During last year’s general elections, a question of a religious nature was posed to the leaders of political parties. This was unusual, as we Kiwis in general believe that religion (or lack of) is a personal matter, and not relevant to holding office. Nevertheless, the question was asked, and the response from the leaders of the major parties is shown in the clip below.
One politician is notable by his absence, and that is Winston Peters, the leader of New Zealand First. But as he is well known for his ability to avoid answering questions, even after a ten minute reply, perhaps his absence is understandable.
If you don’t live in Aotearoa New Zealand, do you find your politicians as honest and diverse as ours when it comes to religion?
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31 August, 2015 at 3:45 pm
Umm, here in Canada it would be political suicide to admit you were an atheist. I like the fact that your politicians were honest and obviously felt comfortable being honest. Our religious leaders have far too great a propensity to get themselves involved in politics for my liking – backing candidates and running meet and greets and such. They pound their chests when they argue that they have a right to enter the political debate and guide their followers as to ethics and morals and candidate appropriateness. What they don’t understand is that they are waging the tiger by its tail. If they want to have political influence then they should expect politicians to turn and start using religions for their political benefit -the two are interchangeable. Once that happens it is only a short step to political interference in religion – a supposed no-no here. The political tiger will turn and eat that which is tugging so righteously on its tail.
Great post Barry. thank You – I enjoyed seeing the vast difference in the affect of religion on politics.
31 August, 2015 at 8:30 pm
Here, religious leaders, and industrial leaders, do from time to time involve themselves with causes that are important to them, but they have to be very careful not to support a candidate or political party, even by implication. Otherwise they can run foul of our electoral laws especially in the months leading up to a general election. There are very strict limits on election spending by candidates, political parties, and lobbyists. Besides, most churches (apart from some fundies) prefer to be seen as supporting open, intelligent discussion and not directing public opinion.