That guy, incidentally, is Maurice Williamson, a conservative(!) MP with a degree in physics. No venom, no vitriol, just laying out some common sense -- allowing homosexual people to marry will not have one iota of deleterious effect on the lives or marriages of straight people.
The United States has about 314 million people to New Zealand's 4.4 million, so where are all the American politicians who can speak with such frankness and humor? Instead, we're stuck with guys (and it is still mostly guys) who continue to pine for the Way Things Were despite America looking less and less like it did on Leave It to Beaver. Not that straight, Christian white males pining for the days when they ran the world and didn't have to worry about undesirables -- women, racial minorities, homosexuals, etc. -- should be the least bit surprising.
And as if to drive home the greatness of Aotearoa, after the result of the vote (77 for, 44 against) was announced, there was a sing-along:
That was Pokarekare Ana, a Maori love song that is said to be New Zealand's unofficial national anthem. Can you picture the US Congress breaking out into song after passing some momentous legislation? It'd have to be a duet, of course, as bipartisanship is verboten these days. Maybe a little something from Les Miserables?
If any Christians are feeling oppressed by this development, 1) get over yourselves, and 2) the New Zealand legislation allows clergy to decline to perform same-sex marriages if they conflict with their beliefs. No priests forced to marry people at gunpoint, no people treated as second-class citizens in their own country thanks to state-sanctioned bigotry -- everybody wins! Now get down off your cross and love thy neighbor.
Fairfax is setting up a massive editing hub in Wellington (for NZ and AUZ and the Pacific) if you are still looking for work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads-up. Tempting as a move to Wellington is -- and boy howdy, is it; that's a great city -- I imagine there are plenty of local journalists in that part of the world who have been cut loose and could use those jobs.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I have a job offer that I think will suit me just fine. Moving to New Zealand may have to wait for grad school or when I hit the lottery, whichever happens first.