A big disagreement has started to stir around Hawaii’s bellybutton. Did you know Hawaii had a bellybutton? It’s a crater on volcano Mauna Kea. Tradition calls it “the navel of Hawaii.” The volcano sits just above the island’s middle. And it stretches even higher than the clouds!

If you were building a new telescope, Mauna Kea would make the perfect spot to do it. It measures 13,796 feet above sea level. You can see the sky plainly there for 300 days a year. Clear, dry air surrounds the volcano. That makes telescope images extra sharp. Builders have worked on a new, 18-story telescope since last October. But a group of native Hawaiians don’t like it one bit.

Right now, the Mauna Kea volcano is fast asleep. But its Hawaiian culture is wide awake. Hundreds of important sites rest on the mountain. Long ago, Hawaiians believed their gods lived there. Some Hawaiians use the water from a lake on Mauna Kea in healing rituals. They scatter ashes of loved ones on the mountain. They believe their ancestors are buried there.

Hawaiian protesters blow conch shells. They wave Hawaiian flags. They try to block the entrance to the mountain. “This land is sacred!” they say. “We don’t want a telescope here!”

At least, they don’t want another telescope there. Mauna Kea already has 13 huge telescopes. The new one is called the Thirty Meter Telescope. It will be the biggest of them all . . . if it gets finished.

This June, telescopes from Mauna Kea and other places made a great discovery. But they had to work together. Scientists studied views from five telescopes. The whole picture showed scientists several bright galaxies. What a find! Scientists are excited to add images from the Thirty Meter Telescope. It could show them even more parts of the universe they have never seen.

Should the telescope go up or not? It will take wisdom for lawmakers to decide.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. — James 1:5