Monday, October 13, 2003
Rugby World Cup "cleansing"
Watching the opening of the Rugby World Cup on Friday night I was struck by one particular item: the aboriginal “cleansing of the site�. I wonder if this is new in Australian main-stream culture? It’s a common feature now in New Zealand, of course. Almost nothing can happen – certainly nothing can be officially opened – without a Maori ceremony, which will frequently include a lifting of tapu, or an invocation to banish spirits.
What’s going on here? Has Maori become the new State religion? Why does it now always have to be a Maori blessing, rather than the Christian blessing that was equally obligatory 50 years ago? Is a Maori cleansing equivalent to a Christian blessing? No-one is answering these questions; in fact, hardly anyone is asking them.
It has all crept in rather quickly as part of the PC process that has afflicted government, and no-one’s eyebrows are raising. It’s particularly strange when you consider that strong forces are at work in New Zealand, as in all western countries, to banish every trace of ordinary religion (ie, read Christianity) from public life. Only recently, Prime Minister Helen Clark refused to allow grace to be said at a state banquet attended by the Queen. That might seem a petty example, but it was a massive insult considering the Queen is the official head of the Church of England.
Further evidence that Maori is now the State religion came with the story last week that Maori prayer sessions are being held in Bowen House for parliamentary workers. The session's creator, Oketopa Kuni Shepherd, said they were to help reduce Parliamentary Services staff stress levels and help people work positively. But his boss, planning and corporate support manager Sheryl Kruger, said lowering stress levels was not the reason the daily sessions had started. They were a training and development session in tikanga Maori aimed at meeting bicultural obligations. "We are trying to build some cultural diversity, which is what this is really all about."
You can bet your boots the Government won't be asking conservative Christian leaders to come in and lead prayers each morning. And if it is really about cultural diversity, can we expect to see Muslim clerics lining up?
Watching the opening of the Rugby World Cup on Friday night I was struck by one particular item: the aboriginal “cleansing of the site�. I wonder if this is new in Australian main-stream culture? It’s a common feature now in New Zealand, of course. Almost nothing can happen – certainly nothing can be officially opened – without a Maori ceremony, which will frequently include a lifting of tapu, or an invocation to banish spirits.
What’s going on here? Has Maori become the new State religion? Why does it now always have to be a Maori blessing, rather than the Christian blessing that was equally obligatory 50 years ago? Is a Maori cleansing equivalent to a Christian blessing? No-one is answering these questions; in fact, hardly anyone is asking them.
It has all crept in rather quickly as part of the PC process that has afflicted government, and no-one’s eyebrows are raising. It’s particularly strange when you consider that strong forces are at work in New Zealand, as in all western countries, to banish every trace of ordinary religion (ie, read Christianity) from public life. Only recently, Prime Minister Helen Clark refused to allow grace to be said at a state banquet attended by the Queen. That might seem a petty example, but it was a massive insult considering the Queen is the official head of the Church of England.
Further evidence that Maori is now the State religion came with the story last week that Maori prayer sessions are being held in Bowen House for parliamentary workers. The session's creator, Oketopa Kuni Shepherd, said they were to help reduce Parliamentary Services staff stress levels and help people work positively. But his boss, planning and corporate support manager Sheryl Kruger, said lowering stress levels was not the reason the daily sessions had started. They were a training and development session in tikanga Maori aimed at meeting bicultural obligations. "We are trying to build some cultural diversity, which is what this is really all about."
You can bet your boots the Government won't be asking conservative Christian leaders to come in and lead prayers each morning. And if it is really about cultural diversity, can we expect to see Muslim clerics lining up?
