Possession – an indigenous Problem

Background

Recently I was in a meeting concerning the decades old A National Act of Recognition (http://actofrecognition.org.au/).This is a people’s movement seeking to invite Australians to Botany Bay to renounce the violent acts of Captain Cook’s men towards the natives on 28 April 1770 and the false notion of possession declared near Cape York on 22 August 1770. Though Cook’s party saw signs of habitation along the whole east coast of the continent they “took possession” as though the land was empty[1]. This was no mere political act but an omen of a potent spiritual problem that still plagues Australia today.

Allotment

In preaching to pagan idolaters Paul explained, “And he (God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” (Acts 17:26-27). As Paul makes clearer as his sermon progresses, the God of whom he speaks is a Father who has allotted to a resurrected human being the right to Judge the world (Acts 17:28, 31). In other words, the boundaries of people groups (Greek ethnoi = ethnic) are an arrangement between the Father and the Son. The Word through whom “all things” were made and for whom they were created is Jesus (John 1:3; Col 1:16). Thus the aboriginal tribes scattered for millennia across Australia were not situated here through random evolutionary migration but received family names by God as a providential Father who destined them for the inheritance of Christ (Eph 1:10; 3:14).

Dominion

Long before Europeans ever had the ability to sail the seven seas the psalmist prophesied the Father’s promise to the Son, “The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (2:7-8). When James Cook treated the original inhabitants of the land as of no account to denied to them the status of peoples marked for salvation under the Lordship of Christ. As such his declaration, “in the Name of His Majesty King George…I took possession” can only be interpreted as an act of rivalry to that of the one true majestic King, Jesus (2 Pet 1:16). Of course the English of the 18^th century, along with the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch…down to the Americans and Chinese of our day, had no conscious awareness that they were/are trespassing outside the good, pleasing and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2). But why are colonisers so spiritually dull about what they/we are doing?  

Blinded

How is it possible to take ownership of an entire continent despite knowing it is already inhabited and to not sense this is theft? After all, every culture knows that stealing another person’s property is wrong. In the Australian case the British coveted new lands and “covetousness is idolatry” (Col 3:5). In response to idolatry God unwaveringly gives idol worshippers over to assimilating the properties of the things they desire, since a land does not have eyes those who lust for it become blind (cf. Ps 115:4-8). Blind that is to the true spiritual realities at the root of that which they have seized. And so the European colonisers of Australia, and all who have since imitated them, have fallen in love with the natural wonders of this splendid continent but cannot see through its beauties, from the Great Barrier Reef to the wild forests of Tasmania, the glorious presence of the one who made it all (Rom 1:19-22). Most intensely, denying to the Indigenous people the status of being in the image of a Creator-Father consigned successive waves of settlers to a famine of knowing God as Father (Acts 17:28). The Judge of all has “handed us over” to terrible judgements akin to our original sins against those to whom he entrusted the country (Rom 1:24, 26, 28). Australians, including recent immigrants[2], are paranoid about losing our land and lifestyle. Christians need to examine this as an impediment to consistent discipleship. 

Afraid

Since the material blessing we enjoy here are ultimately the fruit of robbery from other peoples[3] no non-Indigenous Australian has a perfect witness of peace in their conscience concerning their possessions. This is manifestly if we consider our attitudes to aborigines and refugees. In the former case,  government and culture seem impotent of authority to address terrible statistics like Indigenous women being 32-80 times more likely to suffer domestic violence than the rest of the population[4] and, as yet another review has revealed, the suicide rate up north (Kimberley) is 7x the national average. We struggle to comprehend that taking away the land of a land based culture was to remove the foundation of everything; including family life. It is like leaving Israel in exile for centuries! The result is a prevailing sense of toxic shame amongst Indigenous people that radically disempowers all natural initiatives. Money can never fix a problem which is rooted in the spiritual reality of sin.

Mainstream culture, including most of the Church, fears dispossession in manner which shows it to be devoid of the Spirit (2 Tim 1:7). In this way our response to asylum seekers is a prophetic sign. Just as the first Europeans came on boats uninvited so do modern boat people and few of us have good will to gladly share with them our prosperity; “It may be that old sins cast long shadows, and that one such shadow lies upon us today.” (Peter Adam) Because we stole the land our guilty consciences oppose us sharing it. If the above discussion on dispossession is basically correct what can Christians do about it?

Application

First, stop ignoring the shameful plight of Aboriginal people. Where painful wounds are covered over they can never be healed by the blood of Christ (Jer 6:14). Secondly, cry out for sovereign and merciful initiatives from God, confessing that governments are out of their depth in dealing with the trauma of our history; not least its spiritual dimensions! Thirdly, go out of your way to recognise, support and encourage Christian leaders in the Indigenous community; many of them are under huge pressure and many feel the plight of their people is ignored by mainstream Christianity and culture. Finally, be open to whatever the Lord asks you to get involved with socially and politically. If we do not act to see justice come to the weak, fatherless and needy First Peoples we will remain a nation under the judgement of the one who has been given the inheritance of all nations (Ps 82:3-4, 8). The obedience of all peoples belongs to Christ, but our capacity to disciple our own nation will remain weak without a radical reorientation concerning our “right” to possess the land (Gen 49:10; Matt 28:19). May the Lord gently lead us into appropriate repentance.