Orion

Your religion was written on tablets of stone, by the iron finger of your God, lest you forget it. The red man could never remember it or comprehend it. Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors, the dreams of our old men, given them by the Great Spirit, and the visions of our chiefs, and is written in the hearts of our people. Seattle (1786-1866)

When the missionaries first came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray". We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land. Bishop Desmond Tutu

case

Interesting. What exactly is Mr. Tutu a bishop of, anyway?

Undercurrent

Do you have a source for this? I'm looking for T-shirt fodder (opening my cafepress store Real Soon Now.)

Rev. Joshua

He's a bishop in the Episcopal Church of South Africa (part of the Anglican Communion).

Here's his <a href="http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html" target="_blank">bio</a>.

Just because he recognizes the injustices of the Church doesn't mean he throws the baby out with the bathwater.

Joshua

case

So, in other words, he admitts that the church is guilty of injustices, but justifies it because, um...hmm...no, you lost me...

Rev. Joshua

Case, I don't think he justifies it at all. I don't justify the historic oppression of minorities in the US - in particular slavery, the Japanese interrment camps, the slow progress toward universal sufferage, etc. Nevertheless, I recognize that there is justice and wisdom in the American constitutional system and that rightly interpreted and fairly applied it is a good system that continues to (generally) improve over time.

I feel the same way about the Church, and I think Bishop Tutu's writings reflect that he does as well.

Joshua