Thanks for your comment, anonymous, called "Settlers?"

It's a word I have personally started using to remind me, as you pointed out, that we're not the first here.

And you rightly point out the disgrace in colonizing in the name of God. That was a shameful part of our history. So why not just forgive and move on?

Well, it's easy to forgive, but when your people still live at a level below Peru (47th on the world development scale, which I acknowledge is a problematic ranking) while Canada is praised for being in the top 3 perpetually... doesn't that strike you that this isn't history?

How about Native communities impoverished while watching millions of dollars of raw logs being clearcut and dragged off their land by multinational corporations (such as at Grassy Narrows, ON).

How about every time Natives protest we send in the police or even the army and someone usually gets shot? I'm thinking of Dudley George in Ipperwash, ON; Gustafson Lake, BC, where Canada planted landmines against Native protesters within the last 10 years; Oka, where thousands of troops were sent in with tanks because some elders were defending a CEMETARY from being turned into a golf course. Come on, this is still happening today.

The question we should be debating is how far we should be going to oppose these injustices, lest our grandchildren look upon us with shame for claiming to be Christians while doing little to speak out.

It's no accident that indigenous peoples everywhere in the world face similar demons despite different histories and nations "settling" them. But you remain free NOT to identify as a settler, that's my personal preference. Just don't pretend we can all of a sudden force the people who've been wronged to forgive and forget, and let's move on.

It's much more complex than that. It breaks my heart. I know you're opinion is fairly average among Canadians, so I don't think you're evil, don't get me wrong. I've had many an argument in my own family about this.

The rest of the world knows that Canada has never settled accounts for its continuing treatment of Native peoples - lying, stealing, and (today) stalling from achieving rights already guaranteed.

Jesus, I believe, would be Indigenous and would emerge to undermine our dominant culture's control of oppressed peoples. Jesus taught forgiveness but also justice and right relations, two requirements we haven't addressed.

I do see what you're saying, and I didn't think of it that way. I'm still not thinking of myself as a settler, although I see what you mean through your explanation. I do NOT think it's right that people are oppressed anywhere, and I hadn't thought of you as thinking me evil. That would be wrong, and I strongly sense that you're not looking to make anything out of what I said. I do want a greater understanding of things and I do want to see injustices corrected, as I know Jesus does. I just didn't see it as you explained in your reply to me. I have more thinking to do on this subject. Truthfully, I have never agreed with police going in and subduing people in a peaceful protest, nor wrongly killing anyone, as they did with Dudley. There's no need for that. If people are protesting peacefully and not doing harm to anyone or anything, let them state their views and protest. Anyway, I'm probably getting off topic here.

Thanks for explaining your side of things. Food for thought. :)

Oh, one quick thing, and I'm not trying to draw anything out. When I was talking about forgiveness, I did not mean to imply that it's easy. Not by any means. I know full well that it's a very difficult thing, and I apologise if anyone got that impression. That's all about that. :)