A big gay rainbow shone out over Auckland for the annual Big Gay Out yesterday. And being an election year, a rainbow array of politicians scrambled to be seen and heard at one of the biggest gay events of the year. Prime Minister John Key, a regular attendee, arrived fresh from seeing Australia’s leader Tony Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
A woman’s place in New Zealand
Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
The day Prime Minister Helen Clark was berated and humiliated at Waitangi for daring to speak on the marae should have been the day all iwi resolved to reassess the rules subordinating women on marae and in wharenui. It should have been considered urgent. Perhaps the indignity of that day was generally dismissed as mere Read more
Popular voice in the Capitol? It’s the Pope’s
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Shortly before leaving the Capitol for the holiday recess, Senate Democrats gathered behind closed doors to lay out an agenda for 2014. When the majority leader, Harry Reid, exhorted colleagues to “deal with the issue of income inequality,” the talk took a spiritual turn. “You know,” declared Senator Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent, who caucuses Read more
St Bede’s College well represented in Parliament
Friday, November 29th, 2013Gerry Brownlee and Clayton Cosgrove may, on the surface, have little in common but if you look back a couple of decades, they share a strong bond. So too do Peter Dunne and Damien O’Connor. Even David Carter can put a similar claim to fame on his curriculum vitae. All five sitting Members of Parliament Read more
Archbishop Chong says priesthood and party politics do not mix
Tuesday, September 24th, 2013
Catholic priests are not allowed to get involved in party politics, which means they cannot support a party, stand for a party or promote or tell the congregation about which particular party they should support. According to Archbishop Peter Chong, the head of the Catholic Church in Fiji, this is a non-negotiable principle and forms Read more
2011 census and faith, society, and politics in England and Wales
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
We are halfway through the season of Advent, when Christians look forward to the return of Jesus Christ and also start celebrating Christmas, his first time on Earth. Unfortunately, according to the 2011 Census results just released, there are more than four million fewer Christians celebrating now than ten or so years ago. It seems somewhat Read more
Peace is found in the grit of everyday life
Friday, December 14th, 2012
Let’s just say that suddenly you are a social scientist and you want to study peace. That is, you want to understand what makes for a peaceful society. Let’s say that, for years in your work in various parts of the world, you’ve been surrounded by evidence of violence and war. From individual people, you’ve Read more
The US Catholic bishops embarrassed themselves in Baltimore
Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
You’ve got to feel a little sorry for the Catholic bishops. They declared that the Obama administration was making war on religion and not only was the president reelected but Catholics were the only Christian religious body to vote for him. To make matters worse, after devoting much talk and treasure to combatting the rising tide Read more
Bishop says former Paraguay president used parishes politically
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012Bishop Rogelio Livieres of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, said former president and ex-bishop Fernando Lugo swept local clergy into politics and turned parishes into his political committees. After a July 10 meeting with current president of Paraguay Federico Franco, Bishop Livieres said former Paraguay president had promised to abandon his political aspirations when he was Read more
PNG – confusion about decision to defer the election
Friday, April 13th, 2012
The Speaker of Parliament, Jeffery Nape, has called on the Electoral Commission to set new dates for the election that’s supposed to be held in June, even though the Prime Minister and the Electoral Commissioner now say the elections will go ahead as scheduled. On Tuesday a crowd variously reported to number 100’s to 10,000 people, including students, Read more