Our collective noses have been crinkling at the distinct whiff of something not quite right in the press for some time now, but recent days have been a particular corker for unveiling some fishy elements of the NZ media. RNZ has unwittingly acted as a Kiwi branch of the Russian propaganda machine, Stuff reporting has Read more
As if the COVID-19 pandemic has not been testing enough, modern life has never seemed more difficult than it does at present. We are bombarded on all sides by masses of information, misinformation, expert opinions, and the relentless, strident voices of social media browbeating us into accepting the dogmatic conclusions of leading influencers. Amongst the Read more
On Friday submissions close for the Government’s proposed changes to the Human Rights Act 1993. The proposal, which the Government “agrees to in principle”, is to make illegal “hate speech” against a range of different groups of people. This is a very dangerous step for any society to make. It seems incongruous, doesn’t it? Surely Read more
Peace is more than just the avoidance of conflict or the absence of a feud, or on a more grand scale, war. Peace is the work for justice and the output of charity. The Church preaches peace because peace is a sign and fruit of the promise of Christ, the Redeemer. Peace is more than Read more
There are two sharply divergent views about the Duchess of Sussex. One is held by Piers Morgan, who has just left ITV’s Good Morning Britain breakfast programme in a huff. It is doubtless shared by millions of less voluble Britons. According to Mr Morgan, Meghan’s contribution to the Oprah Winfrey interview was a ‘diatribe of Read more
Jesus once said: “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble… it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” To be a representative of institutional Christianity after last week is to feel the weight of that Read more
Can’t the truth set us free? In the last couple weeks, it was revealed that the US Justice department has secretly (ironic) charged Wiki-leaks founder Julian Assange with publicizing government secrets. Also recently, the US Catholic bishops voted down a resolution which would have encouraged the Vatican to release all its documentation on the disgraced Read more
The Law Commission’s report on alternative approaches to abortion law portrays a day of infamy, betrayal, shameful injustice and the denial of the dignity of women and of motherhood. The choice of the Labour-led government to trample on the human rights of our precious unborn and the right of women to be protected from the Read more
Whatever side of the he-said-she-said divide you’re on, or whichever side ultimately prevailed, the last few weeks of US political theater prove one thing: what we believe most often depends on who we believe. Once we’ve decided to trust someone, we are likely to believe that whatever they tell us is true. Even if it Read more
Child sex abuse is a national tragedy, says Justice Peter McClellan. McClellan is the Chair of Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Commission learned that child sex abuse has occurred in almost every type of institution where children lived or attended. Furthermore, “it is not a case of a few Read more