As I listened to the news this morning of another special road opening ceremony it struck me that, contrary to popular opinion, we do actually have a very present national religion: tribal animism! At most official ceremonies of national or local government significance the occasion includes:
1. speeches by the authorities, and
2. a "blessing" ceremony by local Iwi.
To get around the whole Kiwi "we're not religious" farce these ceremonies are called "cultural." This is a great misnomer and we hear it often. At its core this practice is a spiritual and religious exercise 101. To call a spiritual invocation "cultural" and leave it at that is like letting a Communist open your new highway with a speech about how roads allow everyone to use communal resources without owning anything ... and calling it a "cultural" endorsement!
I respect Maoridom, I love and applaud Maori creative expression in this country, and I support efforts to enhance Te Reo and most other things Maori. What I don't appreciate is having a religious ideology delivered up as "culture," and seeing our elected leaders regularly authorising animistic folk religion while maintaining that New Zealand "has no official or established religion" (official statement on religious diversity in New Zealand, published in August 2009. Available from www.hrc.co.nz/religiousdiversity ).
At the least - we should be authentic and allow for both traditional Maori religion AND Christian (traditional European religion) expressions to be included in our national ceremonies. Why not?
