In their ceaseless quest for relevance, Anglican Church of Canada clergy are once again dismantling racism by standing on blankets and feeling the pain when they are whipped out from under them.
Once the blankets are all gone, they begin the thumb sucking exercise.
From here:
An interactive learning experience to teach the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada through colonization and the resulting loss of land, the KAIROS Blanket Exercise involves participants standing on a large number of blankets which are gradually removed, allowing them less and less space to stand on. Throughout the exercise, participants read texts that take them through the experience of pre-contact, the making and breaking of treaties by European settlers, colonization, development of reserves, the residential school system, and ongoing Indigenous resistance.
Following the blanket exercise, council members gathered again in a circle and opened up for discussion. Many related personal life experiences sparked by their participation in the blanket exercise. Some non-Indigenous members expressed feelings of shame at their descent from settlers who had gained from the historical subjugation of Indigenous Peoples. Meanwhile, some Indigenous council members recalled the pain that they felt due to racism and the intergenerational trauma rooted in colonial policies such as the residential school system.
Gosh! Although I think they would enjoy self flagellation more.
The exercise itself is flawed. For within it there is nothing given to the person when a blanket is removed. The historical facts are that land was never “taken” from the first immigrants but was instead sold by them at a fair and negotiated price. A price that we are still paying to this day and will continue to pay, for within this price was an agreement that these first immigrants would receive certain government services and never have to pay taxes, this in perpetuity. So for any one to even suggest the these first immigrants had land “taken” away from them is a lie and an insult to all the taxpayers of Canada.
You are absolutely right. The time has long since past for the so-called First Nation people to be treated the same as the rest of us – paying their fair share of taxes and making appropriate contributions to the community. There is absolutely no reason for their not paying their fair share of the expenses to our country.
Most of BC is unceded, not negotiated, re: stolen. So, you should at least get your facts straight. Have you ever visited Sumas Lake? No one asked the Sumas people when they drained that lake–the settlers got that land at a bargain basement price and became extremely wealthy. The Sumas people lived off that lake–fished, used it as a source of transportation. But I agree the blanket exercise is silly–it would be better to do more to build actual relationships with Indigenous people. How many Anglican clergy are Indigenous? Now, remember, it’s you Anglicans who came here to share the Gospel with the Indigenous. Now many of the Indigenous are actually Christians–so, where do you propose we all go to Church? Why are there Churches for the Chinese? for the Filiopinos? and so on and hardly any Churches for First Nations’ peoples? But what is really come off your comments and this article is a tone of hatred for the First Nations. You see, you point your finger with such a caustic tone towards the liberal Anglicans–don’t you think you should be beating them at their own game and modelling love? Many First Nations have traditional values–why would you want to alienate them with your nasty, nasty blog post? PS: Treaties, btw, are meant to last *FOR ETERNITY*–your ancestors signed those treaties–so, are you the type of people who keep your word? Don’t you think the Holy Bible says we should keep our word? Do you like living in Canada? coz the price you pay for living in Canada is paying your rent through treaties. Otherwise there’s this place called Europe where you’re more than happy to return to where you, as a white people, get to be “Indigenous”. How much do you value the pleasure of living in Canada? the freedom? the fresh air? It seems too many Canadians don’t seem to value any of this at all.
Now the Anglican Clergy know what its like to have the “rug pulled out from under them”…priceless !