OK so this is politics and a very emotive subject. I don't think that we current Australians have anything to answer for. Not that I agree with what has happened to the Australian Aboriginal people.
There are two things I want to say. Firstly. We are looking at history from where we stand at the moment, and what we see is truly unacceptable to us in the 21st century. The problem is that we, the current generation are not to blame for what happened and therefore have nothing to answer for. By way of illustration: My wife and I are very blest adoptive parents. In the early 1960s when we adopted our children, the "shame" of illegitimacy was very real and adoption was the accepted course of action for the vast majority of illegitimate births. Nowadays it is the exception to adopt your illegitimate child, and even from where I stand I think that is quite right. >From where we stand in history adoption is not necessarily the best for the illegitimate child. My next door neighbour, a Dutch person by birth, had one of the so called "stolen" generation placed with her and brought up this aboriginal lady to have a good education and a professional working life; something that she would not have had if she were with her natural parents. ( I am not fully aware of her original parental circumstances) Yes, I agree that she did not have her natural right of being brought up with her biological parents, that yes, she has missed out on her traditions and heritage. But talk to her about it and she will tell you that it was the best thing that happened to her! She does not miss the kind of upbringing that she would have had with her natural parents. I know that this itself rases some issues of aboriginal treatment. Secondly the exploration of the world in the 15th - 18 th centuries also involved conquest. The empire nations (there were many of them not just England) felt that the way of life in Europe could bring many advantages to the "conquered" nations and we also accept that there were many advantages to the empire nations too. In earlier time that the Islamic nations conquered and converted many countries to Islam in the belief that it was "good" for the country they had conquered. Similarly the empire nations thought that their religion and way of life was of benefit to the aboriginal peoples that they conquered. That the conquered nations did not like what was happening to them is quite understandable, that they fought there conquerors is an inevitable correlate of occupation (Witness Iraq). The aboriginal peoples were bound to lose such a conflict. Certainly the massacred aboriginals was unfair and horrible from where we stand, but that is how wars were fought in those days. Sadly the modern world has not learned anything from history. Currently sectarian and religious strife is tearing apart this world. Genocide rears its head on a regular basis. In actual fact, nothing mush has changed at all in those few hundred years. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]