A Moment for Monday

 

New Year's Day - 2024

Tain, Scotland. 2019

(Photo krb)

Welcome to 2024!

I don't make New Years resolutions, but I do think about my hopes for the New Year a great deal, not so much for myself, though I am looking forward to the potential of becoming a bit more mobile this year. 

No matter whether we are religious or not I hope that we can do our best to create a more peaceful, cohesive world within the limits of the communities over which we can have some influence.  For all communities but particularly the church I do hope we can become less ideologically driven. The pushing of a particular ideological viewpoint has become very divisive when we must do all we can to bring about reconciliation and inclusiveness. That is our primary task in a world with which we must become completely engaged not with any agenda of our own but simply offering ourselves as companions on the journey armed only with peace and unconditional love for all.

Every blessing as you journey through this New Year. May God bless you and be your companion on the way. Please get in touch with me any time to say g'day. 

A Flight of Fancy for Friday - Advent 23

Joy to the World

 (Photo krb - 2022)

By chance I just heard my favorite Christmas Carol - well it is my favorite at the moment but that is always is and should be fluid. I turned on ABC Classic and there it was - the Coventry Carol. It is a carol from the 16th century, sung as part of a mystery play "The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors" performed in Coventry. In so many ways it captures the beauty, wonder and sorrow of Christmas. 

Certainly, Christmas is a time of joy as the birth of a baby always should be whatever the circumstances. And this birth, as we are told in the birth narratives in Gospels of Luke and Matthew, is special. It is a moment filled with wonder to all who witness it. The parents bewildered but filled with joy and hope at the birth of their baby; the shepherds, the most ordinary of people filled with awe and wonder as the skies fill with the heavenly host and soon enough the wise men bringing their special gifts to worship the baby. All are amazed at the unfolding of the story.

But there is always an edge to this story as there is so often around new beginnings. It occurs against a backdrop of terror and oppression. Soon enough the visit of the wise men brings upon the scene the risk to the child and the murder of innocent children around Bethlehem. We must never allow the horror of this tragic scene to pass us by, masked by the inherent joy and wonder of the birth.

So, to my mind Christmas is a time of mixed emotions. We should celebrate with joy this special time but we should also spare a thought for those in our community for whom it is not an easy time; for those who are homeless - an increasing problem at this time; for those who find, perhaps for the first time, that they simply cannot make ends meet; for those who have lost loved ones recently or earlier for whom Christmas brings both special memories but also a great sense of loss.

And this year as in so many years, we celebrate against a backdrop of devastating world affairs. We mourn the loss of thousands of innocent people caught up in a conflict that is not of their making, and which seems to be driven by individual's quest for power. We wonder greatly at the inability of powerful nations to exert their influence to bring a cease to hostilities. We wonder at our own powerless in this situation. But we must balance this against our hope that is reborn every day. Our hope which is born out of our belief that we have the opportunity to be the agents for the coming into being of God's Kingdom on earth - a Kingdom of peace and justice for all - that comes into being whenever we commit ourselves to others in unconditional love.

This is the last in this series of reflections for Advent. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me. I wish you all every blessing for Christmas and the New Year. I will be back in the New Year with my regular email reflections. Until then.

Advent and Christmas peace and blessings to all.

A Thought for Thursday - Advent 23

Take Your Pick or Maybe both.

 (Photo krb - 2022)

Of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, only two, Luke and Matthew, contain an account of the birth of Jesus and they are quite different. That is because they were passed down through stories from one generation to the next over four decades. The oral tradition that is the basis of Luke is somewhat different than that upon which the writer of Matthew based his gospel. They were both written for different communities and have slightly different slants on what these events meant for them and their communities.

Luke, the earlier of these two Gospels, is quite lyrical in his presentation of the story. It stretches over almost all of the first 3 chapters of the Gospel. He describes the context of the birth in intricate detail and how it 'came to pass' that for example, the birth took place in Bethlehem and why it was that Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. He also tells that the birth took place in a stable and why and Jesus was cradled in a manger (which I have discovered recently may have been significant) surrounded by animals and witnessed by shepherds coming specially from the fields. It tells of them fulfilling the requirements of the law and their orderly return to Nazareth.

In Matthew's Gospel the details of the birth of Jesus are concise. There is no mention of a journey to Bethlehem or of a stable or a manger or shepherds. There is a whiff of scandal in the air and in the middle of it all, wise men arrive; we assume three but that is probably only because of the number of gifts they bring, so we don't know how many, but the kings are symbolic because they are representative of all people who welcome Jesus into the world. Mary, Joseph and the baby, through a process of exile and return, move to Nazareth. Much of both stories are couched in terms of fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament. 

These are not nor they can be, eyewitness reports. They are stories that have been passed down by word of mouth over many years. They are included in the Gospels in order to convince the reader that this is a very special birth, this is none other than the long-awaited messiah - the Son of God. They are beautiful stories which confront us of the presence of God intervening in the world on the side of the poor and the marginalized. For this is God who takes on human form not among the powerful and the wealthy but among the ordinary, the poor and those on the margins of society. 

We witness the wonder of Christmas in the lives of children everywhere. But the message of Christmas is for us all. It is the promise of a radical new hope for the world that we may become agents for the coming into being of the Kingdom of God in our world - a Kingdom which brings peace and justice for all as we live in unconditional love for all. We need the message of Christmas now more than ever before.

Advent peace and blessings to all.

A Word for Wednesday

A Child is Born.

 (Photo krb - 2022)

I have to say that despite all the commercialism and associated cynicism Christmas is a wonderful time of year. To some extent it is a time of greater unity in our otherwise fractured world and not just for us, but it seems that that sense of unity extends beyond us and brings people together around the world, regardless of political or religious belief. There is at this time a greater sense of our common humanity and that is a very good thing.

 

It is a story which grew out of the highly contested world of first century Palestine, a nation whose history was one of occupation by the great political and military powers of the surrounding world. For many years Israel had been under occupation by Rome. It was a backwater of the Empire ruled as a vassal state by a strange combination of Roman heavy-handed authority and the local political and religious elite. That elite group represented twenty percent of the population which controlled the political, religious and economic decision-making and had all the power. The remaining eighty percent eked out their existence in a peasant economy in which they were taxed by the landlords, by the elite ruling class and by the Roman authorities. 

It was a world alive with expectations of revolution. The Jewish people had long expected God to intervene, to send a messiah, a political and military leader who would unify the people and throw out the Roman oppressors and to rule the people justly in the line of the great king, David. But we should never think that God will work in accordance with human expectations.  As Ann Weems wrote in her poem "Unexpected"

 Unexpected by Ann Weems

Even now we simply do not expect

to find a deity in a stable.

Somehow the setting is all wrong:

the swaddling clothes too plain,

the manger too common for the likes of a Savior,

the straw inelegant,

the animals, reeking and noisy,

the whole scene too ordinary for our taste.

And the cast of characters is no better.

With the possible exception of the kings,

who among them is fit for this night?

the shepherds? certainly too crude,

the carpenter too rough,

the girl too young.

And the baby!

Whoever expected a baby?

Whoever expected the advent of God in a helpless child?

Had the Messiah arrived in the blazing light of the glory

of a legion of angels wielding golden swords,

the whole world would have been conquered for Christ

right then and there

and we in the church-to say nothing of the world!-

wouldn’t have so much trouble today.

Even now we simply do not expect

to face the world armed with love. 

             (From "Kneeling in Bethlehem" Ann Weems. Westminster / John Knox Press 1987)

We pray for true peace and humanity at this time throughout the world.

Advent peace and blessings to all.

A Trifle for Tuesday.

Our Commercial World

 (Photo krb - 2022)

I didn't know that Christmas was for sale. It is the only conclusion that I can come to. With just a few days to go it seems that the entrepreneurial spirit has claimed Christmas as its own. Can we just stop for a minute in the mad rush to make a profit and just think about what we are doing? That after all, is what we are asked to do in this season of Advent - to pause and contemplate the world- changing event that we are about to celebrate again. Yes, I understand the need for the business world to keep ticking over. That is, after all what keeps our economy operating. But it seems that in recent years we have got it all out of skew. Our commercial world has taken control leaving no room for us as a community to take in the true meaning of Christmas.

I don't view the commercialization of Christmas with a bah humbug attitude. All I ask is that maybe it is time we all got things into perspective. Christmas does not belong to any one group. Christmas belongs to everyone, to all people everywhere and maybe it is time to allow that message to get through. Maybe it is time to step back from the bigger, brighter, better attitude and look for something simpler. Something that brings hope in these terrible troubled times. 

For me, at Christmas, we celebrate the moment when God, whatever you may think of that term, turned the expectations of the world upside down. God took on human form in the shape of an ordinary human being , not as a royal prince in a grand palace in some beautiful city but as a baby to peasant parents who lived among peasants, born in the most humble circumstances in a borrowed stable in a small insignificant village at the outer edge of the Roman Empire - a poor man who came to proclaim God's preference for the poor, the oppressed and the outcast.

So, let's make Christmas simpler. Let's give ourselves space, whatever our beliefs, to see the wonder and hope of this time reflected in the delight of little children. Let's give God a chance through the birth of a baby to bring hope, peace and justice to our world.

Advent peace and blessings to all.

A Moment for Monday - Advent 23

 Hark!.....

(Photo krb - 2022)

One of the great things about Advent and Christmas is that we get to sing together intentionally, at least we did until covid arrived. We don't often get to do that so much any more. There used to be lots of occasions in which community singing was appropriate. It was a catalyst for the creation of community. But carol singing was different. It didn't matter the context. It could be church or community or family. In any or all of these situations singing carols was appropriate and still is.  And everyone joined in. Whether you could sing or not it was okay to be part of the joyful noise. And everyone knew the carols. So, all inhibitions flew out the window. 

I have been fortunate to be part of community carol singing all my adult life, from serenading hospital patients with a group of young people in a small country town, to driving around caroling on the back of a truck in another country town. We would probably get arrested if we tried that today.  I have sung with a very fine choir in a church in the city, a church which still maintains its fine choral tradition. It used to have a regular carol service on Christmas night. It was a very special way to celebrate the end of the day. And I have been part of special carol services in a tiny country village. All of these experiences have been a mechanism through which the community has come together in readiness to celebrate the great festival of Christmas.

But all of that has changed somewhat in recent times. Not surprisingly the church is not such an important community building institution it once was. This is particularly because what the broader world sees as the representation of the church tends to be an extreme expression. Spokespeople for the church tend to be from the fundamentalist end of the spectrum. This has certainly undermined trust in the institution. It has become no longer politically correct to pass on the traditions of religion such as singing Christmas carols.  This is unsurprising and probably appropriate in a multicultural world. Generally speaking, carols are no longer allowed to be sung in schools. I wonder how the long tradition of community singing is to be maintained under these circumstances. It too is probably gone forever replaced with the singing of Christmas songs most of which come from American popular music which really does nothing for the development of a unique worldview for our society which allows the inclusion of all in a unique integrated community.

The relevant cartoon that started my thinking along these lines was published by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton. You can find it on their Facebook page or on the web site cartoonchurch.com. It is 'Nine Lessons Learned at the Carol Service'.

Advent peace and blessings to all.

A Flight of Fancy for Friday - Advent 23

 Christmas is Coming the Geese are Getting Fat.

(Photo krb - 2019)

Christmas is a wonderful celebration but let's face it, Christmas is a construct. A celebration of Jesus' birth was not thought of until the 4th Century (CE) and the 25th of December was chosen to counter the pagan festival of the winter solstice. It was chosen as appropriate because at that point, in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice marks the return of the Sun. So, the (re)birth of the Sun marks the birth of the Son. There are many other reasons for 25th of December including that it is 9 months after the feast of Annunciation, although which came first is anyone's guess.  Recent research indicates that the most likely date of the birth of Jesus is September 4th century BCE.  Interest in the festival of the nativity of Christ was slow to catch on and it wasn't until the 9th Century (CE) that it gained any momentum. Even now Christmas is celebrated at different times across the Eastern and Western Churches: some on December 25; some on 6 January and some on 7 January; these last two coinciding with the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus. 

Many of the traditions that are part of our tradition have roots far back in history, like the Christmas Tree dating from the 16th Century (CE) some, like the sending of Christmas Cards from the mid 19th Century, are more recent. This tradition has almost died in very recent times largely overtaken by social media. The exchange of gifts has long been part of the tradition but it has really taken off in the west in relatively recent times one suspects with the growth of the middle class. There is also a hint of the Protestant Ethic there as well. And Father Christmas or Santa Clause is very recent based on the Northern European celebration of the Feast of St Nicholas on 6 December. The image of Santa Clause as a little, plump, kindly old man dressed in red with a white beard comes from a 1930s Coca Cola advertisement, but this popular image has now been almost universally accepted as the standard.

In recent times, while the church has done its best to give Christmas its appropriate place in its liturgical life as it has struggled against the huge secular popularity of the festival as a community and family celebration sadly driven by commercial interest. I remember with great fondness the mad celebration of Christmas in the tiny parish where I was part-time priest-in-charge in the mid 1990s. Services would start at 5:00pm on Christmas Eve in the most isolated location. The church had no electricity, so we needed a daytime start. The normal congregation of perhaps 5 grew to 50 for that service. After a short break it was off to the 10:00pm service in a locality to the north - again with a huge congregation compared to normal. After a traditional Christmas party, it was back to a full church at the main centre for the midnight mass at 11:30pm. Then up early on Christmas day for the small service at 7:00am at a village to the southeast and hopefully grabbing some breakfast in between on to the final service in the main centre at 10:00am. As soon as it concluded I would drive very carefully the 230km home to celebrate our family Christmas. I get the sense that the attitude of the church in recent times has changed. It is almost as though the church has surrendered the celebration of Christmas to the secular world perhaps as church attendance has drastically declined even at Christmas. It is very difficult to communicate the deeply significant religious message of Christmas in a world dominated by the voice of commerce. Even the glorious music of Christmas has lost out in a world that has grown deeply distrustful of religion.

 I hope that as the celebration of Christmas grows closer that you will have an opportunity to pause and think about its significance, of a defenceless baby born not in a royal palace but in a dingy stable, born to displaced parents in an unknown town in the middle of nowhere.

Advent blessings and peace to all.

A Thought for Thursday - Advent 23

Walking backwards to Christmas

.

(Photo krb - 2019)

Advent is meant as a time of reflection, a time of taking stock. On the one hand it is a time of quiet preparation for the coming of Christmas and the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who the Biblical record tells us was born in difficult circumstances in an occupied country in a place of little recognition in an out of the way corner of the world. Yet this is described as a momentous event which was the fulfilment of and yet changed the course of history. There are many layers of meaning in the Christmas story and most of us connect with it at some level. The second reason for this time of preparation is to think about and 'prepare' for the return of the Christ in glory at the end time to bring all things to completion. The many commentaries that I have heard on this idea have ranged from thought provoking to the utterly bizarre. This is a deeply mystical issue that I am sure I will never fully comprehend. If we were meeting together, I would be interested to hear what you think about these issues.

I have to admit that I enjoy Christmas, the music, the joy of celebration in some form as a church community, as a neighbourhood, as a family, the shared food and hospitality. It is all just wonderful - probably because it is a time filled with nostalgia. There are so many stories when we think about previous Christmases. But that isn't for now. Now it is different. I don't feel ready. It is like the photo above. Blackwater River is in the highlands of Scotland. If you can enlarge the photo you will see there is a bridge in the distance. We never got to the bridge. It felt like as we attempted to get there the bridge got further away. That is how Christmas feels this year. Like the Goons song of old "I'm  Walking Backwards to Christmas". There are lots of reasons for this, particularly that after three years we are still dealing with my health issues against a backdrop of continuing covid. It is difficult to engage with the community in these circumstances. But it's okay. I know Christmas will be great as it always is and whatever our changing circumstances we continue to be blessed living in a luckyish country. So one way and another Christmas will be okay.

But I am sure that you don't need reminding that that won't be the case everywhere. It is impossible for us to begin to imagine what Christmas will be like for Christians still living in Gaza. The picture and its message below, I received from a  Catholic community that has been working in Calais, France, to bring humanitarian relief to the thousands of refugees who arrive there. Their work is extraordinary and sustaining to many, against the odds. It is a moving portrayal of the situation for many.

Advent peace and blessings to all.

 

A Word for Wednesday

 

A Worldview for Sale!

(Photo krb - 2019)

Back in the heady days of the mid 1980s I was one of the original members of the Careforce Council. Some of you may remember Careforce. It was the body set up by the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn to coordinate and enable the social welfare activities of the Diocese. It was the precursor in this Diocese to the National body Anglicare. I was a member of the Council because, by then, I had fairly wide experience working in social policy at a national and local level. We were very much finding our way and we had few resources. It turned out that Bill Pearcy, the Council's Executive Officer was the arms and legs of the organization. Without Bill the Council would have been just another talkfest. I stayed on the Council for the first 7 years until it was reorganized in the leadup to it becoming part of the national body Anglicare. Looking back on that time I only have one regret and that is that the formation of a Diocesan body to some extent allowed church communities to disengage with the wider world in providing for the needs of the poor and certainly to walk away from their role in advocacy. Charity without advocacy changes nothing.

In the crisis over declining church membership which began in earnest in the 1990s disengagement became the modus operandi. The first thing to suffer was the end of serious ecumenism. Denominations believed that maintaining the way they did things and looking after their people would see them through the crisis. It didn't. 

As the crisis deepened, the conservative right wing of the church, who saw themselves as the owners of modern orthodox, moved to take control. Their way, the 'right' way, was to dominate, as it does now. It was easy. 'He who pays the piper calls the tune,' and the bottom line became all important. Gone was any serious debate about the issues of the day. They were of no relevance to a church that was disengaged from the community and in any case the church always had a ready answer to any issue. Typical was its response to the same-sex marriage debate where the church publicly threw its weight behind the conservative no campaign. The result is that the church has lost its place at the table of decision-making and the people have lost their advocate for rational decision making on social issues. As the church disengages with the world, more and more people disengage with the church.

The Advent story is not pretty. We await the coming into being of the Kingdom of God through the birth of a baby, born to a refugee couple in an occupied nation, where the ferment of revolution abounded, born in a stinking stable because there was no room for them anywhere else, with the lowest of the low, shepherds - outcasts, to witness the event, and thus the radical action of God to emerges. And whatever happens with the institutional church, as Rachel Held Evans puts it, the whole story of Advent is the story of how God can't be kept out. God is present. God is with us. God shows up - not with a parade but with the whimper of a baby, not among the powerful but among the marginalized, not to the demanding but to the humble.  

Advent blessings and peace to all.

A Moment for Monday - Advent 23.

Come the Revolution!

(Photo krb -2019)

In the last two years of theological studies - many years ago - I studied New Testament Greek. A requirement of my course was that I complete an examination in one of the Gospels and letters of St Paul in Greek or books from the Old Testament in Hebrew. I reckoned that in this case, discretion was the better part of valour and chose New Testament Greek. I knew that there were a number of people who I could ask to work with me in this process and  I chose two people who were very good tutors, one on the basics of the language and the other on its application. I also chose St Mark's Gospel. I knew that it was the first of the canonical Gospels, written in about 70 CE and that it was the shortest of the Gospels. There is nothing like having a sword of Democles  in the form of a 3-hour exam hanging over one's head, so I studied pretty hard. I got a good pass thanks to my tutors and our kids who patiently listened to my rehearsal of Greek vocabulary endlessly over many months.

I have never been naive enough to believe the 'gentle Jesus meek and mild' portrayal of Jesus but any illusions I had about that image were blown out of the water through reading the Gospel of Mark in the original Greek. The first thing that struck me was the immediacy of the action. Everything is happening now and the coming into being of God's kingdom on earth which Jesus proclaims is an imminent event for which we must be ready. The image of Jesus is not quite that of a peasant revolutionary out of the Zealot mould, though some in power certainly saw him as that. More, it is of a radical reformer preaching the 'good news' of the coming kingdom of God in the world, to the poor and marginalised, a kingdom in which the first will be last and the last first.

The first glimpse that we get of the revolutionary nature of Jesus ministry is at the beginning of St Mark's Gospel chap 1 v 15. Jesus proclaims, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near: repent and believe the good news.' (NRSV). I have always thought that the English translations of this verse doesn't fully convey the impact of this verse. Then last week, the Diocese of Grafton published a paraphrase of that verse by Kurt Struckmeyer, an American writer and theologian, on its Facebook page. It reads, 'The decisive time has arrived, for the conspiracy of love is rising up to challenge the unjust systems of the world. Change your whole way of thinking and living and risk everything for this radical message of hope.' For me this understanding of that early proclamation pretty much sums St Mark's message and the message of the Advent season.

Advent blessings to all.

Sunday Post 2

 

Things That I have Unlearned 

 

As I have aged I have discovered a number of things that I have had to unlearn.

 

Here are a few. The list is by no means exhaustive but at least it will give you an understanding of where my thinking is today. Maybe this will give you an opportunity to reflect and perhaps respond. I do welcome comments no matter what they may be.

 

l That God is a (male, white) being separate from humanity dwelling in a separate realm who, like a patriarchal puppet master, controls all that happens for humanity and judges our individual actions.

I don’t think that I have ever believed this in its crudest form but I certainly have had to unlearn some of ‘omni’ prefixes that we generally associate with God the controlling, judging being. God is not a being, and it seems to me that for humans to try to comprehend God is simply us trying to control and limit God. I am happy at this stage of my life just to rest in the mystery of God.

 

l If we have sufficient faith and pray hard enough God will intervene in the world on our behalf to bring about everything we desire provided it is in accord with God’s will.

 

I do believe that God intervenes in the world but not in this way. This is the way to a ‘success ministry’ mentality and we have recently seen where that leads. This is cargo cult ideology. And I do believe that prayer is very important but it is not about ensuring that I get what I want. We have to be very careful about what we pray for in intercessory prayer. I actually think that prayer has much more to do with me than those who I pray about, in centering my thinking and maybe making me more compassionate. God does enter into my life and being always especially when I or those around me or those elsewhere in the world, suffer.

 

l Jesus of Nazareth is the only Son of God, the promised Messiah, God in human flesh

 

I have unlearned much of this. In this regard a quote from Richard Rohr will suffice.

 

“We worshipped Jesus instead of following him on his same path.

 

We made Jesus into a mere religion instead of a journey towards union with God and everything else.

 

This shift made us into a ‘religion of belonging and believing’ instead of a religion of transformation.”  (Richard Rohr)

 

l The Church is always an open community ready to welcome everyone without reservation and includes everyone as a vital member of the family of the Church.

 

For me this is very much a work in progress because I continue to live in hope that this will always be the case. However, my experience over many years has made me realize that the church is rarely an open community because communities seek stability and it is difficult to find that when new people are always coming along and disrupting the status quo especially when they are ‘not like us’. And try suggesting to a person from the LGBTQIA+ community that the church is always an inclusive community.

 

There are many other unlearnings that have been part of my journey into older life but they will have to wait for another day.

The Sunday Post

  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.                                                                                                                        Matthew 5: 9 (NRSV) 

 

During this past week we have celebrated the great festival of All Saints’ Day followed the next day by the lesser festival of All Souls’ Day. They are both celebration of the lives of those who have gone before us as bearers of light to the world and guides on our path. Whereas All Saints’ Day celebrates the holy women and men of all ages, All Souls’ Day is a more personal day of remembrance. It allows us pause to remember all those who are of special memory to us as individuals because they have particularly influenced our lives and guided our journey. 

The Gospel reading for this year for All Saints’ Day is Matthew 5: 1 - 12, the Beatitudes. This short passage gives us insight into what it means to live a saintly life, a life full of meaning. By embodying the Beatitudes we follow in the footsteps of the Saints in every age. 

The vision of Matthew 5 - 9 stands out particularly at this time when all public discourse seems to be based on the assumption that war and strife are inevitable as nations stand in enmity toward each other, where one nation seeks to impose its worldview upon others. 

War is not inevitable and enmity between nations is a political and diplomatic expedient. As globalization increases we recognize the greater commonality between us and our shared future and destiny. We are all in a position to disrupt the narrative of conflict. We don’t need to buy into it. We can and must stand against it. We become peace makers by living our lives for others in unconditional love for all and proclaiming peace. 

Standing against the narrative of conflict is risky because it necessarily puts us at odds with the powerful of our world. But isn’t that what we are called to do - to risk everything in the search for truth, peace and justice for all?

 

Every blessing as you continue on your journey.

 

(Any thoughts you wish to share krbatterham@gmail.com  All comments most welcome.)

  

Nick Browning's Case for a YES Vote

 

Nick Browning, my friend and former parishioner, has written a document in support of the YES vote in the upcoming referendum seeking to amend the Constitution to recognize First Nations people and enshrine a representative Voice to Parliament. We have already sent this document to significant numbers of people around Australia but recognize that it needs to be distributed to as wide an audience as possible. It has been incorporated into this Blog so that it can be published on social media and distributed widely.

 

Nick is well known and highly respected in Southern NSW. He farmed in the Adelong district before retiring to Adelong and then to Tumut. He has always been deeply engaged in the life of his community. In recent times, however, Nick has suffered from an untreatable form of Parkinson’s Disease which has greatly restricted his ability to participate in the life of the wider world. So this is his contribution to this important debate. It shows how difficult it is for First Nations People to contribute when decisions are being made by Parliament about matters concerning their well-being and the ineffectiveness of incorporating mechanisms that allow First Nations People to be heard through legislation.

 

In the mid 1970’s Nick was the then Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs representative on the Ayers Rock Advisory Council and the Mimili Cattle Project. Mimili is a community on the APY lands in northwestern South Australia. Nick got to know and work closely with numbers of influential First Nations Elders and also with Dr H C Coombs, the First Governor of the Reserve Bank and at that time the Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs. Nick became a valued advisor to Dr Coombs.

 

I fully endorse Nick’s document and ask you to circulate it as widely as possible. I strongly encourage a YES vote in the upcoming Referendum as the way forward for the First Nations Community.

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR YOU TO READ BEFORE YOU VOTE

 

While I sit all day in my electric mobility chair, unable to vocalise, and living on blended food: and whilst Anne cares for my everyday needs, I have time to reflect.

During the past fifty plus years, we have both shared frustration and disappointments with all First Nations people over continual legislative changes that have stifled valuable advancement in community development across our Aboriginal Nations. This can mostly be rectified with a change to our Constitution when you vote “Yes”.

Many First Nations people have had personal disappointments and frustrations that have not been of their doing. The following three are examples.

1. My good friend and work partner, Yami Lester, lost his vision when black mist came across his family home following atomic testing at Emu. He worked tirelessly throughout his life for all Aboriginal people, what an inspiration to others.

2. Following many discussions with Paddy Uluru, he recounted the story of how his brother died after being shot by Constable McKinnon at Uluru.

3. In the 1970s Charles Perkins described his life of frustration after being removed from his family home, not knowing where he fitted with the broad Australian community, and where he was totally accepted. What an incredible contribution he made throughout his life to Australian society.

The following historical events and statements have added some groundwork in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

In 1924 The Australian Aborigines Progress Association was founded in Sydney by Fred Maynard and Tom Lacey. It called for the right of Aboriginal people to determine their own lives, the restitution of land, an end to the practice of removing children from their families and the abolition of the New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board.

 

In the 1930s, articulate First Nation activists began emerging from the missions and reserves of N.S.W. and Vic., among them: William Cooper, Bill Ferguson, Margaret Tucker, Doug Nicholls, Jack and Selina Patten, Tom Foster, Pearl Gibbs, Jack Kinchela and Helen Grosvenor.

 

In 1932 William Cooper, a Yorta Yorta, man circulated a petition across Australia calling upon the Government to improve living conditions for Aboriginal People, and to enact legislation that would guarantee Aboriginal people representation in parliament. The petition was sent to Joseph Lyons, P.M., in August 1937, with the hope that it would be forwarded to King George V1. The petition was signed by 1,814 Aborigines. Joseph Lyons acknowledged the petition, however it appears not to have been forwarded onto King George. It was marked “no action to be taken”.

26 January 1938, Aboriginal men and women met at Australia Hall in Sydney and moved the following: “We, representing the Aborigines of Australia, assembled in conference at Australia Hall, Sydney, on the 26 of January, 1938, this being the 150 anniversary of whiteman’s seizure of our country, hereby make protest against the callous treatment of our people by the whiteman during the past 150 years, and we appeal to the Australian nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, we ask for a new policy which will raise our people To Full Citizens Status and Equality within the Community”

This resolution of indignation and protest was moved and passed at 5 o’clock. A large blackboard displayed outside the hall proclaimed “Day of Mourning”. The group that met on 26 January were members of Australian Aborigines League and the Aborigines Progressive Association. Both organisations became the driving force calling for a constitutional referendum that would take place in 1967.

31 January 1938, an Aboriginal deputation that included Jack Patten, William Furguson, and Pearl Gibbs, met with Prime Minister Joe Lyons, his wife Enid and the Minister for the Interior John “Black Jack” McEwen. They asked for Commonwealth control of all Aboriginal matters, a Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, an administration advised by Aboriginal representatives, full citizen status and civil equality with white Australians, including equality in education, labour laws, workers' compensation, pensions, land ownership and wages.

1 May 1946, 800 pastoral workers from 27 stations in W.A. walked off the job for better pay and conditions.

This strike became known as the “1946 Pilbara Strike”.

The strike lasted until 1949, paralysing the sheep industry.

 

1953 nuclear tests began at Emu, S.A., moving to Maralinga S.A. in 1956. Maralinga, means “thunder”. This name was taken from the now extinct Top End Aboriginal language called Garik. The social, physical, mental and environmental impacts resulting from the testing and its fallout continue to have ongoing affects on the local Pitjantjatjara and Luritja Peoples today.

In 1957 a National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed, which continues to this day as NAIDOC.

In 1965 a group of students from the University of Sydney went on a 15 day bus journey “Freedom Ride” to draw attention to the appalling living conditions of NSW Aboriginal People, and their experience of overt racism. Rev. Ted Noffs of the Wayside Chapel assisted in co-ordinating the ride. Charles Perkins, a student at Sydney University at that time, was elected president of the group.

During the fifteen-day journey through regional NSW, the group directly challenged a ban against Aboriginal ex-servicemen at the Walgett RSL and local laws barring Aboriginal children from the Moree and Kempsey swimming pools. They also took up living condition issues in several other NSW towns. At the end of the journey a full report was written and presented to relevant authorities.

Protest events held prior to 1967, include The Warburton Ranges Controversy 1957, the Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963, the Freedom Ride 1965 and the Wave Hill walk off which began in 1966.

23 August 1966 saw the walk off from Lord Vestey’s property, Wave Hill, N.T.

The 1967 referendum put the following Question to the Australian people: Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled, “An Act to alter the Constitution so as to omit certain words relating to people of the Aboriginal Race in any State and so that Aboriginals are to be counted in the reckoning the population.”

This amendment deleted part section 51 of the Constitution and repealed section 127.   90.77% of the Australian population voted “Yes” in the referendum.

1968-69 saw the introduction of equal wages for pastoral workers. September 1967, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission removed the racially discriminatory clause from the Federal Pastoral Industry Award and equal wages for Aboriginal pastoral workers were phased in from December 1968, in the Kimberly region of Western Australia.

In earlier decades, Aboriginal station workers were usually given no wages, but instead received food, clothing and tobacco rations in return for labour. When the equal wages decision was handed down, hundreds of Aboriginal people were forced to leave the stations, moving into towns or onto reserves.

September 1973 Whitlam Government announced the idea of a National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC). The NACC quickly asserted its political muscles during the Whitlam Government, clashing with DAA head, Barry Dexter and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Jim Cavanagh. DAA was established in 1973.

16 August 1975 Gough Whitlam transferred leasehold title of Wattie Creek (Daguragu), 90 square kilometres, to the Gurindji people which led to the passing of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (N.T.) 1976

May 1977, Ian Viner, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in the Fraser Government, replaced the NACC with a new body, National Aboriginal Conference (NAC). The NAC members were selected by Indigenous People. April 1979 the NAC recommended a form of treaty between Aboriginal peoples and the Australian Government, using the word “Makarrata” to describe this. Makarrata is a Yolngu word for the restoration of good relations after conflict.

The NAC was eventually abolished by the Hawke Government in 1985.

In Geneva, on 3 September 1980, Jim Hagan, chair of the National Aboriginal Conference, addressed United Nations Human Rights Commission Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. (At this time there were protests against oil drilling on Aboriginal Land of Noonkanbah.)

Hagan’s speech was reported internationally: “The Noonkanbah community have sought justice, and have been given obstruction. We have sought peace and have been given violence. The Australian Government’s acquiescence in this continuing breach of human rights must be condemned in the eyes of the world”.

Hagan is the first elected Indigenous Australian to address a UN committee.

In May 1982 a group of Meriam, led by Eddie Mabo from the Eastern Torres Strait, lodged a case with the High Court of Australia for legal ownership of the island. Over a period of 10 years Meriam people generated 4,000 pages of transcript of evidence. The evidence presented included proof that eight clans of Mer (Murray Island) have occupied clearly defined territories on the island for hundreds of years, and proved continuity of customs on Mer.

The Hawke Government’s ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) legislation was introduced into the parliament in August 1988. April 1989 John Howard strongly expressed opposition to the ATSIC proposal, stating that it would divide the Nation. In the six months following the introduction of the ATSIC Bill, over 90 amendments were made to the legislation, making the Bill the second most amended piece of legislation since Federation. The ATSIC Act 1989 was passed in November 1989.

Section 3 of the ATSIC Act 1989 sets out the following objectives:

· to ensure maximum participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in government policy formulation and implementation

· to promote Indigenous self-management and self-sufficiency

· to further Indigenous economic, social and cultural development, and

· to ensure co-ordination of Commonwealth, state, territory and local government policy affecting Indigenous people. 

In order to achieve these objectives, ATSIC was to :

· advise governments at all levels on Indigenous issues

· advocate the recognition of Indigenous rights on behalf of Indigenous peoples regionally, nationally and internationally, and

· deliver and monitor some of the Commonwealth government’s Indigenous programs and services.

ATSIC survived 14 years. A review of ATSIC was carried out in November 2002. The review panel recommended against abolishing the body in November 2003. However Prime Minister John Howard, with Senator Amanda Vanstone as the Minister for Indigenous Affairs announced on 15 April 2004 that ATSIC would be abolished and that the Regional Councils abolished by 30 June 2005.

3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court Justices agreed to the Meriam-held traditional ownership of the land of Mer. The decision led to the passing of the Native Title Act 1993, providing the framework for all Australian Indigenous people to make claim of Native Title.

This decision altered the foundation of land law in Australia and rendered terra nullius a legal fiction.

On 10 December 1992, Paul Keating gave his Redfern speech.

 August 2007 Northern Territory Intervention (N.T. Emergency Response) was introduced following the “Little Children are Sacred Report”

The intervention was a $587 million package of legislation that made a number of changes affecting specified Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. It included restriction on alcohol, changes to welfare payments, acquisition of parcels of land, education (linking income support to school attendance), employment (the ceasing of CDEP) and health (compulsory checks for all children).

In so doing, several laws were affected or partially suspended: Racial Discrimination Act 1975, Aboriginal Land Rights (N.T.) Act 1976, Native Title Act 1993, N.T. Self-Government Act and related legislation, Social Security Act 1991, and Income Tax Assessment Act 1993.

Since the introduction of the intervention in 2007, many social problems facing communities have become worse, (as reported on NITV), namely:  

· many more Aboriginal children are being forcibly removed from their family and culture

· punitive measures have not increased school attendance

· the intervention saw an increase in youth suicide and a huge spike in self-harm

· the intervention housing program has had a minimal impact on shocking rates of overcrowding

· income management has made life harder for many and remains racially discriminatory

· the abolition of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) has created mass unemployment and exploitation

· restrictions on the Courts considering Aboriginal customs and law, in bail and sentencing increased

· increased rationing continued

· the number of Indigenous people in prison has exploded

13 February 2008 P.M. Kevin Rudd offered his Apology to the Stolen Generation on behalf of the Nation.

2009 P.M. Kevin Rudd supported the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 3 of the declaration states that: “Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

PM Rudd implemented the Basic Card, it later changed to the Cashless Debit Card.

2016 the Cashless Debit Card, (CDC) was trialled in Ceduna, East Kimberly and Gold Fields in WA and the Bundaberg-Hervey Bay region in QLD. The CDC has been operating in the Cape York region in QLD and across the NT since 2021.

2017 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations gathered at Uluru for a National Constitutional Convention to make “The Statement from the Heart”.

17 December 2020, the Social Security (Administration) Amendment Act 2020 (continuation of cashless welfare), came into being. The Act supports the continuation of the Cashless Debit Card for a further two years.

Referendum on The Voice will be held in 2023

The Uluru Statement from the Heart outlined three key objectives: Voice to Parliament, Treaty and Truth-telling.

The Voice would be an advisory body, but will not have powers to overrule parliament. First Nations people will be able to bring matters relating to the social, spiritual and economic wellbeing from all Indigenous communities via their Local and Regional Voices through the twenty-four member National Voice which would advise the Federal Government, so it can best make decisions, policies and laws to improve the lives of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

As Dr Ann Jones states at the start of her environmental program on ABC Radio National, “What the Duck”,

“It is time”, that “we are one!” so get out there, speak up and vote “YES!”

 

Nick Browning

 

Note:  I have copies of documents, speeches and photos placed on a power point in support of the above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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