I have sincere reservations about the intentions of those discussing the so-called “National Statement on Religious Diversity”. I would prefer it to be a “National Statement on Religious FREEDOM”. The pre-eminence of “The State” in Principle #1 is egregious. The claim that NZ has no established religion is anti-historical, false, and unbelievably arrogant. Principle #2 is problematic and self-contradictory. It is likely to be used to enforce “secular” principles on believers and violate their personal values & beliefs.
On Maori TV last night Dover Samuels stated that (paraphrase) “religious beliefs DO NOT MATTER; what matters is peace and harmony”. I am all for peace and harmony, but Samuels’ statement is a typical ignorant leftist platitude. Peace and harmony do not exist when someone’s religion teaches them to kill the infidel, nor when someone’s “enlightened” secularism tells them to outlaw homeschooling (Germany), smacking (NZ), freedom of speech (Australia, Canada), hiring practices of Catholic social services (UK).
Direct Quotes from the proposed Statement:
- The State seeks to treat all faith communities and those who profess no religion equally before the law. NEW ZEALAND HAS NO OFFICIAL OR ESTABLISHED RELIGION.
- New Zealand upholds the right to freedom of religion and belief and the right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of religious or other belief.
Thankfully, dear reader, I have come into possession of Labour’s secret “Statement of Religious Perversity”, which reveals their altogether benevolent scheme to lead NZ on the path of (self-)righteousness.
- There is only one State, and Helen is its Prophet
- The people shall respect no power or authority other than the edicts of Helen and her Great Bureaucracy
- The people shall hold no “fact”, “truth claim” or “belief” to be propositionally true, ultimately true, verifiable, or legitimate — other than the statements in this document
- The people shall hold no values, mores, or cultural standards higher than the Eternal Secular Principles of “tolerance, diversity, and inclusion”.
- Any person who contravenes (3) by publishing any kind of “fact, truth claim, or belief” shall be deemed a bigoted violator of (4); subject to public vilification; proclaimed a public nuisance; and investigated by the People’s Police Force
- The people shall respect the values of the Green Party and the illustrious Susan Bradford, whose research has found that 80% of New Zealanders are criminally violent to children
- In light of (6), and some disturbing references to a primitive Judaic belief system in the history books, an extensive re-education programme shall be implemented. All references to “Israel”, “the Holocaust”, “Jesus Christ”, “Christianity” shall be expunged.
- You shall not covet your neighbour’s property, unless you happen to work for the IRD.
- You _shall_ covet your neighbour’s ass. Especially if thy name is David Benson-Pope
- Thou shalt enlarge the power and glory of the Prophet Helen, her almighty State, and its many-splendoured Departments, at every PR opportunity
See also:
New Zealand’s heritage is one of Christianity trail blazed by the likes of Missionaries Marsden, Hadfield, Volkner, Colenso, the Nun Aubert and others often at the cost of their lives. Their teachings were accepted and embraced by Maori and their legacy as important as that of the Treaty. That we are a Christian country can be seen in our National Anthem, and most of our ceremonies including the plea made by our Parliament before each session. Among the most devout were former Labour leaders particulary Savage,Nash, and Nordmeyer. Ironical then that the atheist Klark leading our most corrupt and godless cabal ever should endeavour to overule the majority of people in our recent census,without consultation, and declare that we are secular.
Christianity and the Judeo-Christian ethic have a special place in our society as the faith which the majority of our citizens profess, as the foundation of our moral and legal codes and as an integral part of our cultural history and custom. The National Anthem, the Parliamentary prayer and expressions of faith at public events like ANZAC services are all customary rites by which we engage with the transcendent and which point to an authority outside of the state.
More than that, the Judeo-Christian ethic is the foundation of much of what we cherish. A belief in the equality and dignity of human beings under the law originates from this ethic and is one of the foundations of the liberty of conscience. We should treasure the faith elements of our heritage, because they make a common social ethic possible. If we dismiss them, for whatever reason, we risk destroying what we have built on them.
Permit me one final quote, from James Kurth, ‘Western Civilization, Our Tradition’:
The rejection of the Christian faith by Western elites does not mean that they have rejected all faiths. Despite the claims and conceits of rationalists and scientists, every human being believes in some things that cannot be proven (and therefore cannot be established by reason) or that cannot be seen (and therefore cannot be established by science) and that therefore have to be taken on faith. Ever since the coming of the Enlightenment, Western elites have adhered to a variety of secularist and universalist faiths, which in effect have been religions without God. Kenneth Minogue has identified these ersatz faiths as (1) the idea of progress, (2) Marxism, and (3) “Olympianism,” which is the contemporary belief that an enlightened intellectual elite can and should bring about “human betterment…on a global scale by forcing the peoples of the world into a single community based on the universal enjoyment of appropriate human rights.”8 As Minogue demonstrates, each of these secular religions has identified Christianity as its enemy.
earth is my favourite planet 