Principal of the Anglican theological Ridley College, Dr Peter Adam says Christians must consider appropriate recompense to Australia's Aboriginal peoples, who suffered European colonisation, church planting and nation-building. "God's commandments are clear: 'You shall not murder ... you shall not steal ... you shall not covet.' But we Europeans coveted space for a penal colony, new land, new opportunities and great wealth. We coveted, and so we stole, and so we murdered," Dr Adam wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, in an extract from a lecture he delivered on Monday.
"Do churches have any responsibilities in these matters? Yes, because the land and wealth of churches came from land stolen from the indigenous people of Australia. The prosperity of our churches has come from the proceeds of crime."
He said European Australians must recognise that "recompense is based on our duty, not the needs of indigenous people, and that no recompense could ever be satisfactory because what was done was so vile, so immense, so universal, so pervasive, so destructive, so devastating, and so irreparable."
Recompense would be "costly", and could be as drastic as those who arrived since 1788 leaving the country. Dr Adam's statement has provoked a spate of responses in newspaper editorials and columns.
"If we do not leave, then we would need to ask each of the indigenous peoples of this land what kind of recompense would be appropriate for them. This would be an extremely complicated and extensive task, but must be done.
"We would need to be prepared to give costly recompense, lest it trivialise what has happened."
Christian churches should lead, because Christianity in this country has also benefited, "from the land they use, and from income from those who have usurped the land."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: CTHAU