Decolonizing Discipline
Perceptions on Truth and Reconciliation
ISSN 2371-347X
3 Decolonizing Discipline: Children, Corporal Punishment, Christian Theologies, and Reconciliation, edited by Valerie E. Michaelson and Joan E. Durrant
2 Pathways of Reconciliation: Indigenous and Settler Approaches to Implementing the TRC’s Calls to Action, edited by Aimée Craft and Paulette Regan
1 A Knock on the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, with a foreword by Phil Fontaine
Decolonizing Discipline
Children, Corporal Punishment, Christian Theologies, And Reconciliation
Decolonizing Discipline: Children, Corporal Punishment, Christian Theologies, and Reconciliation
© The Authors 2020
24 23 22 21 20 1 2 3 4 5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database and retrieval system in Canada, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or, in the case of photocopying or any other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, www.accesscopyright.ca, 1-800-893-5777.
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Perceptions on Truth and Reconciliation, ISSN 2371-347x ; 3
ISBN 978-0-88755-865-8 (paper)
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This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The University of Manitoba Press acknowledges the financial support for its publication program provided by the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Department of Sport, Culture, and Heritage, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit.
The road we travel is equal in importance to the destination we seek. There are no shortcuts. When it comes to truth and reconciliation, we are all forced to go the distance.
— Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Let us resolve to make a difference by putting children first. If reconciliation does not live in the hearts of children, it does not exist at all.
— Dr. Cindy Blackstock
Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.
— Jesus
Acknowledgements
Introduction Valerie E. Michaelson and Joan E. Durrant
A Christian Theological Statement in Support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 6
Part 1: Setting the Stage: Residential Schools, Canadian Churches, and Corporal Punishment
Chapter 1 A Prophetic Call to Churches in Canada
Chapter 2 “I Was Spanked and I’m OK”: Examining Thirty Years of Research Evidence on Corporal Punishment
Chapter 3 Corporal Punishment: The Child’s Experience
Chapter 4 Lies That Have Shaped Us: Racism, Violence, and Ageism in Canadian Churches
Part 2: Examining Sacred Texts: Christian Theological Reflections on Corporal Punishment
Chapter 5 Acculturation, Enculturation, and Social Imaginaries: The Complex Relationship between the Gospel and Culture
Chapter 6 Reading the Bible Redemptively
Chapter 7 What Do We Do with Proverbs?
Chapter 8 The Significance of Robust Theologies of Childhood for Honouring Children’s Full Humanity and Rejecting Corporal Punishment
Part 3: Seeking Further Wisdom: Indigenous Parenting, Positive Approaches to Discipline, and Spiritual Practices
Chapter 9 The Circle of Courage: Raising Respectful, Responsible Children through Indigenous Child-Rearing Practices
Chapter 10 Inunnguiniq: Inuit Perspectives on Raising a Human Being
Chapter 11 Rethinking Christian Theologies of Discipline and Discipleship
Chapter 12 Walking the Path toward Reconciliation: One Mother’s Transformative Journey from Parenting with Punishment to Parenting with Positive Discipline
Chapter 13 Whole-Person Discipline: The Spiritual Nurture of Children
Part 4: Moving toward Reconciliation: Reflections on the Theological Statement and (Re)Imagining Our Shared Future
Chapter 14 Developing the Theological Statement on Corporal Punishment: The Process
Chapter 15 An International Perspective on the Canadian Theological Statement: Context, Tools, and Encouragement
Chapter 16 “On Sparing the Rod and Spoiling the Child”: Preaching on Call to Action 6 and the Repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code
Chapter 17 An Opportune Time: Corrupt Imagination and Distorted Lives
Chapter 18 Hiding, Finding, and Breaking: One Man’s Journey to Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Violence
Chapter 19 Let Ours Be Hands That Bless
Bibliography
Contributors
In Memory of Clarence Hale, 1959–2020
Clarence Hale was the heart of this book. He shared his story here so that others could understand the devastating impact of violence on a child’s soul. Experiences of racism and violence characterized his childhood, yet he grew into a man who courageously reclaimed his selfhood and his dignity as he broke the cycle of violence that had shaped his life. Through his generosity in sharing his own journey, Clarence became a catalyst of healing for countless others. He was an inspiration to his family, his faith community, and many in the world of AA. For those who knew him, Clarence embodied kindness, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He asked for little and gave so much—especially to children.
On 17 July 2020, Clarence was fishing with his wife Shirley, as he so often did. The canoe capsized and Clarence drowned. He was sixty-one years old.
We honour his memory, and all the goodness that he gave to this world.We are grateful to have known him.
Acknowledgements
We first acknowledge that this book emerged from a gathering that took place on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. Its chapters were written by contributors from across this land, which is known as Turtle Island by many of the Original Peoples who have lived on and cared for it from time immemorial. We acknowledge the enduring presence of the land and waters, creatures, earth and sky, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and all other peoples. We are grateful for all those who care for the land and for all living creatures.1
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its summary report and Calls to Action, documenting how the past 150 years of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples have been characterized by broken treaties, by physical, sexual, emotional, and cultural violence, and by the “destructive dynamics”2 of an oppressive colonial system. Yet in the Calls to Action of the TRC, we have been given the opportunity to move forward into a shared future.
Shortly after the TRC’s Final Report was released in 2015, Justice Murray Sinclair, Chief Commissioner of the TRC between 2009 and 2015, said: “Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem—it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us.”3 After he was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 2016, Senator Sinclair issued a further challenge to all Canadians: “Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and share one of the calls that has significance for you.”4 In doing so, he urged us to think about how we can effect change in our own lives to make this country stronger.5 We have been grateful for and inspired by Senator Sinclair’s invitation to all Canadians to participate in reconciliation, and we have taken his challenge to heart.
We read the ninety-four Calls to Action when they were released and sensed the complexity of engaging in reconciliation in terms of the overarching issues of decolonization, land claims, structural justice, and more. Where could we even start? Yet one Call to Action resonated particularly strongly with both of us as an entry point for our own participation in this larger task. It was Call to Action 6, which calls on the Government of Canada to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code. This is the law that justifies the corporal punishment of children. As we read this Call to Action, we saw a possibility for shedding light on one of the many harms caused by colonization, in a way that would be informed by our own training and research platforms. Joan, a developmental psychologist, has focused on the harms of corporal punishment and the value of positive discipline throughout her thirty-year academic career. Valerie’s background in child health and Christian theology has helped her to understand some of the ways that Western European interpretations of Christianity have, over centuries, been used as an ideological rationalization for violence against children, with a particularly malevolent focus on Indigenous children in Canada through church- and government-run residential schools. This project brought us together. “What would it look like,” we asked, “to decolonize the discipline of children?” This was more than an academic exercise. We intended it to be an act of reconciliation.
Valerie’s ancestors settled on this land over the past 400 years, coming first from England and Scotland, and more recently from South Africa. Joan’s ancestors were missionaries from England who were present at the formation of the United Church of Canada, and Mennonites from Russia who came to North America to escape religious persecution and farm the land that, unbeknownst to them, had been taken from Indigenous Peoples. As we reflect on our positionality, including our family stories, we recognize that we have participated in, and benefited from, our inherited colonial-shaped world—the same world in which countless others have been marginalized and harmed.
We love our families and we love this land. Yet our own histories make us rightly uncomfortable and no longer allow us to engage with colonialism from a distance. Here we are, up close, becoming acutely aware of how deeply we are embedded in what Sarah de Leeuw, Margo Greenwood, and Nicole Lindsay have described as a relationship “in which non-Indigenous subjects, and by extension the institutions they/we inhabit, are making efforts to decolonize, to refute colonialism while still existing within and expanding it.”6 While their reflection focuses on the twenty-first-century post-secondary academic institution, we believe their work is transferable to Christian churches, which are our primary interest in this volume. Valerie has been involved in the Anglican Church of Canada for most of her adult life (and was an ordained priest for fifteen years), and Joan descends from Methodist ministers. We are aware that the deep, transformative change that decolonization requires of academic institutions and churches alike is slow and painful work. Such work is, as de Leeuw, Greenwood, and Lindsay describe it, “always shifting, floating, incomplete, unstable, and contradictory.”7 As we worked on this project, we took their words to heart: “Colonialism always was, and is right now, uncomfortable—particularly so for colonized subjects, but also for settler-colonial subjects. Unsettling colonialism, and indeed troubling good intentions, must similarly never be comfortable.”8
This project has not been comfortable, and we think that is a good thing. Our wish is to push boundaries, begin conversations, and help bring an end to harmful and violent practices that have been taken for granted as “normal.” Ultimately, our goal is to participate in shaping this country into one in which violence against children is not only not normalized, rationalized, or legal, but is unthinkable. Illuminating some of the forces that have contributed to the colonization of discipline and imagining a new way forward is one step toward this goal.
Over the past three years, many individuals have contributed to the shaping of this volume. Without their guidance, recommendations, contributions, and support, we could not have completed this project.
First, we thank the contributors who wrote the chapters that have formed this book. They include community stakeholders with remarkable lived experiences, scholars, clergy, students, and practitioners, each of whom invested tremendous time and energy into expressing their knowledge, insights, and at times deep struggles. No single person holds all of the pieces necessary to tell this story and to move this issue forward; the whole is so very much greater than the sum of its parts. We have been honoured to work with each of you, and we recognize the unique knowledge, skills, and life experiences that you have brought to this project.
We are profoundly grateful to the original twenty-eight individuals who participated so fully in the gathering that generated the Christian Theological Statement in Support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 6, which is elucidated in this book. Being among a group of people so diverse in their world views who came together in order to learn from each other was an unforgettable and deeply inspiring experience.
We appreciate the constant encouragement of our editors, Jill McConkey and Glenn Bergen at the University of Manitoba Press, as well as their wisdom and meaningful contributions to this work. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers, who helped us to refine our ideas and develop important content areas through their thoughtful critiques.
Less visible, but vitally important, are the many individuals who offered ideas, wisdom, and encouragement along the way.9 We are especially grateful to Mr. Paul Carl (Aboriginal Education Coordinator) and Ms. Vanessa McCourt (Aboriginal Advisor at the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre), both at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Mr. Carl and Ms. McCourt provided important cultural guidance and deepened our understanding of many issues. Ms. Kacey Dool was our research coordinator through this project. She supported our vision from the beginning, providing wisdom, energy, emerging cultural knowledge, and great care to help bring it to fruition. Meegwetch, Kacey!
This project was made possible through generous funding from a SSHRC Connection Grant – Connecting for Canada’s 150th, and from the School of Religion at Queen’s University. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Thank you for your commitment to and investment in reconciliation and for supporting this challenging discussion as a step along that pathway.
We particularly appreciate the support, encouragement, and patience of our families. You inspire us daily with your love, kindness, and wisdom.
In the words of Bishop Mark MacDonald, “reconciliation happens when an oppressed people act to reclaim their humanity. In this action, they move from being victims to being survivors. In becoming survivors, they create change that has deep and lasting effect; they release forces that lead to life.”10 We offer our deep respect to the survivors, for their personal courage and dedication to truth-telling.
Notes
1. We are grateful to Dawn Armstrong from the Office of Indigenous Initiatives at Queen’s University who helped us to think about the purpose and importance of land acknowledgement statements, and to reflect on the role of land acknowledgement in the larger context of reconciliation. This section was developed in response to her teachings.
2. Michel Andraos et al., “Decolonial Theological Encounters: An Introduction,” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, no. 2 (2017): 259.
3. Chloe Fedio, “TRC Report Brings Calls for Action, Not Words,” CBC News, 2 June 2015, http://www. cbc.ca/news/politics/truth-and-reconciliation-report-brings-calls-for-action-not-words-1. 3096863. Cited by Jeffrey S. Denis and Kerry A. Bailey in “‘You Can’t Have Reconciliation without Justice’: How Non-Indigenous Participants in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Process Understand Their Roles and Goals,” in The Limits of Settler Colonial Reconciliation, ed. Sarah Maddison, Tom Clark, and Ravi de Costa (Singapore: Springer, 2016), 137–58.
4. Senator Murray Sinclair, “My Challenge,” at Indian Horse (film), official website, accessed 28 August 2019, https://next150.indianhorse.ca/challenges/94-calls-to-action.
5. Sinclair, “My Challenge.”
6. Sarah de Leeuw, Margo Greenwood, and Nicole Lindsay, “Troubling Good Intentions,” Settler Colonial Studies 3, no. 3–4 (2013): 385.
7. de Leeuw, Greenwood, and Lindsay, “Troubling Good Intentions,” 390.
8. de Leeuw, Greenwood, and Lindsay, “Troubling Good Intentions,” 391.
9. Midway through her work on this project, Valerie moved from Queen’s University to Brock University, where new friends and colleagues continued to inform her ideas about and participation in reconciliation. She is particularly grateful to her mentor, Brock’s Vice Provost, Indigenous Engagement, Amos Key Jr., and her colleagues at Aboriginal Student Services, Sandra Wong, Arlene Bannister, and Cindy Biancaniello. Their wisdom, encouragement, and friendship have shaped her ideas in important ways.
10. Mark MacDonald, “A Prophetic Call to Churches in Canada,” keynote address delivered at Queen’s Theological College, Kingston, ON, 20 October 2017.
Created for “A Christian Theological Statement in Support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 6” (see page 11), this illustration evokes the homes of First Nations and Inuit families, which are connected to represent our overlapping experiences and the universal need for safe, strong homes for our families. Smoke rises in the form of the infinity symbol of the Métis Nation. In Indigenous teachings, burning sage carries prayers to the Creator; in biblical teachings, the burning of incense is a vital part of ceremonial activities and prayer. The smoke is leaving the teepee where prayers are made, healing takes place, understanding develops, and cultural relationships can be restored. The smoke is going up toward God, the creator of people and the world. The homes are encircled by the Medicine Wheel, composed of four colours symbolizing the four stages of life—infancy, childhood, adulthood and old age. The cross, which spans from east to west and north to south, is connected to the circle and placed within the circle to represent the vision of reconciliation between Indigenous Peoples and the church. Beside the cross, the small Medicine Wheel represents the wholeness of the child.
—Ken Letander
Introduction
The flourishing of children should be perceived as a core biblical and theological value. Yet over the past 150 years in Canada, the record of Christian churches in relation to protecting the well-being of children has been gravely marred by their involvement in the residential schools. A common theme of former students’ experiences in these schools was the infliction of corporal punishment in response to their perceived misconduct, which included speaking their own languages, resisting sexual abuse, and running away to their homes.1 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has brought to light the complicit role of churches in the profound damage this treatment has wrought in the lives of Indigenous children, families, and communities. The abuses against Indigenous children that were rampant during the residential school era were “nothing less than crimes against humanity.”2
In 2015, the TRC issued ninety-four Calls to Action,3 providing a starting place for reconciliation. The sixth of these calls upon the Government of Canada to remove the law that allows corporal punishment of children, which is Section 43 of Canada’s Criminal Code. Based on British common law allowing corporal punishment “to correct what is evil in the child,”4 the text of Section 43 justifies the use of corporal punishment by parents and those standing in the place of parents. It has been used to defend the assault of children in homes and schools for more than a century and allowed those operating the residential schools to inflict violence on children with impunity.
For decades, many have called for the repeal of Section 43, including more than 630 Canadian organizations representing the health, child protection, immigration, and education sectors.5 Since 1989, seventeen private member’s bills have been introduced in the Senate or House of Commons, calling for amendment or repeal of Section 43. One of these bills (S-206) was introduced by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette in 2013.6 Following her retirement in April 2016, Senator Murray Sinclair, who served as Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada between 2009 and 2015, assumed sponsorship of the bill. In March 2017, he led off a renewed debate with a speech to the Canadian Senate. In that speech, Sinclair cited numerous documents, including the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989),7 the World Report on Violence against Children (2006),8 and the TRC’s Calls to Action (2016),9 all of which call for an end to the legal justification of corporal punishment of children. He recounted stories of colossal damage inflicted on Indigenous children in the residential school system. Acknowledging the harm that corporal punishment does to all children, Senator Sinclair stated: “We agree that children need to be protected from strangers. Why do we think, therefore, that they do not need to be protected from their own parents or teachers or guardians or from foster parents or social workers or jail guards? The fact is that they do. It is up to us, as grandfathers and grandmothers, as aunties and uncles and as the guardians of wisdom in this society, to do this by amending this law.”10 Yet Bill S-206 was not passed.11 To date, fifty-nine states (plus Scotland and Wales, which are constituent countries of the United Kingdom) have banned the corporal punishment of children, and thirty more have clearly and publicly committed to doing so.12 Canada has done neither. In Canada, the law still permits parents to use corporal punishment as a means of correcting their children’s behaviour.
The TRC’s Call to Action 6 is addressed specifically to the Canadian government; certainly, the government holds responsibility for this law and its impact on the lives of children in Canada. Nevertheless, Christian churches also have some responsibility for moving this Call to Action forward. This is because over centuries, normative Western European interpretations of Christian texts were used to justify and propagate violence toward Indigenous children in the church- and government-run residential schools. These texts continue to be used to rationalize and normalize corporal punishment against children today. Call to Action 6 makes visible a complex and multi-dimensional problem: it is about child violence and the health of children; it is about religion; and it is about the ongoing process toward decolonization and reconciliation. In this volume, we call upon both contributors and readers to examine corporal punishment through multiple lenses: reconciliation, child well-being, and Christian theologies. Bringing these three strands of dialogue together, we aim to forge a path forward for Christian churches to participate in reconciliation by confronting the colonial theologies that continue to enable oppressions, and by so doing, contribute to a society in which all children can flourish.
We began this journey in October 2017. Supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the School of Religion at Queen’s University, we hosted a two-day forum at Queen’s, which is located on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee territory. Queen’s University has a dark history with regard to colonization. Indeed, it has formally honoured two major architects of the residential school system: Duncan Campbell Scott (with an honorary degree in 1939) and Sir John A. Macdonald (with both an honorary degree in 1863 and a building that currently houses the university’s Faculty of Law). Given the university’s roots as a theological college, it is likely that some educators and clergy who worked in the residential schools were graduates of Queen’s and had been trained in its Theological Hall. A university-wide task force has released a report acknowledging the university’s historical participation in the colonial tradition that continues to cause great damage to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.13 To connect the forum to this troubling past, we hosted a public lecture called “The Road to Reconciliation” at the university’s Theological Hall, in recognition that we cannot move forward in reconciliation until we are willing to look at the deeply troubling truths of our colonial past.
During the two-day forum, a group of twenty-eight key stakeholders came together to discuss Call to Action 6. Led by Anglican Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald, the group included Indigenous leaders, students, and community members; public health researchers, educators, and social workers; and Christian theologians and church leaders. Participants came from denominational commitments as diverse as Anglican, Disciples of Christ, Free Methodist, United Church, and Presbyterian. We were brought together by our mutual desire to participate in the process of reconciliation. Our purpose was to generate a Christian theological response to the TRC’s sixth Call to Action.
Beyond academic presentations, our two-day process involved reflections on scripture and opportunities for prayer. The result was the Christian Theological Statement in Support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 6, which is presented at the beginning of this volume. This Theological Statement was generated through a process that involved every forum participant, respected every participant’s input, and was finalized through consensus. Among other recommendations, the statement calls upon Christian churches “to petition our government to ensure the full protection of children, including the repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.” We created a website to host the statement, where it can be endorsed by individuals, organizations, and churches (www.churchesforchildren.net). To date, it has been endorsed by theologians, clergy, church members, the Presbytery of Ottawa in the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.
This volume includes chapters written by the forum presenters and several additional authors, creating a rich blend of first-hand experiences of Indigeneity and colonialism, Indigenous knowledge systems, ecclesiological leadership, and academic expertise.14 In Part 1, we set out the context for Call to Action 6. Chapter 1 presents Mark MacDonald’s prophetic call to churches in Canada. He writes: “The opportunity before us is the creation of a society in which children are protected and can flourish. The forces set in motion by the courage of the survivors are a prophetic call to all of us to become that society. They demand the churches, awakened from their corruption by colonialism, to speak prophetically to the repeal of Section 43.” Every author was invited to reflect on this foundational piece as they considered their own contribution to this book. Chapters 2 and 3 examine a strong body of evidence related to Call to Action 6. Joan Durrant summarizes thirty years of research evidence documenting the risks and harms of corporal punishment (Chapter 2), and Bernadette Saunders presents research findings on children’s perspectives on corporal punishment, which helps us to understand how it leads to its long-term outcomes (Chapter 3). Valerie Michaelson (Chapter 4) ties the preceding chapters together by addressing the interrelated systems of power that underlie theological justifications for corporal punishment of children. She also draws attention to the racist Doctrine of Discovery, which has been widely recognized as the “driving force behind some of the church’s worst abuses of Indigenous peoples.”15
The discipline of theology makes a critical contribution to this book. Part 2 presents an in-depth exploration of Christian theologies, each of our four contributors offering new ways of thinking about “previously taken for granted categories and frameworks, which in their dominant expressions were deeply Eurocentric.”16 Peter Robinson (Chapter 5) explores the complex relationship between the gospel and culture, and the problems that emerge when the gospel is conflated with cultural values and priorities. Whenever we discuss our work on Christian theologies and corporal punishment, the question we are asked most often is, “What do you say about Proverbs?” Interpretations of the book of Proverbs, and particularly chapter 13 verse 24, which reads “Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them,” have been so central to justifying corporal punishment that we have devoted two chapters to their consideration. William Webb (Chapter 6) sets what he calls the “spanking proverbs” in the larger context of the Old Testament and calls for a reading and application of the Bible that recognizes the “already redemptive” movement of the biblical texts about corporal punishment as they are read in context. Taking a different hermeneutical approach, William Morrow (Chapter 7) draws from the very method by which biblical wisdom is generated to call into question biblical justification of the corporal punishment of children based on the book of Proverbs. In the final contribution to this section, Marcia Bunge (Chapter 8) illustrates the power of more vibrant theological understandings of children to inform the corporal punishment debate and empower churches to promote child well-being in families, congregations, and public life. Together, these four chapters not only provide a rich theological lens through which to view biblical passages about corporal punishment but also offer ways of thinking about children theologically and biblically that have the potential to transform and deepen all church practices related to children’s well-being. Each of these authors contributes to an “unmasking”17 of the colonial theologies that use Christian doctrine and biblical texts to justify violence and argues for an end to punitive violence against children.
In Part 3, the book turns to parenting, positive approaches to discipline, and spiritual practices. Martin Brokenleg (Chapter 9) describes the traditional parenting of the Lakȟóta First Nation and its focus on building strength, adaptability, and resilience in children and youth. Shirley Tagalik (Chapter 10) explores an Inuit approach to socialization, which is based on connection and relationship. The rich content and deep connections that both authors make between Lakȟóta and Inuit cultural values and their own Christian faith present a sombre reminder of what was lost through the colonial destruction of traditional Indigenous parenting. Yet these chapters also cast a vision of another way, one that is rooted deeply in Indigenous ways of knowing and being in the world. Marcia Bunge (Chapter 11) offers a fresh and robust interpretation of the biblical notion of discipline. Drawing primarily on New Testament scriptures, she argues that it is positive discipline, not pain and suffering, that leads to authentic discipleship and human flourishing. As a Cree/Métis woman who was raised with corporal punishment, Charlene Hallett (Chapter 12) shares her transformative journey to becoming a parent who is committed to raising her own children without it. Ashley Stewart-Tufescu builds on that story by describing the approach that supported Charlene’s transformation—Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting—which can provide a framework for discipline in our homes, churches, and communities. This section concludes with Amy Crawford and Andrew Sheldon drawing from Christianity’s rich spiritual tradition to provide more tools that can be used to nurture children in positive, life-giving ways (Chapter 13).
In Part 4, we chart a practical way forward toward reconciliation that is grounded in theology, personal experience, ecclesiology, and church leadership. Kacey Dool (Chapter 14) weaves together her academic involvement in this project with her emergent discovery of her own Métis heritage and the disruption caused to her own family life by Canada’s assimilation policies. A global perspective is provided by Chris Dodd (Chapter 15), who surveys the ways that religious communities around the world are addressing corporal punishment and encouraging law reform, and provides concrete resources for faith-based initiatives in Canada. John Young (Chapter 16) offers a rationale for preaching on Call to Action 6 and includes a sermon as an example of ways that church leaders can address this topic with their congregations. Michael Thompson (Chapter 17) challenges us to reflect on how churches in Canada participate in using power to dominate others, and points to the teachings of Jesus that describe another way. Clarence Hale (Chapter 18) shares his personal story of the racism and violence that he experienced in the 1960s and their impact on his life and relationships. He reflects on the relationship between his discovery of his own once-hidden Lakȟóta heritage and his deep Christian faith, and how he found the strength to break the cycle of violence in his family. Riscylla Shaw (Chapter 19) brings the book to a close with the recognition that reflecting on the pain that we have inflicted on our children is not an easy task for any of us. She calls on each of us, with the help of our Creator, to “wrestle with the inheritance we have received.” Shaw issues a prophetic call to churches in Canada not only to speak strongly in support of Section 43’s repeal but also to create a shared future in which true reconciliation can occur.
At the time of this writing, five full years have passed since the TRC’s Calls to Action were released. The commitment of Canadian churches to reconciliation will be measured not by apologies but by the ways in which they respond to these calls. This book focuses specifically on their role in moving just one of these calls forward. But it is a crucial one. Section 43 of the Criminal Code symbolizes and enacts how we—the government, the churches, and the Canadian people—have historically thought about children and the place that they occupy in our society. Call to Action 6 challenges us to examine the assumptions, beliefs, and theologies that have played such a destructive role, and to consider what it means to provide full legal protection to children in Canada. Establishing right relationships between all peoples—including children—is not secondary to reconciliation; it is central.
This book is written for all Canadians, not just for those who self-identify with the Christian faith. But because of the role of churches in providing leadership to the residential schools, there is a particular responsibility and opportunity for those who do so identify. The TRC has given us a starting point for moving forward in reconciliation. Now is the time for action and for tangible response; through the TRC’s Calls to Action, we are invited to “live out the various apologies we have made.”18 The opportunity before us is to change course, participating with our Creator to create a pattern of living in which children not only are protected from all forms of violence but are encouraged to flourish as whole human beings. Working for the repeal of Section 43 is more than a legal and moral responsibility; it is a sacred task.
Notes
1. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1: Origins from 1939, vol. 1 of The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Kingston, ON: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015).
2. Fred Hiltz, Mark MacDonald, and Michael Thompson, “There Was Nothing Good: An Open Letter to Canadian Senator Lynn Beyak,” Anglican Church of Canada, 30 March 2017, https://www.anglican.ca/news/nothing-good-open-letter-canadian-senator-lynn-beyak/30018179/.
3. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).
4. Michael Freeman, “Children Are Unbeatable,” Children and Society 13, no. 2 (1999): 130–41.
5. Joan Durrant, Ron Ensom, and Coalition on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth, Joint Statement on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth (Ottawa: Coalition on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth, 2004), accessed 28 August 2019, available through http://www.cheo.on.ca/en/physicalpunishment.
6. Canada, Parliament, Senate, “Bill S-206: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (protection of children against standard child-rearing violence),” accessed 28 August 2019, https://www.parl.ca/LEGISINFO/BillDetails.aspx?billId=6273086&Language=E&Mode=1.
7. UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, 3, accessed 19 October 2018, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html.
8. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, World Report on Violence against Children, General Segment United Nations Human Rights Council, Palais des Nations, Geneva, 22 June 2006.
9. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action.
10. The Honourable Murray Sinclair, in Canada, Parliament, Senate, “Criminal Code: Bill to Amend—Second reading—Debate Continued,” Debates of the Senate, Senate of Canada, 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, vol. 150, no. 102 (7 March 2017): 2499.
11. Bill S-207 passed second reading in the Senate, but died on the order paper when the 2019 federal election was called.
12. “Progress,” Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, accessed 10 February 2020, https://endcorporalpunishment.org/countdown/.
13. Queen’s University Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force, Yakwanastahentéha Aankenjigemi Extending the Rafters: Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force Final Report (Kingston, ON: Queen’s University, 2016).
14. Readers will notice slight inconsistencies in capitalization throughout, notably around the words church/Church and scripture/Scripture. As editors, we deliberately sought theological contributions from a wide range of places in churches and beyond. We have left each author’s capitalization on words such as c/Church and s/Scripture, as we recognize that there are theological implications to the choices that each author has made.
15. Bishop Mark MacDonald, quoted by André Forget in “Church’s Knowledge of Doctrine of Discovery ‘Woefully Inadequate,’” Anglican Journal, 28 August 2015, https://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/church-s-knowledge-of-doctrine-of-discovery-woefully-inadequate/. For more on the damage incurred through the Doctrine of Discovery, see WCC Executive Committee, “Statement on the Doctrine of Discovery and Its Enduring Impact on Indigenous Peoples,” World Council of Churches, 17 February 2012, accessed 17 October 2018, https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/executive-committee/2012-02/statement-on-the-doctrine-of-discovery-and-its-enduring-impact-on-indigenous-peoples.
16. Michel Andraos, Lee F. Cormie, Néstor Medina, and Becca Whitla, “Decolonial Theological Encounters: An Introduction,” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, no. 2 (2017): 259–60, 259.
17. Michel Andraos, “Doing Theology after the TRC,” Toronto Journal of Theology 32, no. 3 (2017): 295.
18. David MacDonald, “A Call to the Churches: You Shall Be Called the Repairer of the Breach,” in From Truth to Reconciliation: Transforming the Legacy of Residential Schools, prepared for the Aboriginal Health Foundation by Marlene Brant Castellano, Linda Archibald, and Mike DeGagne (Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2008), 344, accessed 28 August 2019, http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/truth-to-reconciliation.pdf.
A Christian Theological Statement in Support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 6
Call to Action 6 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Indian Residential Schools calls for the repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Section 43 provides a legal defence for the use of physical punishment by parents (and people standing in the place of parents) to correct a child’s behaviour.
We acknowledge the legacy of damage caused to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children by residential schools. The resilience and courage of the residential school survivors has awakened us to our moral failure. This compels us to imagine a new and hopeful future, supporting the healthy development of children and their families for all peoples in Canada.
Research and lived experience have revealed the destructive effects of physical punishment on the mental, physical, and spiritual health of children. Physical punishment also weakens the parent-child and other family relationships. It is time for Canada to provide children with protection from violence equal to that enshrined in the law for adults.
A full reading of scripture in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ, who embraced and welcomed children, is incompatible with physical punishment. Scripture constantly invites the people of God to imagine a better future. We affirm the following biblical principles: children are sacred gifts from God; fully human and deserving of dignity and respect; blessed with gifts, wisdom, and strengths that enrich the common good; vulnerable persons deserving nurture, protection, and justice; and individuals with growing moral and spiritual capacities.
While parenting can be challenging, children deserve respectful discipline and mentoring, so they know their identity as beloved children of God.
In response to Call to Action 6, churches and faith-based groups have a duty to call for the repeal of Section 43 as a vital step towards reconciliation, and a more just and peaceful society.
Recommendations
Based on these principles and the final report of the TRC:
Original Signatories
The Right Reverend Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, Anglican Church of Canada
The Venerable Dr. Michael Thompson, General Secretary, Anglican Church of Canada
The Right Reverend Riscylla Walsh Shaw, Suffragan Bishop and Ambassador of Reconciliation, Diocese of Toronto, Anglican Church of Canada
The Reverend Dr. John H. Young, Executive Minister – Theological Leadership, The United Church of Canada
The Reverend Dr. William Morrow, Professor of Hebrew and Hebrew Scriptures, School of Religion, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Dr. Marcia Bunge, Professor of Religion and Bernhardson Distinguished Chair of Lutheran Studies, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota
The Reverend Dr. Valerie Michaelson, Post Doctoral Fellow, School of Religion and Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Dr. William Pickett, Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
The Reverend Dr. Peter Robinson, Professor, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Ontario
The Reverend Dr. Jean Stairs, Minister of Christian Education, Outreach and Family Pastoral Care, Edith Rankin Memorial United Church, Kingston, Ontario
The Reverend Lynne Gardiner, Minister, Delta Toledo Pastoral Charge, The United Church of Canada
Sue Lyon, Elder, Next (Free Methodist) Church, Kingston, Ontario
Meaghan Armstrong, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Hannah Ascough, MA Candidate in Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Nancy Bell, MA, RSW, MCSW, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Kacey Dool, MA Candidate in Religious Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Ron Ensom, RSW, Member of the Anglican Church of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Clarence Hale, Verger, St. James’ Anglican Church, Kingston, Ontario
Hannah Michaelson, Loyalist Collegiate Vocational Institute Secondary School, Kingston, Ontario
Rita Machnik, Tyndale Seminary Student, Church School Director, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Aurora, Ontario
Emma Pipes, Candidate for Ministry, United Church of Canada Storrington Pastoral Charge and Four Rivers Presbytery, Kingston, Ontario
Ashley Stewart-Tufescu, MSc, PhD Candidate in Applied Health Sciences, RSW, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Residential Schools, Canadian Churches, and Corporal Punishment