Peter Adam, principal of Ridley College, delivered what appears to be a rather provocative lecture at Morling College last night.
You can read a report here at the herald.
The basic premise seems to be, if you steal something, as christians you should repent and make recompense.
I wonder if standing committee will pay someone to look into redistributing Anglican property to indigenous Australians; for the sake of the mission of course. Wow, imagine what a witness that would be.
'Faithful Politics' podcast interview
4 days ago
9 comments:
They should be allowed to keep the property if they can produce a receipt.
Neither Jesus nor the OT ever called for the great-great-great grandson of a thief to repay the great-great-great grandson of the victim. For how many generations should the sins of the father affect the sons? there's been quite a few.
Hmm, interesting point Mike S. Though the sins affect the sons as it is. I think that was Peter's point, we live off what was gained.
I don't think the idea is punishment either. It's just thinking through what is the most 'christian' thing to do. The big practical problem that I see with this kind of policy is that it encourages genocide in the future.
That's an interesting point (on genocide).
Perhaps those who exterminated the aborigines in Tasmania were the smarter thieves.
Without justifying any of the atrocities or the theft of land one iota, one overlooked factor is that a civilisation made strong by Christianity easily conquered one that had degenerated from ancient glory (Babel) and was headed towards extinction anyway.
It might be us next time, at the hands of a China made strong by Christianity.
This Dr. Adam sounds like a ...rather odd fellow. The damaging school of thought saying "This group deserves more; this group deserves less" has done an inestimable amount of damage in numerous countries. It is consistent with Judaeo-Christian and secular Western intellectual traditions that each of us acquires/loses, develops/stagnates individually, not only in groups. Can a young Brit hold Italians responsible for the invasion of the Roman Empire several millenia ago? Can a young Jew hold Egypt responsible for enslavement in the time of Moses? Knock off the group negotiation nonsense and be a man (or a woman).
BTW, Mike Bull, it is not Christianity that is currently making China strong. It is sweat shop labour (i.e. slavery) and negotiating in bad faith with other nations, particularly the U.S., that is strengthening it through theft.
HAROLD HECUBA
Harold
Good point - but I was talking about the future, not the present. Cultures that embrace Christianity become powerful - "righteousness exalts a nation". So we'll see what happens in China. There are already more Christians there than in the U.S. I believe God used Communism to sweep away old superstitions and create a vacuum to be filled by the gospel.
And being postmillennial, I'm a glass is half full kind of guy.
I do HOPE that you're right, MB. One billion+ people inhabiting that nation makes its future direction kind of significant.
HAROLD HECUBA
Maybe there's something in all this. Not intending to dismiss it, but I want to know:
a) How do we work out which Aborigines have the authority to decide whether or not 'Aborigines' want us to go back to England?
b) What have all these people who are 'calling for action' (lecturers / bloggers) given back to Aborigines?
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