We were in Hall's Creek in 1992 with a Christian group to help indigenous people in NT first then went to HC stayed with Christians who had lived for years in HC who loved the local 800 indigenoue locals.
What we saw was the 400 who were Christians had cleaned up their lives and gave testimony that before Christianity they were social drop outs and drunks who did not care about normal life,same in the NT communities
One indigenous man who was old and deaf told us that their local witchdoctor put a curse on him (vey loving) and made him deaf the past 26 years we prayed for him laid hands and he got his hearing back FROMA LOVING GOD.
We saw nice empty homeswest houses everywhere as local pastor told us the the indigenous folks move out because they didn't know how to manage thier money like paying rent,utilities,and the like also lacked hygiene knowledge,so moved back to bush houses.

The indigenous people in Corroborree units at Katherine were bored and gambled all day outside the gates as well as alcohol free communities had drunks laying all over just outside the gates to communities then.
We went to a communty close by where they IP were all drunk at 8am and no kids or animals were looked after it looke dlike a battle groung and filthy.

The sexual things that go on are ignored as reported in news ,kids are molested from tots and this was verified 35 years ago by an old non Christian prospector who told us that he would see old aboriginal men doing sexual things to little boys and girls in communities and was told that they were getting broken in for sex when adult hood came.
I was not a Christian then either as he told others this story and he was an honest man.
Let's hope it has all changed for the better as it sound slike that by above comments.

Hey let's get back on track. The previous post wants to go back to 1992 and use this to push a line on christianity while another pushes the line of indifferent urbanites (Perseus) compared to suffering rural community. The issue is a lady that lay on the ground with a supposedly indifferent (white) community walking past her.

I say the lady was a victim of her own community given the outcomes already experienced by some Samaritans (me included). I frankly have little doubt that this would not have occurred if she was white or Asian, and that it will continue to happen as long as the indigenous people of this country fail to take charge of their lives and stop the the victimisation and attempts to transfer responsibility away from themselves.

Let's acknowledge the indigenous of Australia are inherently "different" and, based on all evidence to date, will remain so. I use the word in quotes carefully so as not to attract comments about being racist. They are simply different and we see many expressions, including on the footpaths.

In the book of genesis god said to Adam and Eve "you may eat of any fruit of the garden except the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil" This is how god made his perfect creation. Original sin, when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they became aware and ashamed of their own nakedness. The christian church since the Roman Epmorer constantine has preached nothing but the knowledge of good and evil. Then they told Aboriginal peple to be ashamed of their naked ness and made them wear clothes. Then they put them into institutions and raped them.
It is important to make a distinction between Aboriginal culture which has strict sexual laws, but different to the church of rome and its factional splits, and the psychological damage caused to the whole Aboriginal society as a result of institutionalised sexual assaults in orphanages, missions and white stations.

It is interesting that today's christians are not more open minded about sexuality. The law that god gave to Moses, and excerpt of which is the ten commandmants gives strict laws to stop a man favouring one wife over anonther, to restrict bitchiness between multiple wives and to protect the rights of concubines if they are discriminated against by either husband or wife.. Also king solomon, according to the bible saw the wonder of gods beauty in the breast's of pubescent girls. Solomon also had 60 wives and 80 concubines.
Dont get me wrong. An absence of sexual hang ups is not the same as child sexual assault. My point is paedophilia and rape in Aboriginal communities is a direct result of them being forcefully exposed to the ideoplogy and sexual activity of adherants of the knowledge of good and evil - sin itself, according to the bible anyway. Aboriginal culture is that of the garden of eden and the nakedness of adam and eve.

Incidentally, Mary the mother of Jesus was a child bride. If you interfere with Aboriginal mariage laws you might stop a new messiah for God's people in this holy land from being born

Taking it a little off the thread, but here is a Web site with some references to Aboriginal (Australia) Sacred Texts and beliefs. Interesting read if any is interested.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/index.htm

Even the "taliban" of christianity (King Canute) have to offer an explanation based on dogma of the past - this is 2006!

Australia has a problem and it is growing in population terms without much sign of solution.

How many more ladies will have to lie on the streets before we acknowledge that we have failed to integrate and that they acknowledge their victim status argument is cliched.

When is it time we gave them their world to take charge of themselves and without discrimination (meaning, they are not offered concessions, favours and subject to our laws without bias)?

I suspect unless we shift our paradigm, acknowledge their difference, there will be many more "poor old ladies".