It has often been said that the answer to bad religion is not no religion but good religion.
A religion free society, or one where religion is relegated to only the private sphere (which is the stated goal of many secularists), leads to many problems.
In this article “Secularism can sometimes undermine women’s rights” which appeared this week on the openDemocracy website, Emma Tomlin, director of the Centre for Religion and Public Life and senior lecturer in religious studies at the University of Leeds in England, argues that the privatisation of faith can lead to the undermining of women’s rights because of the fact that once privatised, the ability for the state to engage with faith groups and their norms and values, diminishes.
…. If these conservative religious interpretations are not engaged with head on—in an informed and respectful way—then secularism and a liberal desire to “let groups live their own private lives in peace”, can be harmful for women.
… By relegating religion to the private sphere, where women are more likely to be located than men, conservative religion often flourishes unchecked, strengthened by appeals to “group rights”. The liberal democratic state doesn’t want to “interfere”, but then effectively leaves women to fend for themselves.
Is it possible to have a one day prayer connection from north to south, east to west?
Click to enlarge
With modern technology the answer is ‘Yes’.
On Friday, November 7, a small group gathered in Wellington at Miramar Baptist Church, to Skype-pray with NZCN Regional Advocates and others across the nation, one region at a time.
Throughout the day, beginning in Whangarei at 9am and finishing in Invercargill at 4:30 pm, in half-hour time slots, the small group in Wellington heard 10 minute brief, perceived over-views, with the highlights and prayer needs of each place. This left about 15 minutes for those in Wellington to identify and pray regarding some of the needs mentioned with those who shared from each region. In this way those in Wellington were able to connect and pray with leaders from the 14 regions.
Overall we heard a common cry concerning drug abuse, loss of employment, earthquake strengthening issues, youth suicide, prayerlessness etc. But we also heard good reports. We heard of strong caring relational networks. We heard how Churches in many places are combining to celebrate Gospel beginnings in the nation and locally. We heard how Churches are working together to meet the needs of their locality, both spiritual and physical, along with a desire to honour and help civic leaders.
In an end of the day wrap-up, we in Wellington felt very privileged to have had a window into some of what God is doing across Aotearoa.
We thanked God for a blessed day – good Skype connections – wonderful fellowship in cyber-space.
Thank you Glyn Carpenter for your leadership. Thank you Phil Coates and the people of Miramar Baptist church for hosting us.
A final note: two of us had this scripture for their daily reading. It was very appropriate.
The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, “Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord and seek the Lord of hosts …”
Every so often the issue of creation and evolution rears its head. Christians hold very strong views on the issue, and it is often hard to navigate through the frequently intense debates that ensue.
It was for this reason that New Zealand Christian Network (then known as Vision Network NZ) produced the book:
In The Beginning
Three Views on Creation and Science
Presented by Lewis Meyer, Ian Wishart and Donald Nield
The book will …
“equip students, pastors, parents, and teachers, to better understand and deal with one of the major challenges to the Christian faith encountered by students at high-school and tertiary institutions”
(Glyn Carpenter).
Lewis Meyer has a BSc in biochemistry from Massey University. He has worked in a research team at Massey University with a research team specialising in protein synthesis and purification. Lew also has a Diploma in Biblical Studies and experience as a youth pastor and as a traveling high school worker with Scripture Union. Currently Lew is National Director and a Christian Communicator with OAC ministries. He files science reports for Radio Rhema and lectures on evangelism, apologetics, evidence for creation, cults and religions. Lew is married to Angela and they have three children. He and Angela (who has a PhD in Plant Physiology), share evidence of design in nature and talk about the relationship between ethics and science.
Ian Wishart is Group Managing Editor of Investigate magazine NZ and Investigate magazine Australia, as well as the author of nine bestselling non-fiction books. An award-winning broadcast and print journalist and editor with 23 years in the business, Ian and his wife Heidi run their publishing company together, as well as sharing the responsibilities of looking after six children. When it came to Christianity, Wishart says he “put it to the test, like everything else I investigate.” “I was once a diehard sceptic. But the more I studied the more I realised that many of my preconceptions against Christianity were a result of media spin, and simply didn’t stack up. The weight of scientific, historical and archaeological evidence is actually heavily in favour of what is in the Bible, and that Christians should not be afraid of engaging with the wider world. Hopefully this book will empower people to do that.”
Donald Nield holds the degrees of MSc (NZ), MA (Cambridge), PhD (Auckland) and BD (Otago), and since 1962 has taught at the University of Auckland, where currently he is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science. He has held visiting positions at the University of California San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota and Duke University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. He has published over 100 papers in mathematics, physics, geophysics and engineering journals. With Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University he is a co-author of the monograph Convection in Porous Media (Springer, 1992, 1999, 3rd edition in preparation). He is also the author of God Created the Heavens and the Earth (Telos Publications, 2004). He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and currently worships at St. David’s Church, Khyber Pass, Auckland.
Published in May 2005, the book continues to help people gain a better understanding of this important issue. Price – $10.00 + $2.00 P&P (3 copies for $20)
Email NZ Christian Network or phone +64 9 525 0949
A married man with heart disease can be expected to live, on average, 1,400 days (nearly four years) longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart
Some may dismiss this as ‘special pleading’ given that the article does after all feature in a ‘religious’ newspaper (the Catholic Sun). Others however may read it and consider that there is more to God and God’s ways than they had previously thought.
If you’re unsure who to vote for this election, you may like to download the following list, draw up columns for the parties you are considering, and see which one gets the most ticks.
Or if you want to get really sophisticated, you can put weightings on each section or items within each section.
This list is based on Jim Wallis’s book “7 Ways to Change the World”with a couple of extra sections added.
Vote – and Vote Well!
1. Inclusion and Opportunity
– marginalised and poor
– shelter
– healthcare
– education
– just welfare
– social and personal responsibility
– employment and well managed economy
2. Stewardship and Renewal
– care of creation
– parks
– conservation
– manage environmental impact
– better public transport options
– alternative energy sources
3. Equality and Diversity
– race, gender, class
– respect
– welcome the stranger
– refugees and asylum seekers
– religious pluralism
– caution over legislating religious beliefs
4. Life and Dignity
– promote culture of life
– caution with new birth technologies
– care for the unborn and support
for the mother
– dangers of euthanasia
– care for the aged
5. Family and Community
– take best of left and right wing
– marriage is important
– family is much more than the nuclear unit
– unconditional acceptance of all
– 2 parents working can cause problems
– should have choice, but family needs to be a priority
While preparing for some election events I’m involved with I was looking over an article that I’d written for Daystar magazine back before the 2008 election when Labour was finishing its third term.
The events of the last couple of weeks suggest it’s just as true now as it was when it was originally written – maybe even more so.
Feel free to comment.
Politics is Broken
Daystar (July 2008)
“Politics is broken … It has failed to solve the big issues of our time”. So says respected evangelical leader and author of “God’s Politics” Jim Wallis in a recent book “Seven Ways to Change the World”. I would add that this will always be the case, because politics was never intended to solve the big issue of our time on its own.
Wallis makes three key points: (a) Christian faith and living is inherently political, (b) Christian engagement needs to transcend simplistic left/right or partisan politics, and (c) politics as it presently functions is broken.
The idea of separation of state and church appeared soon after the Reformation in the 16thC to avoid the inherent dangers when the two roles are conflated. Government and church are both ordained by God with different functions, and when functioning at their best, work together for the peace and prosperity of the nation and the world.
Much negative attention is being focused right now on the Labour-led government. Nearing the end of their third term in office, Labour looks tired and polls for nearly a year have shown them trailing by a big margin.
After three terms, not only are the “gaps not closed”, but this government has driven through or helped pass some of the most controversial legislation this country has seen for more than 20 years.
The Anglican Social Justice Commissioner commented in May that this year’s budget was a wasted opportunity, and a Salvation Army report in February said that despite huge investment in the core areas of social spending over the past five years (in the past 10 years this has increased from $23B/year to over $39B), it seems to have contributed “very little” to our social progress.
The question has to be asked whether this is simply because the changes needed are so large that 5 or 10 years is too short a time to judge fairly, or whether the government’s policies themselves are deficient in some way.
There is a lot of truth in both answers.
Certainly big changes in society take much longer than 10 years to bring about. How long has it taken to change attitudes on smoking or drink driving? To criticize any government for not fixing society’s ills in three terms or 9 years is clearly unfair.
However, to the extent that this government has not done as much as it could have done – even in three terms – to acknowledge the work of the Church, and grow that partnership, in fact some would say they have almost spurned it – they are responsible for the present situation.
The Church is not the only group of people in society engaged in volunteer activity. But a report from Britain indicates that Christians volunteer at over four times the rate of the general population. Partnership with Christian-based groups gives more bang for the buck.
NZ figures suggest that Christian marriages break up at one-fifth the rate of general population. Even non-Christian marriage produces better outcomes for children and families, which means less cost to society across many areas of tax-funded social spending. A government concerned about “closing the gaps” and social justice for children would acknowledge the role of the Church and importance of marriage.
New Zealand Christian Network (formerly Vision Network) is not concerned with attacking or promoting any individual political party. There has been no guarantee from National at this stage that they would work any differently with the Church.
We ask politicians from all parties to think more carefully about the role of the Church in our nation.
But the root causes of injustice in society will never be addressed by government alone. That requires a change of heart – and that is a work of God. It is not the government’s job to preach that message, but they can certainly do more to work with those who are.
