Faith and Reason

DEREK Alan WoodwardLehman’s ‘‘Faith and Reason’’ (ODT, 17.8.18) and its coupling of Don Brash with the Canadian farright speakers Lauren Sutton and Stefan Molyneux gives the lie to his final paragraph, ‘‘civil liberty requires civic responsibility’’.

There was nothing ‘‘responsible’’ in this devious rant about a man whose extremely mild views are shared by 64% of New Zealand’s population. To repeat them in a nutshell: ‘‘all New Zealanders regardless of race should be treated as equal’’.

And talking of ‘‘civic responsibility’’, does this particular offering signal a departure by the ODT

from the essentially Christian/ religious content of this column?

I. Williams

Dunedin ...................................

NICE to read Lachy Paterson’s opinion piece on the Maori seats.

Democracy, as it appears, is dictatorship by the majority. So far this policy has failed to deliver a united and harmonious nation.

People who qualify as Maori have a choice of electorates. In three or four generations, the number who qualify will rise exponentially.

Stakeholder is a great word that people should think about. And empowerment. These days, the next stage beyond democracy is consensus. We achieve this by allowing those involved to make decisions — not Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

The Maori roll will extinguish if enough Maori make the switch. Their call alone. David George

Cromwell