Video: Bishop Mark MacDonald on indigenous issues at the WCC

By Matthew Davies
Posted Nov 2, 2013

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, national indigenous bishop for the Anglican Church of Canada, speaks about indigenous issues being addressed at the World Council of Churches General Assembly, meeting Oct. 30-Nov. 8 in Busan, South Korea.

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  1. Mark DeWolf says:
    November 5, 2013 at 4:31 am

    Bishop MacDonald is of course right in saying that we (i.e. the Western World and much of the rest of it) can learn valuable lessons from the more ecologically sound ways of aboriginal people. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that the relationship that those aboriginal people had with “the land” was not because they possessed greater wisdom or were somehow more ethical than the Europeans who took over Canada. For them, it was a necessity, and when their environment changed, they adapted to it. Given time, they too might very well have adopted the “conquer and exploit nature” attitude that has brought us to the precarious place we are now. Let’s not romanticize First Nations any longer; there’s been too much of that. But at the same time, let’s do something serious about giving First Nations children the opportunity to become educated, employed, happy and proud adults. We all live in this world and we have to find ways to eliminate the inequities that exist between people.

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