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Native Americans, the Mainline Church, and the Quest for Interracial Justice
The Native American drive for self-governance is the most important civil rights struggle of our time - a struggle too often covered up. In Native Americans, The Mainline Church, and the Quest for Interracial Justice, David Phillips Hansen lays out the church's role in helping America heal its bleeding wounds of systemic oppression. While many believe the United States is a melting pot for all cultures, Hansen asserts the longest war in human history is the one Anglo-Christians have waged on Native Americans. Using faith as a weapon against the darkness of injustice, this book will change the way you view how we must solve the pressing problems of racism, poverty, environmental degradation, and violence, and it will remind you that faith can be the leaven of justice.
- GenresReligion
160 pages, Paperback
Published January 3, 2017
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February 5, 2017
Americans have long celebrated the discovery of the "New World." The unspoken assumption is that the Americas were lost before European explorers, led by Columbus, discovered them, and then subdued them. While there are attempts begin made to change that assumption with discussions about the dangerous implications for the "Doctrine of Discovery," most Americans are still unaware of the challenges faced by Native Americans, whose lands and cultures were taken from them, often with the complicity of the Christian Church.
David Phillips Hansen has taken it upon himself to address this situation. He seeks to call the attention of Mainline Protestants, his own faith community, to the "rapacious nature of white America's treatment of the nation's Native American population," which "cannot be explained adequately without reference to Christianity" (p. 2). He doesn't refer, for the most part, to individual denominations, as that is not his purpose. He wants us to understand our complicity as White Christians, among whom he numbers himself. The purpose of this exposition is not simply to blame earlier Christians for their activities, but to free contemporary Mainline Christians from their myopia and thereby prepare ourselves for the work before us" (p. 3). he goal is to move beyond apologies, which are necessary, to forms of mission that are just, peaceful, and recognize the rights of Native Americans and others.
The author is European American man ordained in both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley). His doctoral work focused on student movements, ethics, and economic policy. Both Ethics and Economics play important roles in the story.
The book begins in Part One with some introductory statements and a chapter "Mapping the Terrain." From there he takes the reader on a four step process that leads from recognition (the historical part) to reparation (the justice part). Between Recognition and Reparation there are sections dealing with responsibility and reconstruction. This will not be an easy read, because I expect most of us would rather not deal with this part of our history. He also raises difficult theological questions, which are worth exploring, including the possibility that Christian missions, even if undertaken with good intentions, led to cultural genocide. We participated in the process of killing the Indian (spiritually) so their soul might be saved. This conversation will not be easy because Christianity is a conversion-oriented religion. So how might Christians share in cultural contexts other than their own without stepping over the line? I'm not sure Hansen has the answers, but the questions do get raised.
Many readers will have lived in an area that had a Native American presence. The Klamath Reservation was closed not long before my family moved to Southern Oregon. Later, while in High School, the remaining members of the tribe who had not signed off on the ending of the reservation and the tribe as well, received a relatively large sum for finally signing off rights to the land. We who were white thought the government was generous, but the reality was that in many ways members of the Tribe lost their cohesion.
As I read the book I wasn't sure how to respond. Some of the economic analysis at the end of the book will be controversial. I understand the idea of reparations, and the value of land, but how do we deal equitably with land to the benefit of both Native and non-Native? I'm not sure. Hansen has his thoughts, and their worth exploring, even if we're not completely on board. Ultimately, books like this help us look at ourselves and our country more thoughtfully, even if the self-examination isn't exactly enjoyable.
David Phillips Hansen has taken it upon himself to address this situation. He seeks to call the attention of Mainline Protestants, his own faith community, to the "rapacious nature of white America's treatment of the nation's Native American population," which "cannot be explained adequately without reference to Christianity" (p. 2). He doesn't refer, for the most part, to individual denominations, as that is not his purpose. He wants us to understand our complicity as White Christians, among whom he numbers himself. The purpose of this exposition is not simply to blame earlier Christians for their activities, but to free contemporary Mainline Christians from their myopia and thereby prepare ourselves for the work before us" (p. 3). he goal is to move beyond apologies, which are necessary, to forms of mission that are just, peaceful, and recognize the rights of Native Americans and others.
The author is European American man ordained in both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley). His doctoral work focused on student movements, ethics, and economic policy. Both Ethics and Economics play important roles in the story.
The book begins in Part One with some introductory statements and a chapter "Mapping the Terrain." From there he takes the reader on a four step process that leads from recognition (the historical part) to reparation (the justice part). Between Recognition and Reparation there are sections dealing with responsibility and reconstruction. This will not be an easy read, because I expect most of us would rather not deal with this part of our history. He also raises difficult theological questions, which are worth exploring, including the possibility that Christian missions, even if undertaken with good intentions, led to cultural genocide. We participated in the process of killing the Indian (spiritually) so their soul might be saved. This conversation will not be easy because Christianity is a conversion-oriented religion. So how might Christians share in cultural contexts other than their own without stepping over the line? I'm not sure Hansen has the answers, but the questions do get raised.
Many readers will have lived in an area that had a Native American presence. The Klamath Reservation was closed not long before my family moved to Southern Oregon. Later, while in High School, the remaining members of the tribe who had not signed off on the ending of the reservation and the tribe as well, received a relatively large sum for finally signing off rights to the land. We who were white thought the government was generous, but the reality was that in many ways members of the Tribe lost their cohesion.
As I read the book I wasn't sure how to respond. Some of the economic analysis at the end of the book will be controversial. I understand the idea of reparations, and the value of land, but how do we deal equitably with land to the benefit of both Native and non-Native? I'm not sure. Hansen has his thoughts, and their worth exploring, even if we're not completely on board. Ultimately, books like this help us look at ourselves and our country more thoughtfully, even if the self-examination isn't exactly enjoyable.
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