It was a bitter cold winter. We had one warm barn for our dairy herd with a space at the front for calves born during the winter. For the yearlings, we only had a shelter with no heat. That year during the month of January the temperature dipped below -40 degrees. We felt sorry for the yearlings shivering in the cold, so we brought them into the barn to share a pen with the younger calves.
We supplied nice fresh hay for the yearlings and the younger calves to eat. But, instead of eating the fresh hay the yearlings began to push the calves out of the way and made life miserable for them. The only choice we had was to remove the yearlings and return them to the cold shelter outside.
This is a good metaphor for the age of colonization. After the discovery of the “new world” people moved in and settled into these resource rich areas they had come upon. Rather than sharing the resources equally, they pushed out, and made life miserable for, the people who had lived there for millennia. Instead of the ones in charge saying this behaviour is unacceptable they encouraged and supported it.
Centuries ago, the Catholic Church put out the “Doctrine of Discovery”i which gave permission to take over any land that was not inhabited by Christians; and Protestants came up with the doctrine that Christianity is the only true religion. During this colonial age, a great number of Indigenous People in the world lost their lives and a great number of Indigenous People were converted to Christianity.
And today?
It seems to me - the decision to carve out a state for Israel in 1948, was a colonial decision using a colonial method. It is much the same as those who support Christian nationalism. One keeps on carving up the world into gated countries with borders to keep out the ones who don’t belong, which are usually people who are different, the ones who are less human than the “superior race”.
What is happening today, is that Indigenous People in the world are beginning to claim their rightful place at the global table. They no longer accept the role of servants or second-class citizens. We are seeing the ending of the colonial age and the beginning of the post-colonial age. Whenever one age ends and a new one begins, it often is traumatic. It is a little like going through a birthing process. Hopefully, we will begin to realize that one cannot stop a birthing process no matter how large our military budget.
I visualize Israel as becoming a country from the river to the sea where all its people, Jews, Christians, Palestinians, and the ones who already have made it their home, and the ones who
have been driven out and live in refugee camps, have full human rights, including full voting rights. It will become a secular nation where each faith is entitled to full human rights. (This will require a constitution which Israel presently does not have.)
Realistically, I do not see this happening in my life time. Regretfully, we are still living with the maxim, “Might makes right.”
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i This doctrine was articulated in a series of papal "bulls," or decrees; the first one was issued in 1452. They gave the colonial powers, such as Spain and Portugal, the right to seize lands and subjugate people in Africa and the "New World," as long as people on the lands were not Christians. Though the Roman Catholic Church has long disassociated itself from its practical use, the Vatican only formally repudiated the "Doctrine” in March of this year.
Tony Boonstra has been a Presbyterian minister since 1978. He has served churches in B.C. Alberta, and Ontario. In retirement he has remained active doing interim/transitional ministry and pulpit supply.
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