Anne Pattel-Gray

Contemplating Country picks up where Gondwana Theology (2018) left off. It extends and deepens the ways in which Aboriginal spirituality and Christian theology may talk to each other. Employing the image of conversation around a campfire, Contemplating Country invites the reader to consider the ways in which Christian theology, community, and practice may be transformed through a deep and profound encounter with Aboriginal ways of seeing, knowing, and doing. Such transformation is necessary, according to this author, if Christianity is ever to leave behind its Eurocentric habits and truly arrive in the sovereign and unceded country of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

Contemplating Country picks up where Gondwana Theology (2018) left off. It extends and deepens the ways in which Aboriginal spirituality and Christian theology may talk to each other. Employing the image of conversation around a campfire, Contemplating Country invites the reader to consider the ways in which Christian theology, community, and practice may be transformed through a deep and profound encounter with Aboriginal ways of seeing, knowing, and doing. Such transformation is necessary, according to this author, if Christianity is ever to leave behind its Eurocentric habits and truly arrive in the sovereign and unceded country of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

This book examines the impact of racist government legislation and policies upon the indigenous people of Australia over the last 200 years. Anne Pattel-Gray contends that racism in Australia is rooted in the long and corrupt relationship between government and church. The persistence of racism in every area of Australian society is documented, from government to schools to courts to churches, and the illusory humanitarian and human rights stances of both isntitutions are here exposed. Pattel-Gray argues that racism is an endemic and chronic problem that must be addressed and solved, Her book defines and clarifies racist terminology and language, reviews historical and contemporary expressions of Australian racism, and assesses both the concept and the recent process of reconciliation in Australia.