Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Sorry

One word only for today: SORRY

Non-Australians who don’t know what this is about, see here for the gist of it and here for the heart of it. Brought tears to my eyes.

8 responses to “Sorry”

  1. sonja Avatar

    Matt … I just saw the headlines. I haven’t had a chance to read the story yet, but it sounds amazing and wonderful. Good on ya!

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  2. Matt Stone Avatar

    Close to a hundred of us gathered before the wide screen TV in the Uni bar. There was clapping, tears, I was profoundly moved. It has been so long coming. Hopefully there will be videos so you can see soon but I doubt it will capture half of what it was like for us.

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  3. sonja Avatar

    Wow … I just read the full text of the apology. That is completely awe inspiring. I can only hope that one day U.S. leadership will do the same for our Native American and African American population.

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  4. Peggy Avatar

    Matt,
    I’m not an Aussie, but I have followed stories of the Stolen Ones for years…when I saw your map, I knew exactly what it was about.
    I know that this word can never be enough, in terms of making things right. But it is a start.
    I was extremely blessed, during my time as interim pastor, to participate in the ceremony on Maui when the leaders of the Congregational Church formally apologized for their part in the overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy, and especially for not supporting the Queen, who was a pillar in the church. Very bad business all around. But it was a very good day of repentance and even a bit of restitution to the churches that are native Hawaiian.
    Forgiveness is so very important for all of us–those transgressed against and those doing the transgressing…even if we must do it on behalf of our ancestors.
    I am praying that some very good things come about because of this. Acts of forgiveness put in motion a powerful force for good….

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  5. Matt Stone Avatar

    An important aspect of the speach that the newspapers have not yet reported, since they are still digesting the core apology itself without any of the rest of it, is that the apology was followed up with an invitation by Rudd for the opposition leader to join him in a bipartisan “war cabinet” to formulate bipartisan policies aimed at eradicating the worst aspects of Aboriginal poverty, child abuse and poor education TOGETHER so that they could be passed unanimously. The opposition leader accepted the invitation in his follow up speach. A number of other actions were committed to as well but that one stuck out in my mind by far. There seems to be real substance and commitment here.

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  6. sally Avatar

    inspiring, challenging stuff. Thank you for posting this 🙂

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  7. Dean Ayres Avatar

    Brought a tear to my eyes, too, as I lay in bed in England listening to the morning news. A great day, and fantastic if it’s followed up with steps to tackle the injustices still facing many aboriginal people.

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  8. Cathy Avatar

    In USA it was covered on public radio. What good news!

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