The Removal of Section 59 Shows State Religious Intolerance Alive and Well in New Zealand
This is my religion. Centuries ago, God appeared to Abraham, my father when he was in Mesopotamia. He commanded Abraham to leave his father’s land and move to a land which God would show to him. The Lord entered into a solemn covenant with Abraham and required that Abraham command his children and his household to keep the ways of the Lord so as to do righteousness and justice all their days. (Genesis 18:19)
Subsequently, my/our fathers went down to Egypt and were enslaved there for 400 years. But God did not forget His promises and His covenant. He sent Moses to Pharaoh, and through the power of God, Moses delivered Israel, the descendants of Abraham, out of Egyptian slavery. The Lord met with all Israel at Mt Sinai, and renewed His covenant with them there.
He gave them His holy law, the Ten Commandments. In particular, He commanded that fathers and mothers should be honoured. So important was this command, that it was the first command to be given with a promise—that His people would enjoy a long a prosperous life if they respected and honoured their parents. So, my family believes that our Lord set forth the family as a most precious institution, and He granted authority to parents, by commanding that parents should be respected. Our family law systems reflects this most important principle.
He further commanded that all parents must teach God’s laws and covenant to their children daily, in every aspect of their lives. (Deuteronomy 6: 4--9) But our fathers would not listen. They despised God and broke His covenant. Our Lord, however, did not forget. He loved Israel and promised that He would send an Anointed One, a Messiah to deliver us and our fathers. He also continued to strive with Israel. Often He reminded them of their duty to raise their children in a way which pleased Him: to train them, instruct them, discipline them diligently, to teach them to keep covenant, obey, and follow the Lord.
He commanded that as part of their duty, parents should not neglect the rod of physical correction. He promised that if the rod of discipline were used properly, it would drive foolishness far away from the hearts of children and they would grow up fearing God and loving men. (Proverbs 13:24; 22:15; 23:13,14) But our fathers would not listen and they rejected God’s commands, substituting instead the child-rearing practices of the nations around them. This led them to perpetrate acts of great cruelty and injustice upon their children, including killing them.
Many times our Lord disciplined and punished Israel, as an example of how a loving father should treat his children. But Israel would not listen. They forgot and despised the Lord. But the Lord did not forget them. In time He sent His Messiah, His only begotten Son, who would restore all things. He offered up His life as the atonement for all the sins of His covenant people. God accepted His sacrifice on behalf of His people, furnishing proof by raising Him from the dead, and seating the Christ at His right hand, as the King of all kings, and Lord of all lords. He commanded all men everywhere to repent and to believe in His Son, and to follow Him that all might know and experience the salvation of God.
So I have come to believe. And my Lord commands me, even as He instructed my father Abraham so long ago, to raise my children diligently and faithfully. I am bound in a holy covenant with the Lord and His Messiah, Jesus to train and instruct my children. Part of my duty to Him is to apply the rod of discipline where and when needed. I cannot neglect to do this, lest I break covenant, even as my fathers did. By the grace of God, I am determined not to do this.
This is my faith. This is my religion. I do not ask that others be required to believe and act as I do. I ask, however, that the Government leave me alone so that I and my family may keep covenant with God, and practice my faith. I ask you not to pass laws that would mean that it would be illegal to practice my beliefs.
For my part, I promise that my children will be raised to fear God and love all men. I promise to you that my children will not murder, they will not steal, nor fight, nor disturb the peace, nor do drugs, nor join gangs. I promise that my children will respect the property and possessions of others; that they will honour and pray for our government and judges and courts. I promise that our children will be raised to love and do good to all men. I promise that our children will lead quiet lives, they will work hard, and they will support themselves, and they will take care of the poor and the sick and the needy and the stranger and the immigrant.
I can promise this, because my Lord has made promises to me—that if I keep covenant with Him, and diligently instruct and discipline my children in His ways, He will keep covenant with me and my children will, in their turn, walk in His ways. This is my religion, my faith.
Religious freedom is a very fragile thing. In the public debate over this Bill to repeal Section 59, one of the promoters of this Bill has publicly ridiculed my faith and religion. Ms Sue Bradford, in reacting against my faith, and others who have spoken up, has said that my religion reminds her of “sexual bondage and discipline”. . . that it is based “in the Old Testament” and that “It’s a really terrible approach to take theologically, politically and socially.” (New Zealand Herald, August 25, 2005)
When the makers of law hold such views and publicly state that aspects of my faith are a “disgrace” and seek to inscribe those views in law, and thereby proscribe the practice of my faith, we are just one small step away from official, public religious persecution.
In the long run, that will be a far greater evil--regrettably not a new evil--but one that many carelessly assumed had long since been banished to a remote and primitive past. Athens is starting to take off its masks .
John Tertullian
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