Not all of them have been approved for publication. - Originally reported 29 May 2015.

Feed-back we have received would lead us to believe we are not alone in our discomfort.

In the year 197 Tertullian imagined pagans looking at Christians and saying "Look how they love one another (for they themselves [pagans] hate one another); and how they are ready to die for each other (for they themselves [pagans] are ready to kill each other.")

We wonder if a searcher for the truth coming across the comments in CathNews New Zealand and Pacific would say the same thing.

At CathNews New Zealand and Pacific we work hard to provide a broad range of news items, comments, features and opinions.

We select items from all parts of the faith spectrum, in the hope that knowledge might lead to understanding and understanding to bridge building.

It is not a matter of agreeing, but of seeking to get inside the skin of another person so as to understand why they think and act in the way they do.

Without this understanding, a genuine exchange of ideas is impossible.

No one changes their mind by being shouted at, let alone being labeled as evil.

Polarisation is a bad thing. Conflict need not be, and in fact in human affairs it is often vital for growth in truth.

The opening of the Good News to us, the Gentiles, depended in no small measure on the conflict between Paul and Peter in the early Church.

Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly stressed the compatibility of faith and reason, and there is a lovely phrase in the Declaration of Religious Freedom in Vatican II that says, "Truth cannot be imposed except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entry into the mind at once quietly and with power."

So in the words of Barack Obama can we:

• Find a way back to civility empowered by faith
• Step out of our comfort zones in an effort to bridge divisions
• At least be civil, by relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable

A rule of thumb could be, "If you can't speak the truth with love, then it is better to remain silent."

In 1997 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was the Archbishop of Chicago, wrote:

"American Catholics must reconstitute the conditions for addressing our differences constructively—a common ground centred on faith in Jesus, marked by accountability to the living Catholic tradition, and ruled by a renewed spirit of civility, dialogue, generosity, and broad and serious consultation."

Here is a summary of seven principles for dialogue suggested by Bernardin:

1. We should recognise that no single group or viewpoint in the church has a complete monopoly on the truth.
2. We should not think of ourselves or any one part of the church a saving remnant.
3. We should test all proposals for their pastoral realism and potential impact on living individuals as well as for their theological truth.
4. We should presume that those with whom we differ are acting in good faith. They deserve civility, charity, and a good-faith effort to understand their concerns.
5. We should put the best possible construction on differing positions, addressing their strongest points rather than seizing upon the most vulnerable aspects in order to discredit them.
6. We should be cautious in ascribing motives. We should not impugn another's love of the church and loyalty to it.
7. We should bring the church to engage in the issues of the day, not by simple defiance or by naive acquiescence, but acknowledging, in the fashion of Gaudium et Spes, both our culture's valid achievements and real dangers.

Called to be Catholic in a time of peril

There is always a fair degree of editorial judgment in allowing and not allowing comments. In general the editors' choice is governed by several factors:

At CathNews New Zealand and Pacific, in deciding whether or not to approve a comment we ask ourselves:

• is the comment spam?
• is the comment offensive?
• is the comment libellous?
• is the comment ad-hominem?
• is the comment a put down?
• is the comment a "cheap shot"?
• is the comment on topic?
• is the commenter repeating themselves?
• has the point been been already made by someone else?
• is the comment adding to the discussion?

We hope comments on CathNews New Zealand and Pacific will be expressed in a manner befitting the followers of Jesus Christ who said, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37

DenisO'Hagan

Denis O'Hagan is the editor of CathNews New Zealand and Pacific

Image: ovenantaldivide.com

After hitting the umpteenth brick wall, my wife had reached the end of her rope.

As a Canadian citizen in America, married to an American, obtaining a green card for work should have been a walk in the park for her. But it wasn't.

After three years of red tape, misinformation, misfiled forms, mistakes and miscues on the part of the federal government, she fired off an indignant letter to President Jimmy Carter.

"Don't you want me?" the letter cried.

"I'm a teacher, I'm a good person, I help people. Does your country have anything against teachers, good people and helpers?"

We mailed the letter that night to "President Jimmy Carter in care of The White House, Washington, DC."

Less than a week later a package arrived on our doorstep—her approved application.

"Wow," exclaimed the official reviewing the application forms, each of them covered with federal stars and rubber-stamped Urgent.

"Someone at the top is really interested in you!"

Jimmy Carter is now about to embark on his own journey, entering hospice for end-of-life care.

He leaves behind a legacy of kindness, tolerance and peace and will likely be remembered first as a person of faith who lived that faith, secondly as a crusader for human rights and religious freedom, and incidentally as someone who happened to be president of the United States.

His quick response to my wife's letter was symptomatic of the kind of person he was: inclusive.

Though raised in the deep South to committed segregationist parents, it was not in Carter's makeup to exclude anyone.

As a child, he made friends with his family's black neighbour children in his poor community.

Later, on becoming Georgia's governor, succeeding arch-bigot Lester Maddox (the New York Times described Maddox as believing "that blacks were intellectually inferior to whites, that integration was a Communist plot, that segregation was somewhere justified in scripture and that a federal mandate to integrate [all-white] schools was ‘ungodly, un-Christian and un-American.'")

Carter stunned the inauguration crowd when he declared, "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over…No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job or simple justice."

As president, he strove for peace, meeting all challenges, as he said, "without launching a missile or dropping a bomb.

My commitment to peace was an aspect of my Christian faith.

Also, basic human rights are compatible with Jesus Christ's teachings, and I made human rights a foundation of foreign policy."

He also made human rights a foundation of his life and work, founding the nonprofit, non-governmental Carter Center in 1982, an organization committed to advancing human rights and easing human suffering.

It has helped to improve life for people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts and advancing democracy and human rights.

For his work on equality and inclusion, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Jimmy Carter tried as best as he could to be the best Christian he could be, setting examples of love and peace while finding commonalities and joining hands with other faiths. Continue reading

The Government fast-tracked a review of hate speech legislation in the wake of the March 15 Christchurch terror attack last year.

Justice Minister Andrew Little declared existing legislation on the issue "woefully inadequate."

Following a Human Rights commission review, presented in December last year, the Justice Ministry and Human Rights Commission presented Little with options.

In March, he said these were "working their way through" the cabinet process, and that he expected an announcement within weeks.

But on Tuesday, he told Stuff Labour was still in talks with its government partners and confirmed the legislation would likely not go to Cabinet until after the election.

Some NZ First MPs claim the party is yet to see any policy and indicated it was unlikely to support the law.

A survey conducted by Netsafe in 2019 found that:

• Three-quarters of respondents would support new legislation to stop online hate
• A similar proportion considers that more than that is needed to prevent its spread
• 8 in 10, believe that everyone has a role to play in addressing hateful speech
• More than half disagreed with the idea that people should be entitled to say whatever they want online. A quarter do not have a an opinion

The Human Rights Commission thinks the term hate speech can be misleading.

In a report presented the government in December 2019 they say it is often used loosely and pejoratively to imply a moral breach and is directed at the speech or expression itself.

"However, hate speech laws are not intended to protect people from offence or to suppress ideas.

They are targeted at the effect that the expression has on the minds of third parties."

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• hrc.co.nz
• netsafe.org.nz
• Image: heconversation.com

Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington, urged New Zealanders to recommit to protecting the beliefs of followers of all religions and of non-religious people.

Preaching at the interdenominational church service at Waitangi on Thursday, Dew recalled the Christchurch mosques massacre last March and said New Zealand's tradition of religious freedom was first affirmed at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

"It is time to recommit ourselves to protecting the faiths of all who live here - of Maori custom and spirituality, of the different Christian denominations, of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Baha'i and many other faiths.

And also the freedom of religion and conscience of those who profess no faith," Cardinal Dew told the service, at Te Whare Runanga.

Dew said much discussion in recent years focused narrowly on whether New Zealand was a secular country where religion was not part of the public sphere; or whether it was a Christian country where only one form of public prayer should be privileged.

But our heritage was religious tolerance, religious inclusion and religious acceptance.

"I am a Christian, I preach Christ, who offers and brings salvation to all humanity," he said.

"Christians do not want to be less than we are; we do not want to be silenced or marginalised; to be told that the faith that gives us life is just a private matter.

Neither do we want any other religious group, or people of goodwill who do not identify with any religion, to be marginalised, silenced or told their beliefs are only private matters."

At the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi in 1840, Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier - the first Catholic Bishop of New Zealand - asked the representative of the British Crown, Captain William Hobson, for religious freedom to be respected.

Hobson formally affirmed: "Ko nga whakapono katoa i Ingarani, o nga Weteriana, o Roma, me te ritenga Maori, e tikanga ngatahitia e ia - the several faiths of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome and also Maori custom shall alike be protected."

"Here at Waitangi on 6th February 1840 there was a hope, wishes, a vision of what Aotearoa New Zealand could be," said Cardinal Dew, adding that religious freedoms were also affirmed in the first debate in the new colonial Parliament in 1854.

Click here to read the full text of Cardinal Dew's Homily

Source

• Supplied: David McLoughlin
  Communications Adviser, NZ Catholic Bishops
  Te Huinga o nga Pihopa Katorika o Aotearoa
• Facebook
• Image: Facebook

Rees-Mogg, a Catholic in the Conservative party, is in the spotlight for recent comments he made regarding anti-religious bigotry. Read more

Certainly if you are white she will think you are pretty disgusting.

She thinks that you, like ‘all white people', partake in ‘racial violence'.

She thinks you have built your ‘existence, privilege and success' on ‘the backs, blood and death of people of colour'.

In short, you're scum: you are racially violent and blinkered to your role in the spilling of black people's blood.

Who wouldn't hate someone like that? I would.

And don't even start Ms Bergdorf on homosexuals who support the Tory Party (‘special kind of dickhead[s]'), the Suffragettes (‘white supremacists'), or homeless people (the white ones apparently ‘have white privilege' - lucky bastards).

For someone who blathers on about acceptance, Ms Bergdorf seems curiously unaccepting of certain groups of people.

That Ms Bergdorf, a trans-woman and sometime model, poses as a promoter of tolerance and diversity and yet at the same time sanctions hatred or at least disdain for large sections of society has got some people scratching their heads.

How can this be?

This week she stepped down as an equalities adviser for the Labour Party following a media storm over her past hateful comments. (Literally everything you need to know about the Corbynised Labour Party and its trading of class politics for identity politics is contained in the fact that it wanted advice about equality from someone who thinks the white man on methadone who lives in a skip enjoys ‘white privilege'.)

Now some people are laughing, and it's a confused laugh, at the fact that an aspiring equalities adviser could be so mean about certain social groups.

But it makes sense. Perfect sense.

Hatred, demonisation and the treatment of large swathes of society as backward are key elements of the politics of identity.

It is not an accident that many identitarians hold extremely intolerant views of certain social groups.

They are not going ‘off-script' when they casually write off white people or straight people or Christians as dickheads, supremacists, ignorant, evil, etc.

Rather, such a callous painting of ordinary people as ‘problematic', as creatures to be wary of, is central to this politics that relies for its very survival on the idea that minority groups are victimised and thus require help and flattery from those in authority.

For in order to sustain this beneficial status as ‘victim group', identitarians must continually construct a fantasy army of victimisers.

Their social and political status is utterly dependent on their ability to depict other people, ordinary people, you and me, as horrible, hateful, and perilous to their identity or their ‘existence'.

The fuel of their worldview is fear and hatred of others, of us.

They're all at it

Every identitarian activist devotes an extraordinary amount of energy to uncovering and complaining about the alleged backwardness of ordinary people.

Witness how gay-rights groups now scour for evidence of homophobic hatred.

So desperate are they to prove, against the evidence of everyday experience, that gays suffer horrible prejudice in 21st-century Britain that they have taken to flagging up schoolkids' use of the word ‘gay' as an insult to bolster their claim to victim status.

Or see how Muslim community groups trawl for evidence of ‘Islamophobia', gathering every stupid tweet or anti-Koran comment made on a bus into dossiers of dread that they might present to the media and the government.

They need this; it guarantees their funding; it grants them access to the sainted circle of threatened groups requiring special resources.

To ensure their survival in a politics that rewards those who suffer, they must set out to prove that non-Muslims are a problem; they must encourage hatred of non-Muslims. Continue reading

• Image: Metro

To what degree do you understand the key principles of the world's major religions?

Judaism. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism?

And how did you develop that knowledge?

Through school? Your parents? The media? Your church, perhaps? Or maybe through your own research?

I'll put up my hand and say that when I entered my 20s, I was religiously ignorant. So ignorant.

I had almost no knowledge of religion, and it was only when I studied journalism that I began to develop a thirst for religious knowledge.

What was central to the Troubles in Ireland?

Why was the Middle East in such a mess?

Why do some Catholics not eat meat on a Friday?

And what on earth is Ramadan?

Early in the 2000s, I moved to Dublin and over the course of the next eight years, lived in Ireland and England.

And I really had to swot up on religion then.

Religion in Ireland was central to life, and later, working at Sky News in London, I realised that so much of what I was reporting on required a sound knowledge of religion - be it in the Middle East, the Russian-Chechen situation, the savage conflicts raging up the eastern coast of Africa, and central Asia too - Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Although 84 per cent of the world identifies with a faith or religion, in this secular country, we receive little or no religious education.

Some parents fear religious studies. I think they're concerned their children will become indoctrinated.

And I was one of those parents, but I'm not anymore.

I want my son to study religion as part of his school curriculum, so that he understands it.

I want him to develop a framework by which he understand other people's values, beliefs or traditions.

Because if he doesn't develop that knowledge, then how will he judge the validity of claims made by the likes of social influencers, politicians and the media?

And when we don't understand something, we fear it - right? Continue reading

• Rachel Smalley is a radio host for Newstalk ZB.

Archbishop Peter Loy Chong celebrated a Mass to commemorate the first anniversary of the Agape Ministry for Ethnic Outreach for the Archdiocese of Suva.

Members of the Indo-Fijian, Sri Lankan, Korean, Filipino, Tongan, Samoan, Rotuman and Gilbertese communities were part of the occasion.

Tongan national Lupe McGoon said the event was a celebration her whole family was part of.

"This is a very wonderful thing to celebrate, I am Tongan and my husband James is Part-European and this ministry has really welcomed us without any differences," Ms McGoon said.

The Archbishop said, "The mission of this ministry is to reach out to the many small ethnic communities, welcoming them into the Catholic family, giving them a sense of belonging and supporting them in their need,"

Source

• fijitimes.com
• Image: divinemercycongressnz.com

The Randstad Workmonitor report found that more than three-quarters of Kiwi workers believe their company has an open and inclusive culture, while 88% of companies value diversity in the workplace.

9% of Kiwi workers said they had been victims of religious discrimination, while 16% of Aussie workers said they had been subjected to it.

The number of Australians subjected to racial, gender or age discrimination in the workplace is higher than the global averages.

Researchers also found that New Zealand workplaces were supportive of gender equality.

Just 16% of Kiwi participants said they had been subjected to gender discrimination - a rate that is significantly lower than the global average of 21%. A quarter of Australian respondents said the same.

New Zealand was also found to be among the most tolerant when it came to having workforces consisting of employees from various racial backgrounds.

Just 10% of Kiwi workers said they had been subject to racial discrimination at work, compared to 20% in Australia - a statistic that is 3% higher than the global average.

"It's great to see New Zealand as a place that recognises diverse cultures, which can be attributed in no small part to the steady inflow of immigrants into New Zealand for more than two centuries," said Penni Hlaca, head of client solutions at Randstad New Zealand.

"The fact that Kiwis love to travel abroad and embrace new cultures, provides us with a competitive edge on the increasingly global employment landscape."

Hlaca added that the results were "simply a reflection of New Zealand culture".

"But the key is to not get complacent, and whilst we are stacking up well on a global scale for acceptance, we should continue to strive to set the benchmark as a country where nobody feels discriminated against," she said.

Source

• hcamag.com
• Image: hrc.co.nz

Fatima Abdulkarem, 19, has turned down a job trial at a juice bar at Auckland Airport over what she felt was discriminatory and racist treatment during her job interview.

Her story followed that of Fatima Mohammadi, 20, who was turned away from an interview when she refused to agree to take off her hijab on the job.

Because of New Zealand's rapidly growing diversity issues like these are going to increase in the future.

More than 25 per cent of New Zealanders were born born overseas.

In Auckland

• Almost 50 per cent of the population is Maori, Asian and Pasifika
• 44 per cent were not born in New Zealand
• There are over 200 ethnicities, and 160 languages spoken.

A superdiverse population is a population with 100 or more ethnicities.

New Zealand is now closer to 200.

Lawyer Mai Chen has been researching the effect of New Zealand's superdiversity.

Chen recommends a formal multi-cultural policy so that implications of an ethnically diverse society on law and policy can be analysed.

Her 400 page Superdiverisity Stocktake, officially launched last week, looks at a range of legal issues that may arise from a superdiverse population.

It makes 78 recommendations for business and public agencies from 58 key findings.

"Superdiversity will bring more legal challenges for breaches of the right to be free from discrimination and the rights of minorities to language culture and religion under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993," she says.

"It's not about race, it's not just about equality and fairness, it's a much bigger issue than that," Chen told Australasian Lawyer.

"It has significant impacts on our economy, on how business is done, on government and on law."

Taiwan-born Chen is the managing partner law firm of Chen Palmer.
Source

• australasianlawyer.com.au
• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

"The city's subpoena of sermons and other pastoral communications is both needless and unprecedented," Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christina Holcomb said in a statement. "The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions." Continue reading

Tolerance is a moral virtue best placed within the moral domain - but unfortunately it is often confounded with prejudice.

Much of the psychological research about tolerance generally and about the development of children's understanding of tolerance of others who are different from them has been examined through research about prejudice - and not through the moral domain.

The assumption made is that absence of prejudice by default means a person is tolerant.

Prejudice and tolerance are actually theoretically different concepts - and not the opposite of each other.

In fact, they coexist in most of us.

Tolerance is difficult to define, which may have led to limiting the study of tolerance in psychology in favour of studying prejudice.

But, unlike prejudice, tolerance can be grounded in the moral domain which offers a positive approach to examining relationships between groups of people who are different from each other.

Based on its Latin origin, tolerance, or toleration as philosophers often refer to it, is most commonly viewed negatively as "putting up with" something we dislike or even hate.

If a person is prepared to "put up with" something - along the lines of, I do not like the colour of your skin but I will still serve you not to lose your custom - that person is someone who does not discriminate but remains intolerant in thoughts and beliefs.

Besides, who wants to be tolerated or be "put up with"?

At the same time tolerance cannot be indiscriminate.

Indiscriminate acceptance in its most extreme form could lead to recognition of questionable practice and human rights violations - for instance, child marriages and neo-Nazi propaganda.

Tolerance as a moral virtue

An alternative way for us to think of tolerance is to place it within the moral domain and recognise that it is what it is, a moral virtue. Continue reading

Sources

• The Conversation
• Image: Revisions

On May 14, the Czech philosopher priest was presented with the award, which honours a living person who has made exceptional contributions "to affirming life's spiritual dimension".

The prize is worth about NZ$2 million.

As he was presented with the award, Fr Halík said: "Tolerance is the secular translation of the Gospel injunction to love one's enemies."

"But when religious concepts are translated into secular language and concepts, something is usually lost.

"In order to tolerate an unpleasant neighbour I really don't need to love him in any sense.

"It is enough for me to ignore him, since I don't care about him," he said.

This mentality has led to the forming of ghettos and a culture in which different ethnic groups do not mix, he added.

Continue reading

The Committee was awarded one of nine annual diversity awards by the Human Rights Commission acknowledging individuals and organisations that have made outstanding contributions to the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme through projects and programmes.

Last month it received the Pearl of Islands Dialogue Award from the Pearl of Islands Foundation - a Turkish cultural organisation in New Zealand which promotes inter-cultural dialogue, religious values and social harmony.

"Dialogue with the Pearl of Islands Foundation is a privileged place of Muslim-Christian relations in the Growing Diversity of New Zealand." Says Sr Catherine Jones, smsm, Chair of the Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations.

Source

• Voxy.co.nz
• Image: www.hrc.co.nz

She says not only will it celebrate the different ways the Muslim community contributes to New Zealand society but will also discuss contemporary challenges. Continue reading

Instances of verbal abuse followed the intimidating experience, as some Kiwis reacted angrily to Muslim protests about cartoons published in a Danish newspaper that depicted the prophet Muhammad in unflattering poses.

Six years on, things have changed. Rahman is running for Hamilton City Council and has knocked on hundreds of doors for her campaign. She's even rallied fellow Muslim women to leaflet drop. Continue reading

"We are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values," he said.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hopes that an exhibition it is putting on will create an improved understanding of Islam.

"If more was known about the religion the number of incidents like the recent abuse of Muslim taxi driver Tariq Humayun in Invercargill would decline," says Ahmadiyya Muslim Community missionary, Shafiq Ur Rehman.

He says, "One country or a small minority who are going along the path of radicalism do not represent the true Islam, they are bringing a bad name to Islam."

Shafiq thinks the main misconception people have is that the Koran teaches violence, but, "There is nothing of that kind in the holy book. It teaches tolerance, harmony, mutual respect, freedom of faith and freedom of conscience," he says.

The free exhibition will be held in the Glen Innes Community Centre on August 24.

The exhibition will be a New Zealand first. Event organisers plan to hold similar exhibitions in other Auckland locations.

To mark the the feast of Eid al-Fitr Pope Francis called for "mutual respect" between Christianity and Islam and an end to "unfair criticism" in a personal message on Friday congratulating Muslims on the feast of Eid al-Fitr.

"We are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values," he said in a statement distributed by the Vatican press office.

"I have decided to sign this traditional message myself and to send it to you, dear friends, as an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims, especially those who are religious leaders.

"We all know that mutual respect is fundamental in any human relationship, especially among people who profess religious belief," he said.

Source

• Global Post
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: New York Times
  

In the first year, a message of healthy lifestyle and care for the environment was promoted through Smoke-free, Alcohol-free and Meat-free festival, which is also in accordance with Hindu cultural practice. In the following years, the themes were Hindu Maori relations, Developing Youth Leadership, and Women Empowerment, respectively.

Deepawali, a well-known Hindu festival, is not only celebrated by people of India, but also by Hindu people of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Fiji and many other countries. In an increasingly multi-cultural New Zealand not only Hindus from all over the world, but all communities participate in events like Deepawali and share their cultures with each other.

Continue reading

The joint statement was issued by Archbishop John Dew (Catholic), Archbishops David Moxon and Brown Turei (Anglican), Bishops Justin Duckworth and Richard Randerson (Anglican), Federation of Islamic Associations President Anwar Ghani and Wellington Regional Jewish Council Chairperson David Zwartz, supported by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres.

They said that "The film, 'The Innocence of Muslims', was dishonestly made and presented, and designed to mislead, provoke hate, and cause harm. We unequivocally condemn the making and promotion of this irresponsible and inflammatory film and the resulting violence, which has seen the loss of innocent lives".

"We call on all faith communities in New Zealand to remain calm and to strive to foster mutual understanding, counter hate, and promote dialogue, within and between our communities".

Media for Christ, a New Zealand website, has been attacked because it shares a name with the US-based group that reportedly produced 'The Innocence of Muslims' and it pops up at the top of many internet searches for that name.

The NZ Media for Christ says it is is not in the business of hate speech, but instead concerned with disseminating "Christian material - from godly apologists, evangelists, preachers and prophets - to be shared with the church at large".

And they've added a message on their front page confirming that they have nothing to do with their American namesakes.

The Human Rights Commission, the Anglican and Catholic Bishops, the New Zealand Federation of Islamic Associations and the New Zealand Council of Christians and Jews are all supporters of the Statement on Religious Diversity (2007) which affirms that "the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media are vital for democracy but should be exercised with responsibility."

Source

• The Human Rights Commission
• The New Zealand Listener
• Image: Ahmad Ali Karim's Weblog

The main purpose of the conference was to look for ways to ensure the establishment of robust relationships that would promote religious freedom and tolerance and mutual respect for different churches and faiths, including, a sensitivity to and respect for, local practices.

In his keynote address titled "Religion, Law and the Samoan Indigenous Reference," His Highness the Head of State Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Ta'isi Efi said: "Religion and law in the Samoan indigenous context amounts to a search for tofa sa'ili, for tua'oi and lagimalie."

He said "Tofa sa'ili is the search for wisdom; a search for God - (tofa is wisdom; sa'ili means ‘to search for').
Tua'oi means boundary. Lagimalie, in this case, it literally refers to the harmony or remembrance. These three concepts frame my address."

Tuiatua said, "The quest for freedom of religion presumes not only the right to worship one's God freely, but also the responsibility to practice that worship in a way that respects and upholds the virtues of harmony, balance and justice."

The conference was the first of its kind in Samoa and was attended by representatives from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Australia, the United States of America and New Zealand.

Source

• The Samoa Observer
• Te Korowai Whakapono
• Image: International Centre for Law and Religion Studies