Questions from God
Restoring your faith in humanity, and testing it.
Have you invited God into your online life? Do you have answers for his questions? Did I just assume God’s pronouns?
Before this goes any further, or gets too blasphemous, a word of explanation. When I say “God”, I don’t meant your god(s), if you have one/them. The God I speak of is a parody account, and I mean no offence to anyone.
Once I was an angry young atheist, many young people are. Outraged by what they see as absurdity, with more than a little hypocrisy. But we grow and we learn, hopefully, to not be so quick to judge, to accept people even if they think differently than we do. Please note the above applies to religions other than the free market. I’ll be mocking that philosophy until the end.
You learn that yes, some who profess to follow a religion are hypocritical bastards. Sitting in church listening to sermons about helping the poor on Sunday then spending Monday to Friday screwing them for all they’re worth. But not most people. For many it’s about coming together as a community, with genuine shared values, kind hearts and good intentions. Not much to be mad about there.
I’ve written before about my own experience growing up with some involvement in the Anglican church in Rotorua. Attending a youth group when I was at Intermediate, which I wasn’t that enthusiastic about but it was fun, heavy on the socialising and game playing and light on the religious stuff.
The God stuff didn’t stick but I kept the message. That New Testament stuff about love and helping others, although not so much the hellfire, damnation, and seafood restrictions of the earlier edition. I learned that it was ok for other people to believe what they wanted, it didn’t make them stupid or uninformed - heck if they found solace in accepting mortality through it, well I’m a bit jealous of that part to be honest.
Truth is most of what the church does is well intentioned, most of the clergy are decent people who want to help others, not the abusers we see in the headlines. Most church goers are kind, caring members of society. I speak about the Anglican church because it’s what I grew up with, I have no doubt that all I’ve said is true of the followers of other religions, as it is with all people - which is the point I’m eventually coming to.
So the God of whom I speak is a Facebook account, some of you are followers already. Posting questions regularly with people from around the world responding.
Different views from people from different parts of the world, but the thing I find interesting is the universality of values. It’s fair to say that a large proportion of followers are American, so it’s interesting to get an insight into what normal, everyday Americans think, without it being filtered through the news media or the lens of Hollywood. To see that for the most part, shock horror, they’re just like us. That shouldn’t be surprising, but it’s not always the view of Americans we’re presented with.
At a time when some of us are despairing at the political choices, and values, of many of our fellow Kiwis it’s at least somewhat gratifying to look around the world and see that there are many people who have the same hopes, fears, and dreams as we do. I should probably give you some examples…
Something that Mexico is better at than any other country
We know what American’s think about Mexicans, right? Donald Trump told us about fearing them, building a wall, and having them pay for it.
But what do regular everyday folks, or at least those who take the time to reply to a parody God, think?
“Being present, responsible and involved parents. Instilling a sense of community and respect for hard work and higher education to better themselves and their families. And the food is amazing.”
“All our food. But also our unity when the sh*t hits the fan. We come together as one, then we will make black humour jokes and laugh about it but Mexicans help each other in time of need.”
“Family values are strong. Work ethic is strong. The parties are amazing . The art, the music, the people… Mexicans got it going on”
“Not paying for a wall that some clown said they would pay for.”
“Electing a woman with a PhD as president.”
I don’t know about you but I read those comments and it just makes me smile. All the propaganda and lies, the horrible news headlines, and yet decent people still see the good in others.
How do you think Joe did?
Oh boy, that’s a big one. Understandably in his first press conference, following the Presidential debate that left many concerned, there was great interest in how Biden would back up.
Many of the narratives in the media would already be well formed, but what did people make of Biden’s latest performance, unfiltered by media spin?
“Certainly better than the debate. His knowledge is there, but he’s slow to access it. It was hard to watch. I like him, so it’s a bit sad to watch
PS: to be clear, I’d vote for Biden’s corpse before even considering that other guy. I wish that other candidate nothing but ill will.”
“I loved when he said ‘we should be controlling guns not girls’. He’s a good man.”
“My mouth fumbles at times, too, but I don’t have a spotlight on me and millions of people judging me.. He knows what needs to be done, he’s doing it and will continue doing it, and it’s disgraceful that some in his own party don’t have his back.”
“Brilliant. I couldn't speak that knowledgeably on my career… and slow can be a good thing. You don't want a president who quickly pushes the nuclear button.”
“Very well. His grasp of foreign policy and how it relates to domestic concerns is masterful. I’d love to see his opponent try to answer those exact same questions.”
While it’s nice to read such decent comments no doubt there are many negative comments elsewhere. I still stand by my view that I think Biden should withdraw from the race, for no other reason than to have the best possible candidate to defeat Trump, but I understand the hurt that all of this causes.
The madness that one man is a convicted crook, who lies every time he opens his mouth, and is quite frankly one of the most vile human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. That he is not the one people are saying should stand down. It’s madness.
I’ve had the conversation with people as they point out the enormous wooly mammoth in the room that Trump is a complete liar and why on earth aren’t people speaking about that? Only to have to sadly say, scarcely believing the words, that truth simply doesn’t matter, that the place we’ve come to is such that the people who vote for Trump do not care if he lies - they’re operating on alternate reality any way.
But it is nice to be reminded of the fact that values still exist that we despair as being lost. Values where we could make allowances for people who perhaps stumbled over a word, or said the wrong thing when we knew what they really meant. Whereas what ever that other guy was doing was just completely unacceptable by any measure, any principle, or standard that we valued.
You do get small pockets of comments from Kiwis on God’s page, but it made me wonder what our own God for godzone would look like. Then I realised we already had one, someone who is always the wisest in the room - and doubly so on Twitter.
Aotearoa’s God of Social Media
It is of course Aunty Helen, were you expecting someone else?
I mean Hilary is fabulous and says some cool things. Jacinda was untouchable, she could do a Facebook live in her PJs and get the sort of audience that less divine leaders can only dream of. But let’s take a look at Helen’s latest handiwork, if you listen carefully you can hear her eyes rolling as she says it…
Yep, this is where we’re at. As we watch the latest season of “the weather never used to be like this” unfolding locally, and around the world, the good citizens of Aotearoa, quite possibly some of your neighbours, elected a man who’s boasting about stopping Regional Councils from considering climate change in consenting.
Regional Councils are responsible for the consenting and monitoring of our natural resources. Which can be a bit of a pain for developers, but those things are there for a reason.
Surely we want someone telling people - “you can’t build there, the way things are going it’ll be under water in a decade, you want to go further back, up a bit higher, not quite water front any more but a lot less indoor/outdoor flow in the future than you might experience if you build closer to the coast.”
So what do we know about this Mr Cameron? Sadly far too much, as you can read all about in this article from last year, which was written by Toby Manhire from the Spinoff.
In case you didn’t read it here are a few examples of Mr Cameron’s views and posts:
Before his election to parliament, he’d described Jacinda Ardern as a “feckless wench”, declared, “Make Ardern go away”, and called the then prime minister a “vacuous teenager”. He apologised and withdrew the “flippant” remarks.
Two Time covers, juxtaposed, the first, purporting to be from 1977, with a coverline about “how to survive the coming ice age” and the second on the battle with global warming, and the declaration, “Claimed it was global cooling in 1977, now claim it’s global warming”. As you’ll have guessed already, the 1977 cover is a fabrication, a hoax that circulated in versions of this meme that did the rounds in 2019.
Ardern is a “pea brained halfwit”, a “feckless wench”, “a IQ light weight”, a “vacuous teenager”. Cameron is determined, across several tweets, to note that the prime minister is a teenager, an assertion not supported by facts. In contrast to Trump, who was making his country “awesome”, Ardern was, he declares, a “git”, who was “destroying hers”.
“MAGA All the way,” he says at one point. “Unequivocally a MAGA supporter!!!….all the way Down here in New Zealand,” he says at another. “MAGA!!!!,” he blurts, from time to time. On October 13 2019 he writes, “Because I’m sure I haven’t said it enough today…MAGA!!!!”
This guy is an MP. Perhaps the next time you’re reading about the candidate selection scandals in the Greens keep things in perspective by remembering that Mark Cameron was not only selected by ACT, but he continues to enjoy their support.
Despite his views I have nothing but sympathy for Mr Cameron over the tragic passing of his son in May. No parent should ever have to go though that and my heart goes out to Mark and his family. Some things are more important than politics.
People matter, the planet matters, a lot of other things don’t. Compassion and wisdom are important. I sometimes think post Jacinda we don’t really appreciate Helen Clark enough. In my view she is a remarkable New Zealander and someone that makes me proud of this country.
So I guess that’s the meaning of today’s sermon. That there is good in most of us. That even though it’s easier to give in to knee jerk populist reactions, that old fashioned values and decency still matter.
You’d like to think they’d defeat lies and hatred - sometimes politics does matter.
When I woke early this morning I scrolled through the news and social media and saw a post by “God” and thought - maybe I could write about that? Right away I knew this would be the song, a long time favourite of mine.
Yes, Helen! Like other humans, she was fallible, think foreshore and seabed, but she is a towering intellect and a decent person with an excellent bullshit meter. She weathered a massive amount of feral personal abuse, probably more than we’ll ever know, given it was pre-social media.
And let’s not forget she led Aotearoa for three full terms, the only Labour PM to do so. Economic successes included Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and KiwiSaver. The books were in such good shape at the end of her tenure that we weathered the GFC better than most. And she kept us out of the Iraq war.
She could be intimidating, but she was also real. My parents were long time Labour supporters, spent their last thirty years in her Mt Albert electorate, knew her well, and admired her greatly. She never forgot important anniversaries and, when they died, she sent her personal condolences.
Whenever she pops up on the news or I see one of her pithy posts, it reminds me that we’ve been lucky enough to be led by two wonderful, compassionate and courageous female leaders, and a few good men too, and that the abominations who currently clutch the baubles of office to their puny chests are but a blip.
Great writing Nick. I agree about trying to see the good in people. It pays back in spades ; I get joy from many things ; this week the mighty Meat Workers Union collecting $100,000 from workers for the people of Wairoa (the heart of a big lockout by Talleys), Lyndy McIntyre’s book on the Living Wage movement which started with a small number of hospitality outlets signing up, that grew into government and (in many cases Council), policy under Labour, and ten years of work with unions, communities and faith based organisations. Helen Clark : what a thinker and contributor. She was a great PM. Whatever faith we came from, or still, or don’t believe in, there is a theme about humanity that somehow binds the best in us. For me, it’s called tolerance and compassion. I don’t always do as well as I should. We are all imperfect human beings.