Godless NZ? Or are we more Christian

At Waitangi ceremonies this year, Ardern said she hoped her Government would learn the importance of manaakitanga and then, in September, in a speech to a United Nations audience that included representatives of regimes known for atrocities and slaughter, she reminded the gathering of the ‘‘simple concept of looking outwardly and beyond ourselves, of kindness and collectivism’’.

At the Ra¯ tana centenary celebrations in November, she gifted her Bible to the Ra¯ tana movement, saying it was a symbol of her promise to lead a government that was kind and compassionate.

It is typical of the bleeding-heart Left to ascribe the best human virtues to indigenous people and ignore the fact their histories are no less bloody, unfair, irrational or disputatious than any others.

But that is by the by. The real question is whether Ardern’s philosophical underpinning is going to make any difference.

We all know what happened to Jesus and the fine ideals of Christianity. Ideals are always great if they are applied universally, but they never are. It’s often said that communism would have worked out dandy if it had actually been tried. Jesus could be regarded as a communist who nevertheless believed in the redeeming nature of religion.

Ardern, who is probably as pragmatic as the next politician, does set a tone that tends to bring