Many of the social policies that we have had under the Labour government in the past six years have been an utter disaster. During the last three years we have seen:
• the legalization of prostitution (by a vote of 60 for, 59 against, and 1 abstention);
• a new relationship status has been created under the “Civil Union Act,” which is essentially same-sex marriage under a different name;
• the special status of marriage has been destroyed by another bill that passed earlier this year called the Relationships (Statutory References) Act which ruled that marriages, civil unions, and de facto relationships all have the same legal status;
• an amendment to require parental notification of an abortion for a girl under 16 was scuttled by the Labour Party (apart from Labour MPs, Taito Philip Field and Harry Duynhoven, all Labour MPs voted against this amendment).
In addition, we have narrowly avoided having the age of consent lowered from 16 to 12, and the introduction of a bill in favor of euthanasia introduced by a non-Labour party MP.
While our economy is doing great, these social engineering policies are destroying the fabric of our society. In this coming term there are proposals in place to legislate against “hate-speech” (to get some idea of what that is, check out the Canadian law C-250), and other laws that are gradually undermining family life in New Zealand.
But I must also ask you to pray for us as New Zealanders. The sad fact is that the dominant issue in this year's election campaign has been taxation: it has essentially been about money this election, and not much emphasis has been placed on the long-term moral issues. I contrast this with the election last year in your fine nation where I believe President Bush carried the day on the basis of the overtly moral issues of abortion, same-sex marriage, etc.
I must sadly report that we don't think like that here, at least not just yet. Remember that at the same time as your presidential election last year, in every state where there was a referendum held to add a marriage protection clause to the state constitution the people rejected same-sex marriage. The only state where the people chose to do the evil thing was California, where they voted an obscene amount of money to be wasted on embryonic stem-cell research. In terms of one's outlook on life, I would say that Americans tend to have a far better grasp of morality than New Zealanders. For instance, abortion is legal in your country because the US Supreme Court ruled that it must be rather than Congress authorizing it, whereas here our elected representatives voted it in. As our beloved late pope, John Paul II, warned, “When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”
So please pray for us in these coming days. Please pray for people to vote with well-formed consciences rather than with their pocketbooks. Please pray that we will recall with sincere hearts the words of our national anthem. Please pray it for us. I believe it to be the best National Anthem of any country in the world, not just because I am a patriot, but no other nation has a national anthem like ours.
God of Nations at Thy feet,
In the bonds of love we meet,
Hear our voices, we entreat,
God defend our free land.
Guard Pacific's triple star
From the shafts of strife and war,
Make her praises heard afar,
God defend New Zealand.Men of every creed and race,
Gather here before Thy face,
Asking Thee to bless this place,
God defend our free land.
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our State,
Make our country good and great,
God defend New Zealand.Peace, not war, shall be our boast,
But, should foes assail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host,
God defend our free land.
Lord of battles in Thy might,
Put our enemies to flight,
Let our cause be just and right,
God defend New Zealand.Let our love for Thee increase,
May Thy blessings never cease,
Give us plenty, give us peace,
God defend our free land.
From dishonour and from shame,
Guard our country's spotless name,
Crown her with immortal fame,
God defend New Zealand.May our mountains ever be
Freedom's ramparts on the sea,
Make us faithful unto Thee,
God defend our free land.
Guide her in the nations' van,
Preaching love and truth to man,
Working out Thy glorious plan,
God defend New Zealand.
God defend New Zealand! Our Lady assumed into Heaven, Patroness of New Zealand, pray for us.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
Sean Reynolds lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a keen interest in politics and defending the right to life.
