[Xmca-l] FW: two "hurricanes" in one day

[Peter Smagorinsky]

Those who are interested in mediation via religious/political framing might find this new article interesting:
"False Doctrine" and the Stifling  Of Indigenous Political Will
                               Four Arrows

                 Fielding Graduate University
Home<http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/index> > Vol 5, No 13 (2014)<http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/issue/view/182504> > Four Arrows<http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/184496/0>
Abstract


I hypothesis that there is a correlation between the failure of Indigenous politics to achieve its goals and the sway of what Thomas Paine refers to as the false doctrine of Christian dogma. Unremitting evangelism and Christian hegemony has led to silencing or compromising authentic grassroots voices of too many Indigenous people. High conversion rates have weakened opportunities for resistance to colonialism and the loss of vital traditional values. (I suggest that a similar problem may relate to the failure of contemporary black politics.) It is important at this critical time for human civilization to reflect carefully on the influence of dominant worldview assumptions as relates both to the tragic problems facing Indigenous Peoples as well as to the broader consequences globally of having dismissed Indigenous understandings about the world. Overcoming the problems of religious hegemony does not require wholesale rejection. It includes possibilities for a complementary relationship between Indigenous spiritual understanding and alternative interpretations of Biblical Gospel that have existed for centuries. Moving to a different location is a simple process, though it often takes courage. One merely decides what to take and what to leave behind. What man makes, whether computers or religions, requires consumers to critically and intuitively consider both positive and negative potential outcomes. We must engage dialectically about likely universal truths and those that we invent about how best to live in flowing balance. All of us, Indigenous as well as those far removed from their Indigenous ancestors, however, can learn to again trust in the laws of Nature on which Indigenous worldviews are based.

Keywords

Indigenous Peoples; Religious Influences; Christianity, Thomas Paine; Political Will;Civilization

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ISSN 1920-4175 Critical Education