities to enforce the laws. They have a right to be in our country.

They have a right to live and work in our country. They have a right to worship as they see fit.

They do not have the right to intimidate the local population to get their way and have their Sharia laws supplant those that have been in existence in our country for over 200 years. They are not compatible.

When people from a different country come to America they are expected to obey the laws of the land. No group, of any kind, should be allowed to undermine the judicial system of America.

The Rajneesh tried, it was an expensive lesson, we should learn from that historical fact.