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My Grandfather with the 1930 Calvin Seminary Choir Tour Visiting Rehoboth

Doctrine of Christian Discover Report

In case you haven’t wade through the whole report the CRC Network Synod page offered a small piece saying why we should pay attention to it. If you read the comments on that page also notice this piece from the Banner.  Classis Red Mesa also has an Overture (14) on this topic in the Agenda for Synod 2016 that is worth reading.

Here are some of my thoughts.

The Biggest, Most Obvious Thing

What happened in the history of European discovery, conquest and colonization of the Americas is one of the saddest, bloodiest and most terrible crimes and tragedies we know in this modern era. The peoples who were here when the Europeans arrived fell victim first to the European’s diseases and then to their greed. This is something that we should all lament. In ways we have contributed to it we should apologize and try to make right.

Unfortunately due to racism and other aspects of human depravity the impact of colonialization on the few peoples that remain with ties to this past and even recognizable community in continuity with this story have repeatedly and continue to suffer from the laws, legacy and aftermath of this dark chapter. Even many attempts to make things right have gone on to sometimes make matters worse. Owning up to this too is important.

This is a story, like many dark stories deserves to be told, explored and retold to help us learn from it and in the future try to do better. The most important people to tell this story are those who suffered from it. They all deserve our ear.

The Report Before Us

Having said this I don’t think the report currently before Synod does justice to this story and is flawed in a number of critical ways. In the end I think it ironically falls victim to some of the dynamics involved in the original and ongoing injuries.

Understanding “Christian” and “human” as Adjectives Continue reading →