RT Article
T1 Earthing Theology: The Land as the Site of Justice for Aboriginal Australians
JF International journal of Asian christianity
VO 4
IS 2
SP 275
OP 289
A1 May, John d'Arcy 1942-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2021
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1769509364
AB Abstract The encounter of Aboriginal Australians with European settlers led to appalling injustices, in which Christian churches were in part complicit. At the root of these injustices was the failure to comprehend the Aborigines’ relationship to the land. In their mythic vision, known as The Dreaming, land is suffused with religious meaning and therefore sacred. It took two hundred years for this to be acknowledged in British-Australian law (Mabo judgement, 1992). This abrogated the doctrine of terra nullius (the land belongs to no-one) and recognized native title to land, based on continuous occupation and ritual use. But land disputes continue, and at a deeper level, there is little appreciation of the Indigenous spirituality of the land and the significance it could have for reconciliation with First Nations and the ecological crisis. Aboriginal theologies can help Christians to appreciate the riches of this spirituality and work towards justice.
K1 Indigenous Theology
K1 Spirituality
K1 Justice
K1 Dreaming
K1 Land
K1 Aborigines
DO 10.1163/25424246-04020009