Say a little
We know from The Hollow Men and other books that MPs' supposedly ad-lib remarks are often tightly scripted.
So it was with a skerrick of cynicism that I read that John Key, when asked if Parliament should change the prayer that had been read at the start of each session for 150 years, said that it "is steeped in tradition, has been there since Adam was a cowboy and there's no point in changing it".
He's taking a firm viewpoint, one which sides with the forces of "why change for the sake of it" common sense. Mentioning Adam lightheartedly acknowledges the country's default religious origins, and adding the "cowboy" bit rather than just "boy" reinforces that he's not po-faced or exclusionary when it comes to spirituality, his or the nation's. It suggests he might even have a sense of humour. We like our pollies respectful, but not too respectful. Nice.
Since atheism is probably the fastest growing "belief" in the country, and the prayer is literally lip service for most MPs, be nicer if they actually stuck to the principle of the "laying aside" bit of it (and true religion, anyone?). The prayer apparently goes like this, says the Royal New Zealand Herald:
Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
So it was with a skerrick of cynicism that I read that John Key, when asked if Parliament should change the prayer that had been read at the start of each session for 150 years, said that it "is steeped in tradition, has been there since Adam was a cowboy and there's no point in changing it".
He's taking a firm viewpoint, one which sides with the forces of "why change for the sake of it" common sense. Mentioning Adam lightheartedly acknowledges the country's default religious origins, and adding the "cowboy" bit rather than just "boy" reinforces that he's not po-faced or exclusionary when it comes to spirituality, his or the nation's. It suggests he might even have a sense of humour. We like our pollies respectful, but not too respectful. Nice.
Since atheism is probably the fastest growing "belief" in the country, and the prayer is literally lip service for most MPs, be nicer if they actually stuck to the principle of the "laying aside" bit of it (and true religion, anyone?). The prayer apparently goes like this, says the Royal New Zealand Herald:
Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
posted by Mark Broatch at 3:51 PM
5 Comments:
It was also redolent of Norm Kirk's comment about his prime ministerial house, about which he complained at a press conference 'the windows have been nailed shut since Christ was a cowboy' and got into trouble for it.
As for the prayer itself, someone has suggested you could cut out the Jesus Christ bit and the rest of it could apply to pretty much every religion, except Buddhism.
My local MP (National) told me recently that if MPs were given a free vote they would dump the prayer. Presumably Key isn't thinking of a free vote though.
As for cutting out the Jesus Christ bit that would only stop offending 1% or so of the populations (mainly Hindus and Muslims).
Now, if the cut out the Almighty God bit (or dumped the prayer altogether) that would stop offending 30-40% of the population (depending on interpretation of census data).
and yet we have introduced karakia at official events
Eight points for political scholarship, Rob.
30-40% of the country are non religious, but are the same proportion of people actually offended by such a prayer...? There might be some who are offended, but the majority probably couldn't care less. So why not leave it in for the 55% of people who are Christian and do care?
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