An international symposium on an aspect of the colonial past with a view to the role of the church was held at the Dom Church in Utrecht on 1 June, entitled: Slavery - working through and liberation. Voices from the Churches, then and now. Missionary consultant Willem van 't Spijker attended the symposium and asked himself: does this also have to do with the CGK?
two slaves
You could say: the CGK have only been active in missions since 1928, and by then slavery had long been abolished, so it doesn't affect us. The only question is whether with the abolition of slavery by the Dutch government in 1863, slavery ceased to exist. One of the speakers at the symposium pointed to a recent study at the VU, showing that every Dutch household somewhere in the world has two slaves. They ensure that we can live our society at the level of prosperity we have. These are people working in garment workshops in Pakistan and India. Or children digging deep underground in cobalt mines for what we have in our phones, or you name it. But with that, we have already made a big leap.
no criticism allowed
Rev Danielle Dokman, Lutheran pastor in Suriname, began the symposium by pointing out the differences between the denominations that worked in that country. Reformed theologians and churches in Suriname were primarily serving the white population there, and thus firmly part of the colonial system. The Roman Catholic Church and the Herrnhutters mainly cared about the fate of those who had been enslaved. In doing so, the Roman Catholic priests were mainly to work among the lepers - i.e. far from civilisation, and the Herrnhutters tried to preach the Gospel among enslaved people. Pastors who wanted to work in Surinam - of whatever denomination they were - had to promise to keep away from any criticism of anything to do with slavery.
self-reflection
During the symposium, the missionary counsellor wondered: if the CGK had existed at that time, how would they have behaved? And another thought: but even today we live in a world dominated by the inequality that slavery once was too - only we call it differently now. Do I let my (buying) behaviour reflect what the value of each human life is?
