An Aboriginal brother in the Lord sent me this post by a political blogger called Carrick Ryan. Ryan was an AFP agent for nearly 10 years, and has a Masters Degree in Politics and International Relations.
He wrote the article the day after ANZAC Day, apparently in response to the ugly reaction a Welcome to Country received during a dawn service the day before.
Ryan summarises what he understands “Country” to clearly be, because he think the boos and scorn shown it are unfair. His thesis is that if people truly understood how deeply religious “Country” rituals are to traditional Aboriginal culture – as opposed to a geopolitical gesture of colonial defiance – than “white Australians” would respect the beauty of them.
Spoiler alert: Ryan agrees with just about everything I’ve argued with evidence about the nature and meaning of the ritual, but arrives at a humanist conclusion instead of a Christian one – and that’s the problem many Christians struggle with, wanting to be “nice”. It’s absolutely critical you identify your worldview and disabuse yourself of illusions of lacking a bias.
Carrick Ryan is a humanist. I, Dave Pellowe, am and ever seek to be moreso, a faithful Christian. Below I analyse Ryan’s humanist thinking.
I’m going to wade into the “Welcome to Country” debate because I think I’ve identified a common but fundamental misunderstanding in what the ceremony means.
I don’t want to talk about when they should be held, how long they should go for, or whether they should be used for political statements. But I do want to talk about what it actually means to be “Welcomed to Country”, because this is what I think people get wrong.
To be clear, you’re not being welcomed to someone’s “country” in the geopolitical sense we usually understand it. It’s not someone’s territorial possession like we own property, it’s something deeply spiritual.
Exactly so. “Country”, in the context of traditional Aboriginal religious beliefs and culture, means much more than just a specific area of land, as subsequent immigrants to Australia tend to reduce it to. This truly is where the conflict must be understood to be resolved.
Now there are High Court rulings that do actually give Indigenous Australians a very real legal right to Australian land based on our own common law, but that’s not what this is about.
To be clear, the High Court has specifically, consistently contradicted all claims to sovereignty presented. Such claims are based in Aboriginal religion though, not Australian law, as clearly described in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Indigenous lore sees the land like we see God, it’s a spiritual being… a presence. It’s not just where their ancestors lived, it’s where they still exist… every single ancestor they have ever had. Their entire belief system is inextricably linked to the land, it’s as sacred to them as a consecrated church.
Every well meaning Christian who patronises traditional Aboriginal religion in any way, shape or form at all needs to read that again, and fall to their knees weeping tears of genuine grief and repentance for having supported such a pagan conception of God and perpetuated the spiritual bondage of too many with what the Apostle Paul described in withering terms in his Epistle to the church in Rome.
Aboriginal traditional rituals “see the land like we see God”, “a spiritual being, a presence.”
“Country” is where every single ancestor of first immigrants “still exist”.
“Their entire belief system is inextricably linked to the land, it’s as sacred to them as a consecrated church.”
When unbelievers are preaching to all that “Country” is entirely as religiously “sacred” as any part of Christianity, what shamefully reckless indifference Christian leaders must practice to proceed with syncretism anyway!
Now I understand “Welcome to Countries” are a relatively new formality in their current form, but if you understand what Indigenous people are trying to say to you then you might feel differently about pausing to listen to it.
They aren’t welcoming you to THEIR territory, they’re welcoming you to be present on SACRED territory. You’re walking upon the land their nation has cared for since the start of time.
That’s a truth claim which contradicts the scientific and Biblical accounts of the beginning of humanity – unless you believe the Garden of Eden was somewhere in South East Queensland, or perhaps Arnhem Land. Aborigines have resided here since their ancestors migrated here via ancient land bridges or short canoe voyages.
Yet, for your presence on this deeply holy land, they only ask that you take a moment to respect their ancestors who continue to exist within the land. That’s it… and with that they wish us well, and promise us protection, and usually express great joy that this happy gathering is happening on this land.
Now you might suggest it’s all a silly superstition, but if you respect the religious beliefs of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and Buddhists… this is no more fanciful. Why does this religion not get the same respect?
That’s a great question, if only it weren’t rhetorical.
No, religious beliefs don’t automatically deserve respect – unless they’re true. Culture and religion are literally human constructs and as corruptible and fallible as humanity itself. The sincere enquirer, then, is ruthlessly committed to the objective Truth at any personal cost and immune to taking offence. It is as impersonal as math. There’s always only one right answer and there’s always infinite wrong answers.
Any definition of God which deviates from God’s definition of Himself is deviant by definition. It is wrong. Truth is, by definition, viciously exclusive of everything untrue.
That’s why I have zero respect from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and other pagan (including Aboriginal) beliefs which do not completely agree with Almighty God, Who, by definition can reveal Himself – and indeed He clearly has. He is the best explanation of all available evidence. He is external to and pre-exists the Universe, time and the laws of physics we can observe, but able to interact intentionally with us as easily as we can put our hands in a box and interact with elements in it, without being constrained by anything in it.
The land is not even remotely holy. There are no dead relatives here still. Such suggestions are at best brazen contradictions of Christianity, and it is preposterous to suggest such clear errors in Truth should be tolerated let alone patronised. People have every legal right to be wrong, but have no God-given rights to impose their false religion on anyone else and demand respect for error.
Personally, when I understand why Indigenous people are performing this ceremony, I can see it’s a genuine attempt to involve me and the rest of Australia in their culture. They are allowing us to be a part of a new religious ceremony to celebrate an ancient civilisation, and they’re doing it in a way intended to make us feel… welcome. How beautiful.
How humanist. Such sentiments rely on a humanist worldview elevating human traditions to some kind of equality or even superiority to God’s Word. It’s not a benign attempt to “involve me and the rest of Australia in their culture”. It’s a genuine attempt to indoctrinate Australia into their false religion, and deserving of righteous contempt and anger.
Again, pagans have every civil right to proselytise, but just like with Christian preaching, robust arguments should not result in the preacher getting offended or interpreting political, intellectual and theological criticism as racial hatred. Grow up!
We talk a lot about reconciliation, but most people just expect Indigenous Australians to fully assimilate into our society and be happy with that. That’s not true reconciliation.
Actually, it’s precisely what reconciliation is. Reconciliation to God is the ministry of every Christian, and it doesn’t mean compromise or “agree to disagree” nicely. Christian society has much room for reformation, but it is the best construct for refugees from pagan cultures steeped in witchcraft rituals like “Country” to be assimilated into. It was what Paul preached when he described Ancient Greek culture as “ignorance” which God commanded them all to repent from.
In his first letter to the church in Corinth Paul wrote:
“So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”
True reconciliation is not accepting false truth claims to be nice, but to eliminate error and mature to righteousness. In accounting, true reconciliation means ensuring two different records are accurate and consistent with each other by eliminating errors – not including or tolerating them. Mistakes in the records must be corrected and fraud discovered.
That is true reconciliation.
The Welcome to Country is an attempt by some to introduce a tiny part of their 60,000 year culture into our broader national identity by teaching us about their deeply personal relationship with “country” and integrating it within some of our other national traditions, be they sport, politics, celebrations, or commemorations.
It’s a moment where Indigenous Australians truly attempt to reconcile their ancient customs and values with ours.
…and white Australians boo them.
Given the volume of Truth presented and summarised Carrick Ryan, this facile summary is only explainable by identifying a humanist worldview, which not faithful Christian can say amen to.
I won’t boo a “Country” ritual, but it must be plain to all – without seeking to be unnecessarily obnoxious – that I refuse to ever be seen to participate in or normalise such animistic idolatry.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Add your comments below…
Dave Pellowe is a Christian political educator & writer who gives priority of philosophy to God’s Word. He founded Church And State ministries in 2016, which has grown to include annual teaching conferences in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and regional Australia by invitation.
Specialising in what God says about complex ethical and social issues, Dave Pellowe is a sought after guest speaker at churches, Christian schools, TV, radio and podcast interviews and other secular and Christian forums where love of Truth and nonpartisan thinking are valued. [more]
