April 27, 2007
It's (still) not my Destiny
On Wednesday (May 2) Destiny and their friends will be meeting in parliament grounds, to voice their opposition to the repeal of section 59 (the "Child Discipline Bill").
So far a lot of the opposition to Sue Bradford's bill has come from groups claiming to represent "Christian values". Well, violence towards children is not one of my Christian values.
I believe Jesus calls us to protect the vulnerable in our society. I believe he taught that children are human beings, created in God’s image. And so I believe that children are entitled to the same protection from assault that we give to adults.
We need to show MPs that there is an alternative Christian viewpoint. I am involved in planning an ecumenical service on Wednesday at the Anglican Cathedral, followed by a procession to Parliament to present a letter from Christian leaders who support the repeal of Section 59.
This is an invitation for you to come and join us. The service will be very Churchy, because this seems to be a Christian problem – the Family First/Family Integrity/Family Values brigade is very Christian. Hence an alternative Christian response is needed. But even if you don’t usually go to Church, you are welcome to come along. If you had a church upbringing, if you believe Jesus was a decent bloke and want to affirm the stuff he said about non-violence, or if you just want to support this bill in any way you can, please come along.
Some of these people are saying sickening things, like that Children are less than human (“human becomings”) that they have evil in them that needs to be beaten out, and that Maori, Pacific Island and special needs kids need more "correction" than other kids, and their familes will suffer most because of this bill.
Destiny seem to have learned something since the Civil Union debate though, and we are not expecting black shirts and fist waving. Plus we have more Bishops than they do :) We are not planning a confrontation: it will be a peaceful, dignified procession and we will disperse after the letter has been handed over.
Hope to see you there.
Arohanui
Fionnaigh
“There is much misinformation around about what full repeal would mean. Repeal would simply mean that children and adults would be the same in the eyes of the law in regard to assault. If section 59 is eventually fully repealed children will no longer be the only group in society who can be legally assaulted. Mild assaults (so-called little smacks) will not result in complaints to the police or to prosecutions. However serious assaults, things like beatings with implements and objects causing injuries, would no longer be excused as discipline”
- Beth Woods, UNICEF
Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’
(Matthew 19:13-14)
April 24, 2007
Penguin love triangle
The story of Mr Munro, the penguin who washed up on a beach 2000km from home, is so cute, but it worries me. I mean, there are these two female Fiordland Crested penguins stranded in Australia for 13 years, with no way to find a mate unless one happens to drift in the right direction and survives the distance.
OK, three problems here.
Firstly, goodness knows how many penguins don’t make it, or drift off on the wrong current and starve in the middle of the ocean... I mean, how often does this happen?! These creatures are endangered, and we're just letting them drift off to sea?
Secondly, why is everyone assuming all three penguins are straight? I mean come on, there are many documented cases of homosexuality in penguins. What if Chalky and Milford didn't randomly wash up in the same year? What if they eloped?
And thirdly, there are now three Fiordland Crested penguins in Australia. And as a species, they seem to be better at monogamy than we are. So how can this have a happy ending? Nobody wants to be a third wheel, especially not when stranded on a strange continent so far from home. So here’s hoping another penguin braves (and survives) the journey soon.
I was going to post some penguin love poems, but hey, I already did.
April 04, 2007
a poem a day
is the blog of Writers In The Schools, and each day of April they will be posting a poem by a school student. So far they're lovely.