Letter to the editor : 'Force of truth' or 'cheapening' of a word

Notes: "I was so grateful for Mark MacDonald's article, 'The force of truth' (April, p. 5) in which he clearly states that Indigenous people experienced genocide at the hands of church and state through the residential school system as well as government policy. We can only move forward as a society when we acknowledge and atone for the sins of the past. I can't help but wonder if it is merely a coincidence that we in many Christian churches worship a God who sent the Son to be tortured and suffer and die, while our nominally Christian clergy and government tortured and allowed Indigenous people to die through colonization. Christian theology and spirituality are broad and there are many strands of our theology that do not depend on abusive 'atonement theology'. Celtic and Franciscan theology and spirituality celebrate the Earth as the first revelation of God and inherently recognize diversity as a God-given gift. Perhaps our encounters with Indigenous people would have gone very differently if we had been more aware of the richness of our theological traditions". [Text of entire article.]

Subjects: Genocide (The word); Genocide - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Genocide - Religious aspects - Christianity; Indigenous peoples - Canada - Anglican Church of Canada - History; Colonialism - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Atonement