If National wins ...

[winner69]

Australia seems to cope with a dedicated church guy as PM

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Australia seems to cope with a dedicated church guy as PM

Are you saying you want to be PM winner?

[fungus pudding]

Australia seems to cope with a dedicated church guy as PM

And Helen Clark didn't have the believers burnt at the stake for not sharing In her atheism.

[Baa_Baa]

He spent his maiden speech talking about religion, rather than what he would do to improve NZ (probably next to nothing since it works well for people such as himself).

What a load of rubbish and another own-goal embarrassment to yourself. 233 words of his 2,518 word maiden speech were dedicated to his faith. Here's what he actually said:

"It seems it has become acceptable to stereotype those who have a Christian faith in public life as being extreme, so I will say a little about my Christian faith. It has anchored me, given my life purpose, and shaped my values, and it puts me in the context of something bigger than myself. My faith has a strong influence on who I am and how I relate to people. I see Jesus showing compassion, tolerance, and care for others. He doesn't judge, discriminate, or reject people. He loves unconditionally.

Through history, we have seen Christians making a huge difference by entering public life. Christian abolitionists fought against slavery. Others educated the poor and challenged the rich to share their wealth and help others less fortunate. The world is a better place for Christians like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King, and Kate Sheppard contributing to public life. My faith is personal to me. It is not in itself a political agenda. I believe no religion should dictate to the State, and no politician should use the political platform they have to force their beliefs on others. As MPs, we serve the common cause of all New Zealanders—not one religion, not one group, not one interest. A person should not be elected because of their faith, nor should they be rejected because of it. Democracy thrives on diverse thinking and different world views."

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NZ society has deteriorated under Ms Adhern's leadership, to the point that Mr Luxon, or anybody else, would be given more mana & credence if they said they were an ex gang leader.

Update ya CV's guys!

[BlackPeter]

And houses in Auckland are $2.5m (minimum) now and the waiting list for state housing is 243,600.

Gangs now roam freely and control South Auckland, Rotorua & Bay of Plenty with Poto Williams still Police Minister.

Parliament is racially structured with 50% Maori representation under the co-governance bill pushed through by the Maori cabal in Cindy’s government.

And Cindy is travelling around the globe as UN’ s roaming ambassador for disasters and special advisor on how to eliminate diseases.

.. and it all started with a misnamed chair called "Goodfellow" hand in hand with an appropriately nicknamed "Crusher" (or perhaps slightly misspelled) "Crasher" Judith Collins destroying the National party while a poster misnamed "balance" was trying to tear down an (admittedly) imperfect government instead of helping to build a better alternative.

We clearly have too many people wielding sledgehammers and throwing hand granades but not enough people seeking to find consensus and rebuilding a decent society ... and hey, we all knew it in 2021.

Somehow it feels again like the 1920íes - political adversaries turning into mortal enemies, political extremists getting stronger on both sides of the spectrum and countries more and more following populist hypes ("us first") instead searching for the common good.

We all know how the 1920íes ended ... lets hope the 2020'es aren't a re-run, shall we?

We clearly need better leaders able to unify the people and we need better people looking for the common good instead of increasing their level of selfishness and hate towards everybody with a different view.

[fungus pudding]

He spent his maiden speech talking about religion, rather than what he would do to improve NZ (probably next to nothing since it works well for people such as himself).

People 'such as himself' generally thrive because of their attitude - not because of the government of the day.( i e . the way NZ is)

[davflaws]

"It seems it has become acceptable to stereotype those who have a Christian faith in public life as being extreme, so I will say a little about my Christian faith. It has anchored me, given my life purpose, and shaped my values, and it puts me in the context of something bigger than myself. My faith has a strong influence on who I am and how I relate to people. I see Jesus showing compassion, tolerance, and care for others. He doesn't judge, discriminate, or reject people. He loves unconditionally.

Through history, we have seen Christians making a huge difference by entering public life. Christian abolitionists fought against slavery. Others educated the poor and challenged the rich to share their wealth and help others less fortunate. The world is a better place for Christians like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King, and Kate Sheppard contributing to public life. My faith is personal to me. It is not in itself a political agenda. I believe no religion should dictate to the State, and no politician should use the political platform they have to force their beliefs on others. As MPs, we serve the common cause of all New Zealanders—not one religion, not one group, not one interest. A person should not be elected because of their faith, nor should they be rejected because of it. Democracy thrives on diverse thinking and different world views."

As a devout pastafarian - I say Ramen to that!

[Blue Skies]

That was my memory of it from when he first delivered it. I couldn't be bothered going right through it so thanks for quoting times. His minute or so about his godbothering is sort of reassuring - if you believe it.

Referencing the religious content.
Luxon's speech was deliberately & clearly crafted to front foot the issue of his Evangelical Christian beliefs which risk being a big turn off for middle NZ voters.
"The trick for Luxon is to convince the public there's no threat, that he'd be a leader for all, not just the religious right."

It's a big vulnerability esp when you look more closely at Evangelical Christians beliefs, including broadly that women should submit to the authority & leadership of their husbands, they encourage women to have a submissive role. You won't find women in leadership roles in Evangelical churches.

You'd have to think seriously about someone who attends a church where sermons from the pulpit are laced with, while a wife may not agree her husband, she should just do whatever he says, because that's what women are called to do.


Apart from the anti-euthanasia, anti same- sex marriage, etc stuff,
this risks a big turn off to a section of National supporters as well as middle NZ, and don't think the liberal's in National's caucus as well as Labour's media team won't be thinking about this already.


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-in...-ground-voters

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Any observations from the elder statesman Jim Bolger's interview on Q & A this morn?

It was good to see Jack Tame let him express himself, and give opinion, without being bombarded and taken off on tangents.