Are you aware of the stolen generation in Australia?

Question

Between 1910 and 1970, the Australian government used legislation to work in conjunction with the catholic church, and other christian groups, to forcibly remove 10-30% of indegenous children, during that period, from the their families, placing them in church run missions. Almost every aboriginal family in Australia had at least one child stolen from them and put in a church run mission.

The aim was forced assimilation, and the fact that it carried on for so long is a terrible testament to "christian" values of church groups in Australia.

Answer 1

Many churches have offered apologies and taken steps towards reconciliation. Reaffirming these initiatives, recognising the pain and trauma of the Stolen Generations, we advocate the establishment of a healing commission. The churches stand ready to participate in such a commission in whatever way may be appropriate.

Further, the churches support the establishment by the Council of Australian Governments of a national fund, as part of the healing process. We call on all Australian governments, whose predecessors legislated for laws which gave warrant to practices leading to the Stolen Generations, to contribute generously to the fund. Because all Australians were represented by those governments, all Australians and all agencies – including church agencies – which cooperated with such practices are urged to contribute to the fund.

Our churches will continue to pray and work for the healing of the nation.

Answer 2

Being in Australia it is hard not to be aware of this issue. This is a very sad chapter of our history that certainly no one could be proud of. What must be noted is that unfortunately this has also become a one size fits all issue for what was a miriad if individual situations. It was origionally started in a very culturally different society than we have today and that also makes it very difficult for people to understand the why and how the various parties involved acted. Society was certainly more secular than today and for their values and beliefs at the time they believed they were doing the right thing. This is not condoning nor defending just trying to give some perspective. Bad, malicious and vidictive people can be found in any part of society or culture and it can be certainly said that many innocent people suffered. Any group has its bad elements but the majority should not be labled for the actions of a few and current generations should not be required to carry the burdens of the previous. This does not mean that in a willing and "christian" way we should not seek to give help and charity to those who have suffered. These people should be rightly compensated for there suffering however this has met some resistance as an " I'm aborigional so you owe me a living" attitude by some sections of the indigious communtiy has unfortunatly been very present. Some of these are people who, some being less than half aborigional, have rorted the system and this has impacted on several things like due compensation going to those who deserve it. Another issue is that in our litigious society if the goverment offically apologises than there is the possibility that many who do not dererve it will go for there share. Compensation seems to be mentioned all the time. Basically the greatest Christian value, forgivness should be expressed and we should just get on with helping those who deserve it. The aborigional community has many issues to deal with but some must be dealt with within the hearts and minds of the community if they wish to free themselves from the burdens of the sufferings that have been inflicted on them in the past.

Answer 3

I think as a whole, the white community was aware and in some instances were active in removing the most likely candidates (part white children) to missions/reserves. Aboriginal communities living on the outskirts of towns were most at risk from having children stolen. The attitude tended to be that more remote and traditional communities were pretty much expected to die out (extinction) and little was done to help them (very little medical care/if any, no education or other facilities) and those still left in or near towns and cities were expected to be "absorbed" into the greater population eventually. Search: Eugenics, Genocide. The mission system was pretty disgusting and the white attitude seemed to be 'out of sight & out of mind". For many many years white people could have cheap farm and domestic labour from Aboriginal kids from missions. These same kids were usually unpaid, badly treated and the first to be dumped when equal wages were introduced (equal in theory atleast). So in that sense many white people are well and truly alive today who perpetrated, witnessed or ignored incredible human rights abuses and DID NOTHING. White australians have a very selective memory and write off the abuses against Aboriginal people in the 60's and 70's as ancient history. Despite it all being well documented, many white australians today still deny that there ever was a stolen generation.

Answer 4

Yes.

It is a very sad part of our history, but it is also more complex than simply an attempt to "breed out aboriginality", although that was undeniably part of the motivation. It is also unfair to blame the Churches. It was government, not religious, policy.

Although I'm an atheist, I think the mainstream churches deserve credit for their leadership in opening up this issue.

All Australians need to confront the reality of the "Stolen Generation", and to try to understand the complexities. It is not simply a matter of taking sides in a culture war. This is too important.

I suspect the same is true of relatively recent settler cultures in many other places, such as Canada, the US, and many South American countries.

One unfortunate result of recently increased awareness of the stolen generations is that Indigenous children who are suffering serious abuse are not being protected from abusers within their own community, because community service workers are frightened of being called racists. Indigenous and Non-indigenous workers need to work together to protect these kids.

Answer 5

I didn't realise that it was Christian in origin, but it doesn't surprise me. I had thought that it was likely intracultural relations, rather than intercultural. You can't get that sort of picking and choosing without knowing something about the politics of each family, which is generally privileged information within a culture. I would be suggesting that the Christian church, with it's hyper-vigilant guilt-based eloquence in a tap-tapping away at the same oratory, was inundated with awful Aboriginal oligarchs who wanted to punish others within the culture for being too low-class or disobeying artificial laws set up to protect the guilty. The guilty do tend to go for protection to the strongest group around.

I think it's a terrible tragedy. It's impossible for anybody to be perfect. I've had my children taken off me. It's nobody else's business to interfere in family business and I'm not just saying that as a slogan. I haven't gotten to see my children grow up. I think this is because I'm Christian. God will judge my persecutors. I don't care if my family experiences sickness, as they have. They brought it on themselves. I am not Aboriginal. I am white.

Instead of moralising, why don't people get off their bums and help parents out? It's difficult to be one. God is one and what do people do? Say that he doesn't exist.

Answer 6

yeah we spent most of last year learning about it.
but it was just randon children, they took half-casts.
they believed that since they were already partly white they deserved to grow up in white civilisation, however the main idea behind it was to cut off their contact with their aboriginals families and aboriginals in general, that way they'd be forced to marry white men or women.
when they had kids and their kidsgrew up they'd marry white men or women and it would continue like that until all the black had been bred out of them.
it's a fairly horrible part of australia history and is still affecting people to this day. but you have to keep in mind that at the time people knew very little about abridginal civilisation, the church and government truly believed that they were helping these kids.

Answer 7

Are you also aware that science used to sponsor hunting trips to Australia to kill specimens of the Aboriginal people? They were going to mount them in the British Museum of History. Proof of Darwin's evolution as they were at one time considered a lower life form,not yet evolved into humans. There has been atrocities committed by both sides, and no excuse for either. But atrocities committed by some are no reason to condemn all.

Answer 8

I did not, I wonder why that is? Hmmmmm, I am very sad for all concerned. I have an connection with there dream time. The same thing happened here in the USA with the natives. Talk about forcing religion down peoples throats.

Answer 9

I am from Australia so the answer is yes, although if John Howard has his way it would be ..........what are you talking about................just nice christian folk trying to instill christian values...............nothing wrong with that.

We owe great debt to our indigenous population for the pain and suffering we have caused, but even sorry seems too much for the government. Our christian values are nothing to be proud of, they have the same ugliness that the fundamentalist Amercian christians have, mainly because many of the religions originated there.......see Hillsong and tell me how it is different from the US religions.

I teach my own children about the awful event in our history. The indigenous people are still be served up injustices day after day though. Living in third world conditions and living 20 years or more less than anglo Australia.

JH raves on about instilling values as if a population who lived in this country for 40,000 years has nothing to offer.

Answer 10

Yeah i am. I'm an australian, and we spend a LOT of time in history lessons learning about aborigionals and all the terrible things the british did to them. I think about half a year was dedicated to the stolen generation.