On the verge of something so significant I have rarely been so angry, dismayed and stressed at the stubbornness, lack of empathy and the dishonesty of people who were part of the Assembly meeting today at UNSW!!
I wanted to speak the other night as a supporter of the brilliant work that's been done by a Taskgroup with our Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress towards the Preamble. BUT due to something of an overrreaction to a question thr time got blown away.
We then went to working groups and listened hard to issues of: time people have had to consider the Preamble; views about it's Christology; and what people could and couldn't say!!
This was represented by a Facilitation Team in a great summary of many issues and then listed as [3] ammendments. We got within 1-4 blue cards of a decision depending on who you speak to and all those concerns tumbled out to again threaten the Proposal. Congress left an 'unsafe space' and despite standing to speak about how we felt I was so angry at the crap being spoken by some people I had to sit back down to avoid swearing and offending people.
I believe those with blinkered evangelical agendas have been pig headed and failed to listen. They have behaved like a dominant culture still rubbing it into to aboriginal people and I was disgusted with the lack of empathy [total lack] and the inability to listen and listen to ourselves.
Here's hoping tomorrow brings a decision it's something we must decide and a chance to speak about why... we'll see I guess!!
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3 comments:
Rob, I had significant concerns about the earlier version of this and was part of a working group from our presbytery to provide feedback. I see that it has been taken seriously - my major concern was that the original didn't give credit to early church members who *did* challenge the dominant paradigm and accept Aboriginal and Islander Peoples as equals, and didn't work in patronising etc ways. This has been fixed.
The Bible passage you need to quote to the evangelicals (who I assume are getting uptight about the statement that the First Peoples knew the Creator God before Europeans arrived) is Romans 1: 19-20 "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made." (NRSV)
This appears in the context that no-one has an excuse for not following God because they have seen God revealed in creation, even without an encounter with Christ. It's context is about judgement, but it's pretty clear, I think.
Hey,
I can understand your frustration at Assembly meetings, I have sat through enough of that sort of thing!
I am not an Evangelical, but I am dismayed at the theology of, particularly, the changes to the constitution. Well, I don't think there is that much theology from what the Assembly website media release said.
I thought we were all equal under God. I thought there was no male or female, no Jew or Gentile, but there is now a First and a Second person written into the Uniting Church constitution. It may only be semantics, but it certainly gives the impression that some are 'more equal' than others. The UCA has suffered after some responsible theology, theology based on the idea of equality and taking people on a 'case by case basis', and I think the theological integrity of the church has suffered here.
The other issue is the Assembly's reluctance to hold UAICC accountable for their actions. We all celebrate the Shalom College in Townsville as being a great UAICC initiative, but what about Nungalinya College, training indigenous students in Darwin, where the UAICC pulled out UCA funding without consulting anyone. The College was close to collapse at one stage, and does not have the money to buy new resources for students to leave. Hopefully the new Prinicpal will be able to influence some assistance of substance and generate more positive change in the live of indigenous Australian's through the work of the Spirit in that College.
Thanks for your reflections Rob.
Thanks for your reflections Wesley,
Valid questions and comments unlike some of the stuff at the meeting.
I suppose while we maintain a notion that terra nullius existed before European settlement we are guilty of having one invisible group though. I hope truth telling about the reality of our history is exactly a basis for freedom and equality for all.
There's no doubt there are other issues with Congress but this particular piece of work was very much a test of our empathy and the gracious response of Congress to even a formal vote and then a half day of ammendements to Constitutional stuff was amazing.
Many people had tears of joy...
I suppose part of letting Congress grow up is letting them make mistakes [like all of us]
Against a background of the Federal Intervention it made it a very real conversation rather than a theological airing... interesting!!
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