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Entries Tagged as 'Religion in Public Life'

A Godless Public Square: Do ‘Private’ Christian Beliefs Have a Place in Public Life? @ Auckland Uni

July 12th, 2011 8 Comments

Mon 1- Friday 5 August marks Jesus Week. A number of events will be held on the University of Auckland campus of which we are part of including this one brought to you by the Evangelical Union and Thinking Matters: A Godless Public Square: Do ‘Private’ Christian Beliefs Have a Place in Public Life? A Jesus […]

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Contra Mundum: Religion and Violence

June 1st, 2011 41 Comments

On 1 May 2011 the world received the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead; gunned down in Pakistan by an elite team of US Navy Seals. Even before his death Bin Laden had become a legendary persona. Not only was he a terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents but he […]

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Maori Animism: New Zealand’s Established Religion

January 30th, 2011 293 Comments

New Zealand, along with all nations, is acutely religious. But, more than most Western countries, the dominant religion is now the Established Religion. We are using “established” in the historical sense of a religion prescribed and protected, so that all citizens must respect and honour that particular religion’s beliefs and practices. Established religion is the […]

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The New Zealand Association of Rationalist Humanists and the Privileging of Secularism

December 20th, 2010 189 Comments

The New Zealand Association of Rationalist Humanists (“NZARH”) has a statement of aspirational ideals for the New Zealand state on their website. Entitled “The Tolerant Secular State” it is anything but. The first two sentences of the document exhibit a confusion which is inherent throughout (and commonly found in discussions of church and state): “The […]

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The Separation of Church and Self: Rethinking Separationism

December 16th, 2010 119 Comments

Is it just for a pluralistic society to ground its public policy on religious premises? What role should religion play in such a society? Debate over questions like these has figured in theology, philosophy, political science, jurisprudence and popular culture for centuries. In contemporary Western pluralistic society the debate continues. Even for those unfamiliar with […]

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The Theology of the Declaration of Independence

July 4th, 2010 27 Comments

As I write this it is just beginning to be the 4th of July in the United States now, though its been 4th July for some time here in New Zealand. The 4th of July is, of course, Independence Day. Typically in New Zealand, those members of the secular blogosphere, who consider themselves to be […]

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Contra Mundum: Secularism and Public Life

June 1st, 2010 63 Comments

Legal scholar Stephen Carter stated, One good way to end a conversation – or start an argument – is to tell a group of well educated professionals that you hold a political position (preferably a controversial one such as being against abortion or pornography) because it is required by your understanding of God’s will. In […]

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