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| Every word has consequences. Every silence, too. - Sartre |
September 30th was Orange Shirt Day in Canada. On this day Indigenous people were remembering the cultural genocide and abuse that took place in the Indian Residential Schools that were operated by Catholic and other Christian denominations on behalf of the Government of Canada to "take the Indian out of the child.” (Sir John A. Macdonald)
At an Orange Shirt Day event in downtown Peterborough on Saturday, one of the organizers acknowledged the presence of some civic and political leaders, and police officers, who came, not to speak, but to listen. To my mind, that is a good silence, a silence that begets good consequences.
I was also aware of the conspicuous absence of any mention of representatives from Christian churches in Peterborough, notably for me, the Catholic Church. That silence was deafening - and severely consequential.
