Going Nowhere with the Lingua Franca of Failure

Well-worn sayings are often well-worn for a reason. They put an abiding truth in a nutshell. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” is a well-worn saying of uncertain origin. It comes to mind when I think about past policies designed to improve the lives of those Aborigines living in desperate circumstances – perhaps 20 per cent, according to Gary Johns (The Burden of Culture). One of the difficulties is that not everyone has the same end game in mind. To wit, assimilation versus cultural preservation. A stark dichotomy.

At my Anglican church last Sunday, the sermon was delivered by the principal of Nungalinya College, now in its fiftieth year, and located in Casuarina, a northern fringe suburb of Darwin. It’s an interdenominational training college for indigenous Christians. It aims to spread the Christian Gospel to indigenous communities. That is a worthy aim in two respects. First, it brings the truth of the Gospel to those who otherwise might not hear it….