cheers, Idealization.

Annett also presents some compelling evidence for these kinds of crimes from a white doctor from Indian affairs back in the 20s. Annett is not saying anything that is not corroborated by photos, figures and the testimony of elders.

At the very least, we have a situation where the churches – supposedly caring for the ’souls’ of these kids – dumped and hid their bodies for years, like so much garbage.

I know it is hard to believe from our side of the fence, but friends tell me these allegations are very old and well known in among the natives, long before Kevin Annett came around.

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/04/30/TruthAndAbuse/

You give some human beings virtually absolute power over others and say “assimilate ‘em” and said abuses will inevitably happen.

If I were you, I’d be pretty skeptical about Kevin Annett, though. A little research into him and you’ll find that he’s not exactly a trustworthy character. Numbers quoted for starters, are pretty suspect–50 000 children killed, when in reality the estimate of total numbers of students is roughly 100 000. I think it would be pretty hard to hide the murder of half of all children sent to the schools. Additionally, the Squamish First Nation has distanced itself from Annett.

He’s accused the Rev. Bill Phipps of being involved with a plot to cover up the supposed genocide. I know Bill, and everyone I know who knows Bill thinks this is pretty laughable. In fact, if there were a conspiracy, Bill would probably be there on the front line to expose it.

I’ll admit, I’m a member of the United Church. I am ashamed of the previous actions of some members of my church, as well as certain sections of the hierarchy. Most members of the church as well acknowledge the complicity of the church in those actions. However, the church itself, being a shell of what it once was (a power church) has little reason to hide this stuff anymore. It’s apologized for its role in residential schools–and Bill was the one who pushed it. In fact, the United Church is held in high regard

Instead of pursuing the United Church in this way, it might be more useful and meaningful to ask the government of Canada to admit its role, and apologize–which it hasn’t. After all, they were church-run state schools, and the state was at the helm in the end. I would urge you to read the following statement by the United Church, and research for yourself whether or not Mr. Annett’s allegations etc. are true or not.

http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/general/070501

Of course the point about using resources is quite true and I actually expect it to be a criticism of stateless justice – how can you properly investigate such crimes without the resources of the state? How will you get justice?

The answer is, of course, without a state, the resources and coercive power needed to commit such heinous crimes wouldn’t exist in the first place.

Kyle Bennett over at the Human Advancement blog (h/t to Billy Beck at Two-Four), wrote a timely post discussing non-State justice.

From the article:

“Individuals in a market anarchy have all the powers that a present government has with one exception: they cannot use any resources but their own. They cannot arbitrarily claim the resources, nor the authority, of others. Thus, they cannot isolate themselves from the consequences of acting – from responsibility.”