Christianity, Good, and Righteous, Other Religions, Bad, an Axis of Evil?

Whatever your answer; Pope Francis invited to visit Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

A group of Vancouver residents has invited Pope Francis to visit the city's Downtown Eastside and two ” Aboriginal Reserves.” [Oxford dictionary of the English language definitions: 1.Having to do with the Australia= Aboriginals. 2. Aboriginal=Primitive, existing in a land from earliest times BEFORE the arrival of colonists .reserves. Webster’ Dictionary of the language of the United States of the Americas: Aboriginal=Primitive. Aborigine=Original inhabitant Of course, you may self define the word to mean anything you so desire but that does not mean anybody else need or will ever accept your self definition/identification].

The group is asking the pope to help address issues of homelessness, poverty and marginalized peoples. "There's a problem not being addressed that needs to be fixed," said Tom Beasley, a lawyer and a member of the United Church of Canada, who spearheaded the idea. Beasley, Judy Graves, a  former City of Vancouver homeless advocate, and six others representing a broad interfaith community signed the letter of invitation which arrived at the Vatican March 9, 2015. The group invited the Pope to walk the Downtown Eastside, engage in discussions, visit a  Racially segregated urban "Reserve" and an even more Racially segregated, remote "Reserve", and celebrate Mass from a barge in English Bay.

Graves, who has been working in the Downtown Eastside since 1979, said she thinks the problems in the area and on remote reserves have gotten worse over the years. "It's time to bring in someone who has a truly inspirational voice," she said, adding that the Pope appeals to people across all faiths and works for the oppressed.

 Many authors, historians and researchers would seem to concur with the idea that residential schools have impacted generation after generation of “Aboriginal”??? Peoples in this country.

In the late nineteenth, and the early twentieth centuries, the federal government, or, so it is now claimed, wanted Aboriginal peoples to abandon their traditional beliefs and adopt western-based values, and religions. Actually, rather than INTEGRATING peoples with some indigenous heritage into “western society”, residential schools, Like “First Nation RESERVES” and the United States of the America’s slave trade founded belief that One Drop Of African Blood Denoted  A Coloured HUMAN, And Therefore A Potential Slave.

These same authors, historians, and those working on “research” grants, claim Investigation of the role, and impacts, of residential schools on “traditional knowledge”, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being must be studied within the context of colonization and genocide.

Residential schools were funded by the Federal Government???, but were Operated by various Christian, Religious Institutions.

The goal of residential schools was NOT institutionalised assimilation BUT further institutionalised segregation by stripping peoples with some degree of indigenous, native, heritage of their supposed languages, cultures, even other otherwise segregated family members.

 Such assaults on the Rights To Retain and Celebrate Cultural and Spiritual (not necessarily religious) Heritage have been devastating to CANADIANS ALL.
© Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan. All rights reserved.