Theos-Talk Archives (August 2002 Message tt00096)

Watkin Tench, Captain of the Marines on the First
Fleet to New South Wales in 1788 and principal
recorder of activities in the colony between 1788 and
1791, said the following:

"man is the same in Pall Mall as he is in the
wilderness of New South Wales", the only difference
being that the man in Pall Mall has been "civilized"
and educated as to the ways of the British gentry
whereas the man in the wilderness of New South Wales
has not. On reading Tench's commentry on the
Aborigines one cannot help but feel that these people
are just as evolved as Europeans are. Here is a case
to illustrate this: the British were abhorred to
witness the Aboriginal justice system (ie that person
from that tribe speared me so I can spear him or any
other member of his tribe and that is that); similarly
the Aborigines were equally abhorred, if not more so,
at the British justice system (ie a convict receiving
300 whippings for stealing possesions of the
Aborigines). 

Are the Aborigines of a lower evolutionary state than
the white man, as conjectured by Leadbeater and other
theosophists? There is absolutely no evidence for it
and all evidence for it is based on speculation,
bigotry, naivity, ignorance and misunderstanding of a
culture that was systematically brutalised and
annhilated. If supporters of this notion want any
credibility they must present empirical evidence that
cannot be refuted or denied. To say that I am more
superior than another because I have a musket and he
has a spear is sheer absurdity. Such conjecture can
only lead to egotism and the promotion of idealogies
not unlike nazism. We are all brothers in this so
called brotherhood of mankind and the Australian
Aborigines should also be afforded this respect.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
http://www.hotjobs.com