The National Day of Thanksgiving: it's the ‘white fella’ religious right again

The National Day of Thanksgiving (NDOT), on May 26, 2007, is "a unique opportunity for Australians to celebrate and give thanks for our God given heritage as a nation".

But it's a con.

In fact, it's worse than a con. It's a diversion and a deliberate sabotage of one of the year’s most significant times for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) communities. And it also should be a time of deep remorse, reconciliation and commitment by all Australians, for apologies and action.

May 26 is Sorry Day and the Long Walk; the 40th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum is commemorated on May 27, and that day also marks the beginning of the National Week of Reconciliation.This will be followed by the 50th anniversary of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee on July 8-15, ("NAIDOC: Looking forward, looking Black").

The hurt and anger felt by the ATSI communities is bluntly and emotionally reflected by the National Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission's recent statement. It is "evident that people do not care", said its Secretary, we are "left on the dung heap of society … for the vast majority, life still stinks … Indigenous Australians cannot help but feel quite alone in their quest for justice".

The paternalism and arrogance of the religious right and its NDOT is breathtaking.

Challenged two years ago that they were trampling over the Indigenous community’s Sorry Day, the organiser of NDOT responded, "We hadn't even thought of that, we weren't aware when Sorry Day was".

Well this year they sort of remembered. Among those to be thanked, the firefighters, seniors and Rotary members, is "our First Nation People". But in fact after that listing, they disappear.

There are pages and pages on "ideas" and "suggestions": employers can hold morning teas for their employees; a thankyou morning tea for your local police; or "gift cards and ribbons" - "$2 a pack of 6" - for your boss, local police or fire brigade; but not a word about morning tea for "our First Nation".

Then comes the strategy: contact the "community groups you are targeting - local council, parliamentary members, Rotary, Lions, Apex as well as sporting and social bodies". No "First Nation" in that lot.

It's white Christian triumphalism at its best. It's a time for "rededication of our nation to God", to declare God's "prophetic vision for our Nation", to "proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our Nation", and as one of the speakers to the Parliamentary Prayer Network prophesied, it's time for "Christians to take over the world and that Australia is on the brink of becoming a theocracy".

But there's still another agenda behind all this thanksgiving. For the organisers it's not only "a vehicle to assist in restoring Christian values", it's also "an effective tool to engage in mission and evangelism".

Why then, is it being endorsed, promoted and supported by the Governor General, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition?

For "Kevin from Queensland" I guess its a matter of covering all bases in an election year; for "Jeffery of Yarralumla", anything to be noticed; and for "John of Kirribilli", anything, to divert people's attention from Sorry Day, Long Walks and Reconciliation.

There's no mistaking the PM's message: its about "recognising Indigenous Australians", and certainly not about apologies and regrets.

Even allowing for the cynical use by politicians of religious occasions, their enthusiasm for the day is intriguing. The day is being organised by some 63 (one is counted twice) "supporting ministries". But dig a little, and its all smoke and mirrors.

Instead of main line churches, it's a collection of the cream of Australia's religious right. Of the 62, nine are companies profiting from the day,(including a television station, five radio stations, a bookshop and a media agency); and some 17 are local congregations, "prayer groups" and "ministers associations". One man, founded and directs another four of the organisations (Australian Heart Ministries, Australian Heart Productions, Mens Prayer.com, and the Fatherhood Foundation, ("women only want a sperm donor to validate their reproductive needs … and a poor sucker to pay for it"), while a woman either, directs or represents another four. Life Ministries, is closely allied to the Christian Democratic Party; Hope Generation is an "incorporated member of the Assemblies of God (AOG)", while another half dozen organisations are led by AOG ministers. And so it goes on.

Why would the Governor General be endorsing organisations promoting Christian Zionism (Intercessors for Melbourne, Youth Arise and the Australian Prayer Network) or those who have kindergarten children making banners with "the blood of Jesus Christ" on them (Miracle Education).

Why would the Prime Minister be lining up with the call for a ten-year moratorium on Muslim migration to Australia (Saltshakers, Catch the Fire)? Does he really believe the world was created in seven days as do the organisations he endorses (Creation Ministries International, Campus Crusade for Christ)? And frankly, what's the Opposition Leader doing, promoting the National Alliance of Christian Leaders, which supports the "scrapping of the UN", and believes that "multiculturalism is fundamentally flawed"?

The Day of Thanksgiving will only confirm for ATSI communities what they already know, people are too busy running their own agendas, and if the religious right has its way, Aboriginal communities will continue to stand "alone in their quest for justice".

A few months after the first Day of Mourning back in 1938, Doug Nicholls, Yorta Yorta man, pastor and black activist, looked around in despair and anger, and said that nothing will change until, "White people learn to think black".

It's a shameful day, this National day of Thanksgiving, as it once again tramples over the hurt and injustice of Aboriginal Australians.