Given their politics why are we playing them?
Back when South Africa thought apartheid was a great idea, the rest of the world didn't and amongst other things a global sports ban against South Africa was put in place to heap pressure on the authorities there to get rid of their racist laws.
Currently the Black Caps are playing Afghanistan in a game of cricket. I might have this completely wrong, but it seems black people in South Africa were treated better than women in Afghanistan.
So what the hell is going on? Why isn't there a ban against playing Afghanistan sports teams?
Don’t worry mate
Dr Matheson really has no need to worry about Pākehā spirituality, or lack of it (Opinion ODT 10.9.24).
If the institutional religion of his youth has faded it is possibly because people felt it was somehow lacking or was even discovered on occasion not to be the thing it purported to be. The recent report on abuse in faith-based institutions is perhaps a case in point.
The tangi for the late King Tūheitia was indeed an impressive spectacle, as, I believe, was that for the late British Queen.
But it is fair to ask, I think, whether such public occasions are sufficient or even really relevant to spiritual well-being?
However, his brief reference to the arts as at least partially filling a spiritual void points us in a useful direction. Having studied and at times taught a variety of European literature, from Homer to Beckett, it is difficult not to be impressed by the depth and complexity of human experience.
I feel reasonably comfortable, even fulfilled, spiritually. I'd recommend it.
Non-representation
The Rev Dr Peter Matheson compares the recent funeral of King Tūheitia with the decline of "traditional” churches in New Zealand. He contrasts the spirituality he saw at the home base of the Waikato tribe with the lack of visibility of Western churches throughout New Zealand and laments that similar gatherings are not seen orchestrated by those traditional churches.
What Dr Matheson fails to acknowledge is that most major religions are based on spectacle, drama and grand theatre. So it was with the event in the Waikato.
At some point the event takes on a life of its own and becomes subsumed by something grander than a simple funeral. Days and days of media overload, teams of reporters, speeches that elevated something that never actually was, to a point of hyperbole and grandstanding.
Whether it was the death of Queen Elizabeth, the pilgrimages of the Muslim religion, the theatre around the election of a Pope, or the death of a tribal leader, all of these events are based on the event itself creating and sustaining emotion and control.
When Western religion is largely based upon the promise of eternal life and when that faith becomes diluted in the general population and starts to incorporate beliefs such as physical features such as rivers or mountains becoming humans, the church’s role in society becomes less relevant. And less believable.
So it is somewhat ironical that a number of church leaders around the country decide to use their own diluted position to rail against a political issue. Religious leaders have no right to represent individuals in their communities in matters politic without consulting them first.
They certainly don’t represent me and I suspect that their views will lead to a greater dilution of their influence in our society.
[Abridged — length. Editor.]
The natural consequence of doing it right
Bernard Jennings is right, consensus is not part of doing science (Letters ODT 7.9.24), but it is a natural consequence of doing it right. The scientist does some work, explains the evidence for any hypothesis, and publishes it so other scientists can discuss it. Over time a consensus develops one way or the other and maybe a theory goes into the scientific textbooks, as with anthropogenic global warming.
Science is never completely right, but climate science is perhaps the most scrutinised science of all time, starting with Fourier in 1824. The consensus of the world's most prestigious learned societies, like the Royal Society of London, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, American Association for the Advancement of Science, is that manmade global warming is real and there is a climate (change) crisis. The IPCC is endorsed by 100% of scientific institutions.
Surely the University of Otago could have a Professor for the Public Understanding of Science?
Please, reconsider
Hopefully it is not too late for the Waitaki District Council to reconsider the design of the extension to the Oamaru Bank Chambers. Years of hard work, funding approvals: the result? Money and effort potentially wasted on a box. Disappointing also to read "Heritage New Zealand signed off on it".
Oamaru and its architectural heritage deserves better.
Manaakitanga flows down the Waikato river
The expression of manaakitanga that permeated the Kiingitanga tangi and coronation continued through the journey of waka down the Waikato River to Taupiri maunga. What a contrast to the British warships that steamed upstream on the Waikato 160 years ago to start the battle to crush the Kiingitanga. Their goal was achieved but it was short-term.
It brings to mind the battle of David Seymour and his Hobson’s Choice backers to neutralise the Treaty of Waitangi. They too are battling upstream against the current of hospitality and generosity – manaakitanga – which will protect and enhance the principles of the Treaty.
Not all inclusive
Although the recent death of Kiingi Tūheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, and the succession of his daughter, are significant events worthy of respect, I object to the all inclusive headline "Māoridom has a new queen’' (ODT 6.9.24).
Māori are not some monolithic social entity, and as a political movement, the Kiingitanga is, in essence, a Waikato-Tainui institution. It does not have the adherence or allegiance of all tribal groups, nor did it ever represent all Māori. In fact, in the 19th century my Kai Tahu people on numerous occasions reaffirmed their loyalty to the British Monarch, while denouncing the King Movement in the North Island in 1863 (Press 7.12.63): "Kua waiho tenei hei Kawenata mau tonu mo koutou, mo matou, kua rohea atu tena Motu mo to koutou Kingi. He Kingi ano o tenei motu ko Tuahuriri, aha koa kua mate ia te mau ano tona mana i runga i a matou, a e noho nei ano ona uri — That island is separated from us together with their king. We have a king, that is Tuahuriri. Although he is dead, his authority remains with us, his offspring."
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