Ministry in Australia

'original sin' or 'sin', the characteristic which on the one hand helps the human being to survive infancy, when the self must be satisfied. But if this self-centredness remains unchecked, it acts like a time bomb which will eventually self-destruct.

Therefore, since time immemorial, human beings have needed to acknowledge the existence of a higher being, whom we call God. This God acts in human relationships, not as it was thought, with power and might and magic, but with love, compassion and forgiveness. Whilst biologically we may have evolved through the principle of survival of the fittest, spiritually we can only prosper through the principle of survival of the weakest. As we help the weakest in our community and in the world, we advance the well-being of the whole world.

This principle is not explicit in the Bible. In fact, there are passages in the Bible which speak of God as the almighty warrior, who can zap people miraculously into submission and obedience and who is portrayed as supporting violence. But there are also those which speak of him as protecting the weak and being on the side of the poor. These contradictions can only be resolved by a theology which is not fundamentalist. The church should admit that it deliberately selects those passages and viewpoints which support the views of the majority at that time, but make public also those of the minority. Churches who follow a fundamentalist theology should acknowledge that they are also selective and argue their viewpoint on the issue at hand. Most disputes in the church should be seen as a different way of interpretation, rather than on dubious facts. The Bible we read is a translation from an ancient text, but not the very words of the original author. Because everyone's language changes constantly, we need to translate the text to current meaning and usage, to make it available as a guide for our attitudes.

The racism of the Nazis had taught me to be acutely aware of racism in any shape or form. When I came to Australia, I found, generally speaking, the tolerance of the people towards new immigrants very liberating. Personally, I have never experienced any racism or anti-German behaviour. However, from early on I found it appalling how the Aborigines were treated here. The official policy at that time was "white Australia", and Aborigines were treated as non-people. They were not citizens, they had no vote, they were not even counted in the census. After watching the film 'Jedda' in the 1950s, I realised that here was an ancient culture which had not only not been appreciated in the past, but also been actively suppressed, falsified and eradicated.

Having lost our land during the war, I could readily identify with Aborigines' feeling of up-rootedness, with their need for land to give them back their dignity and identity. When in 1967 the referendum on Aborigines was carried with an overwhelming majority, giving them full citizen status, I was overjoyed. But I knew also that latent racism was more difficult to eradicate. In June 1969 I wrote to Mr. Wentworth, then

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