Parishioners at one of Melbourne’s most famous churches were yesterday urged to pray for forgiveness for dishonouring other cultures and failing to listen to the concerns of members of the Indian community, who were described by an Anglican bishop as “oppressed in this land”.
Bishop of the northern and western regions, Philip Huggins, led prayers at St Paul’s Cathedral, in which he asked for forgiveness for “our prejudice and indifference” to people from different countries.
“Forgive us for our arrogance in closing our eyes to other people’s cultures,” he said. “Forgive us for not honouring the culture of others, and thus taking away their self-respect . . . forgive us for not listening to the griefs of all who are oppressed in this land, especially for Indians who are feeling vulnerable.”
The service — titled prayers for peace and the welfare of all Indians in Australia — is bound to add to the continuing debate about whether there is a problem with violence against Indians and racism in the community.
I could never be a member of this church, because bishops are always going around telling people that they’re racists, and responsible for slavery. How does this horse’s butt even know that his people are the perpetrators?
[blockquote]Bob Birrell, an influential social analyst at Monash University in Melbourne said the attacks occurred because the boom in students from the sub-continent forced them into less affluent, crowded suburbs where they competed for jobs and housing with low-skilled youths from other migrant backgrounds. [/blockquote]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6977296.ece
Perhaps these low-skilled migrant youths (in gangs) are from East Anglia?
Back in the 1990s when Archbishop Duncan was Pittsburgh’s Canon to the Ordinary, he spoke out very vigorously about the challenges of racism in Pittsburgh. I rather doubt that many of his flock were directly involved in perpetrating them, but he took the line that the Church’s responsibility to the wider community required a public statement.
I’m not clear that asking people to empathize with present suffering can be equated with asking them to repent of an institution like slavery that is almost 150 years in the past and in which they cannot really be considered complicit.
Every time I see an article like this I think of a penetrating essay by C.S. Lewis: “The Dangers of National Repentance.” It’s one of his great short pieces. You can see it here (though you’ll need to scroll down).
http://trn.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/4/10
[blockquote] I’m not clear that asking people to empathize . . . [/blockquote]
I don’t think that’s what he’s doing.
[blockquote] Bishop of the northern and western regions, Philip Huggins, led prayers at St Paul’s Cathedral, in which he asked for [b] forgiveness for “our prejudice and indifference”[/b] to people from different countries.
“[b] Forgive us[/b] for our arrogance in closing our eyes to other people’s cultures,” he said. “[b] Forgive us[/b] for not honouring the culture of others, and thus taking away their self-respect . . . [b] forgive us[/b] for not listening to the griefs of all who are oppressed in this land, especially for Indians who are feeling vulnerable.”[/blockquote]
He’s saying that the Anglicans to which he is speaking have done things that demand forgiveness regarding the circumstances surrounding the murder. He’s saying that they’re arrogant, disrespectful, prejudiced and indifferent. That’s not requesting empathy. That’s horse hockey.