politics
« Previous EntriesOld Stuff I’m Finding
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007In packing for Edinburgh I’m going through lots of old papers. Here are some highlights (in no special order.
PETITION FOR THE RETURN OF TELECOM TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP by SPOT (Society for Publicly Owned Telecommunications) , 1998. Their reasons:
Telecom rips us all off
Telecom sacks thousands and bashes workers
Telecom abuses its monopoly
Service has deteriorated
Negative social impact – [...]
The AA on more than driving
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007My friend Rob sent me this email:
Here’s a selection of quotes I’ve culled from the most recent issue of the AA’s “Advocate” magazine. It will give you a small taste of what New Zealand’s beloved automobile institution stands for on:
1. Mining in National Parks
“GNS Science has conservatively estimated that NZ has at least $86 billion [...]
Lowering the Voting Age
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007MP Sue Bradford is promoting a bill that would lower the voting age from 18 to 16. I’m fairly neutral on the bill but think that many of the objections to lowering the voting don’t stand up in my opinion. Let’s look at some:
Kids don’t know enough about the electoral process. This is reinforced by [...]
The Secular State and Anarchism
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007Recent reads include:
The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State
Anarchism: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld Beginners’ Guides)
Anarchism is an average introduction to the ideology of anarchism. It main strength is also its main weakness – the weaving together of contemporary thinkers with the fathers of Anarchism. I was thankful for some leads for my [...]
A Christian View of the Parliamentary Prayer
Friday, June 1st, 2007The prayer used at the start of sessions of New Zealand’s parliament is back in the news. The timing has played perfectly into the hands of the Destiny Church, who the day before protested an interfaith gathering at Waitangi. The first media release on the issue (this time around) has come from Destiny (Leave [...]
PCANZ to leave CASI
Friday, May 11th, 2007The PCANZ report that they will leave The Churches’ Agency on Social Issues. I hope the motivation isn’t money savings alone. Having worked for CASI and its predecessor (the Joint Methodist Presbyterian Public Questions Committee) for several years (1996 to 2001) I have plenty of thoughts and feelings about the move of my Church. It’s [...]
For God and Country
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007I saw this ad on a Christian site and I was a little taken aback at the slogan “FOR GOD AND COUNTRY”. It is saying that the army exists for God and Country? I’d think that God and country are opposing commitments and that patriotism is anti-Christ, as Tolstoy did in Christianity and Patriotism.
Also see [...]
More on Easter Trading
Friday, May 4th, 2007News today that Caritas Welcomes Defeat Of Easter Trading Bill. No surprises there, but their media release is curious for a couple of reasons. First is their criticism of the devolution of the law to local government. I would have thought that this was in line with the Catholic social teaching of Subsidiarity.
Secondly there is [...]
Theocons
Monday, April 30th, 2007I have just finished reading The Theocons: Secular American Under Seige by Damon Linker. While an interesting read, with valuable insights into the thinking of some theocons (especially Neuhaus), it didn’t really live up to it’s name. Secular America is not under seige – the theocons do not want to get rid of democracy or [...]
Sacrifice
Thursday, April 26th, 2007ANZAC Day I went to my second ever dawn service, this time in Wellington. I was pleased to some protesters but didn’t think burning a flag was necessary. They were right that the service was a justification for war – making violence respectable and OK if it is defend freedom. Interestingly I found this paper [...]
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