“We Christians, in fact – British and American – were the ones who decided that we couldn’t do to Indigenous people and kidnapped Africans what we were doing if they were indeed people made in the image of God. What we did is we threw away Imago Dei. We threw it away to justify what we’re doing… white supremacy was America’s original sin… “ |
Many Unitarian Universalist congregations in the U.S. have voted to adopt the Eighth Principle which commits those congregations to “…actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” Acknowledging the contribution of UU religious ancestors in New England to the genocide of Native peoples might be a reasonable first step toward such accountability. Of course, the white supremacy culture that the Reverend Wallace refers to as “America’s original sin” did not begin in the Christian churches of colonial New England. The “just war theory” of 4th century bishop Augustine of Hippo and the “doctrine of discovery” promulgated by papal bulls of Pope Nicholas V in 1455 and Pope Alexander VI in 1493 surely laid the foundation for exploitation of native peoples by European settlers. Nevertheless, adoption of the Eighth Principle has created a unique responsibility for Unitarian Universalists to examine this history.
According to the Unitarian Universalist Association, the religious movement that evolved into both Unitarian and Universalist denominations in North America began with the Cambridge Platform of Church Discipline signed by English settlers in 1649.1 This platform described a system of church self-governance, free from hierarchical control, that continues to guide congregational churches of New England (including UU congregations) to this day. The Cambridge Platform affirms that the government should punish idolatry, blasphemy, heresy, and “the venting of corrupt and pernicious opinions”. This position gave the colonial government an endorsement from the Standing Order of New England Clergy (see diagram below) to punish indigenous people who were generally viewed as “corrupt and pernicious”
Continue reading Repentance and Repair for “America’s Original Sin”