密歇根新闻广播 俄勒冈州民兵暴动后了解密歇根的民兵

A self-styled armed militia¹ continues to occupy a wildlife refuge building in Oregon. The FBI says it is hoping for a peaceful end to the occupation.

The story out of Oregon got us wondering about Michigan's history of militias², and whether what's happened in the Beaver³ State could happen here as well.

Amy Cooter is a faculty⁴ member in Vanderbilt University's Sociology department. She did field work with the Michigan militia as part of her dissertation⁵ research.

Cooter tells us it's "certainly possible" that Michigan could see some sort of militia activity, but it's unlikely that it would play out the way it has in Oregon.

What makes a militia?

Cooter says there's a lot of debate over how to define a militia, but to her mind, a militia is, "a group of people who are armed, who practice with firearms regularly and who meet not just for training purposes, but also to discuss political and other ongoing⁶ events."

She tells us there are similar groups all over the country who don't incorporate any sort of training into their operations, adding that many members of the aforementioned group in Oregon do not appear to have received any such training. "So it's debatable whether the militia label is really the best fit for them, but we'll go with that for now," Cooter says.

"There's a little bit more faith in the state government in Michigan than what we're seeing happening right now in Oregon."

According to Cooter, groups who fall under the general "militia" umbrella can be broken into two categories: Millenarians and Constitutionalists.

Constitutionalist groups, she explains, are typically made up of people who believe that Americans should follow the Constitution to the letter of the law. She tells us most militia groups fall under this category.

"The Millenarian groups tend to take it a step further," Cooter says. "[They] think that things are kind of more urgent, more pressing, that they need to enact⁷ something, whether it's violence in some cases, whether it's a protest, to make the government pay attention to their needs." She tells us these are usually the groups that show up in the news.

According to Cooter, both types of groups exist in Michigan, but the majority are of the Constitutionalist variety.

Militia in Michigan

"There have been active militias in all 50 states for a long time, but Michigan in particular has a long history of its own," Cooter says. "It really first started around 1994 in the wake of several different events including Waco, Ruby⁸ Ridge⁹ and the Brady Bill."

She tells us different groups appeared around the state and eventually came together over common concerns, eventually forming the group we know now as the Michigan Militia.

Michigan Radio's Rina Miller¹⁰ spoke¹¹ with members of the Southwest Michigan Volunteer Militia in 2010:

Shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing in April of 1995, news spread that bomber¹² Timothy McVeigh had attended a number of militia meetings in Michigan prior to attacking the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Michigan militia members who were around at the time told Cooter that the group was skeptical¹³ of McVeigh and at one point asked him to leave one of the meetings.

But regardless of how involved McVeigh was in Michigan, Cooter thinks his presence shaped the Michigan Militia in ways that set it apart from militias in other states.

"Because of all the fallout that happened from McVeigh from the Oklahoma bombing, I think militia members in Michigan today are much more careful about getting involved in certain events, making sure they really understand who the players are, what their motivations are, what the consequences might be before they get involved in some big picture actions," she says.

Cooter tells us that militia membership tends to be cyclical, fluctuating in response to state- and federal-level political occurrences. For example, she says that even without the recent militia activity in Oklahoma, militia membership would be expected to rise in response to President Obama's announcements about gun control.

Alternatively, in times of Republican leadership and when political focus shifts away from gun control and other issues that are of concern to militia groups, she tells us membership tends to decline.

Michigan's militia members today view themselves "almost as supercitizens," Cooter says.

"They really think about themselves as trying to be real Americans, as trying to understand the Constitution and what good citizens are supposed to do to take care of themselves, their family, and their country," she tells us. "They really think that it's their job to watch out for government infringement¹⁴ even if some of their neighbors are being complacent¹⁵ about it."

Cooter tells us it's important to understand that militia groups are varied¹⁶ in their practices and beliefs, "just like most other kind of organizations that people join when they have a common interest." She also warns us against letting the vocal¹⁷ minority set the tone for how we see militia around the country.

"A lot of the ones that end up on the news who are in trouble, who are doing something that we may not agree with, are not necessarily representative of the brunt of militia members," she says.

"We may have to think about our terminology¹⁸ and keep that in mind before we get necessarily afraid of what they're up to or maybe what is happening in our own community."

—Ryan Grimes, Stateside

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

4 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

5 dissertation   

n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文

参考例句：

• He is currently writing a dissertation on the Somali civil war.他目前正在写一篇关于索马里内战的论文。
• He was involved in writing his doctoral dissertation.他在聚精会神地写他的博士论文。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

8 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

9 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

10 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

15 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

16 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

17 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

18 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。