Does spiritualism, religiosity and racism have a place?
First a little about my background
and credentials.
After immigrating from America, I had service with
the NZ Symphony Orchestra for 40 years and as Artist Teacher at Victoria
University for 26 years 1990—2016.
I was awarded a QSM in 2013 for services to
education at the high school and university level, including director for NZ
National Youth groups, and also for environmental achievements.
Does Maori culture have a place in all courses?
mātauranga Māori = Māori knowledge - the body of knowledge originating from Māori ancestors, including the Māori world view and perspectives, Māori creativity and cultural practices.
I was recently asked to advise and assist on a
rather difficult situation regarding the introduction of race based values to
academic discipline. You can see my response to my valued colleague and former
head of department at Victoria University.
He said What
does mauauranga maori have to do with teaching music and percussion studies? Google
it Bud and tell me if you think this is relevant?
Interesting.
He went on to say:
On 14 March I will need to present our school's
2018 learning, teaching, and equity priorities to Te Maruako Aronui
(the FHSS LT&E Committee), and I would like your input on this.
We are encouraged to define these priorities in line with the 2017-2021
VUW Learning and Teaching Strategy .
In particular they were required to indicate how there would be Increased incorporation of
mātauranga Māori in courses.
My reply: resist the call for racism in courses
I’ve enquired with other former teachers and the
consensus is: anything implying spiritualism religiosity or racism has no place
in the university and probably the university Charter says it explicitly.
You cannot comply with this call for racism being
incorporated into the school on personal, moral, ethical and academic grounds.
Besides, it is outside your job description to be
advocating any spiritual, religious or racial bias in your academic teaching
subject.
You are not, nor can you be, a parrot for someone
else’s agenda, it is morally reprehensible that this secular academic
institution should call on you to do so as well. You should respectfully decline
on academic grounds of integrity!!
Maorification in the universities
Some academics are working full time on the
maorification of everything. That crashing charlatan of Waikato University, Russell
Bishop, Professor of Maori Studies, takes a huge taxpayer salary to dream up
this sort of bad joke, and DREAMING UP such nonsense phrases as what is good for non maori is not always
good for maori, but what is good for maori is always good for non-maori!!”
At Victoria, it is one step too far as the very
words in matauranga maori, as defined
above, contain elements of spirituality. As a secular institution, I’m certain
the university charter rejects all reference and elements of spirituality or
religion. (The exception would be religious studies.)
In a way it is like asking lecturers to incorporate
the Catholic trans-substantiation into the teaching of the Beethoven piano
sonatas, a notion that would be tossed out of the institution as
way beyond any nonsense John Cleese could dream up, or Rowan Atkinson,
Spike Milligan or the 2 Ronnies.
Does
the Victoria University Charter allow for requiring teachers to incorporate
racism, spirituality, religiosity i.e. matauranga
maori in courses?
John Robinson’s
perspective
I
asked my friend John Robinson who is a retired scientist and active historian
to give me his views. The
accepted dogma is now so powerful here that I
would welcome your views and advice on this subject as my very good friend and
colleague is in a very difficult
position.
I am a scientist by training and
a statistician and historian by profession. I have written a number of
books on the remarkable way that two very different people came to form one
nation.
It is important, and sad, to find
that any idea of unity, of equality (that I thought was the first very guiding
principle of a modern society) is no longer believed in by our government (now
local as well as central) and a whole ruling class, including academics.
It is explicitly denied by Geoffrey Palmer.
I did think, too, that religion
should be set aside in public affairs but the new racism gives Maori the right
to involve us in their prayers.
The requirement to consider
matauranga is very widespread. It is found in science, and agreed to by
the Royal Society of New Zealand – which scientists I know look upon with
scorn. The meaning of the requirement is not made clear, but it does give
power (and funds) to a whole group of Maori (identified by race).
Indeed, it takes courage to say
anything about the need for equality in today’s climate. Like so many, I
have been called racist for opposing special inherited rights. Since I am
well and truly retired (except writing books) I can come to no harm by
continuing, and one recent article I wrote for the Kapiti Independent News was “This racist New Zealand.”
6 comments:
Sensible commentary indeed, but as the Kapiti Independent News notes, none of the authorities they approached for comment on it have replied. Why? Because in a decade or two we – and sensible commentary – will all be dead. The new clerisy, educated through neo-Marxism’s long march through the institutions with ideas of moral and cultural equivalence and the evils of colonialism, will have no memory of what was lost in the destruction of Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman liberal secular democracy – what we call Western values. Consequences have no place in ideological imposition, but for those with Cassandra’s insight, the resulting increase in chaos is the antithesis of civilisational values.
As a "run of the mill" New Zealander appalled at the influence maori seem to be imposing these days in all areas of life I am pleased to see some one of influence is pushing back.
The system of entitlement by right of birth, has declined throughout the Western World, for good reason. No good will come of resurrecting it again.
Would be fine if descendants of Maori were honest enough to admit that their pre-European culture was no more than a primitive stone age existence. How could any of their customs be beneficial to a modern day society? It's time they were charged for the use of Western technology that has given them the chance to be included in the 21st century..
Getting specific about the Charter content would help in responding to the sort of request Victoria University made. Currently I am questioning a similar effort by the University of Auckland Library to impose this sort of structure on its staff. The Charter clauses I based much of my submission on are:
“Recognising a special relationship with Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi.”, and
“Creating a diverse, collegial scholarly community in which individuals are valued and respected, academic freedom is exercised with intellectual rigour and high ethical standards; and critical enquiry is encouraged.”
My submission highlighted the inherent conflict between the two clauses and pointed out that the University could not impose a particular interpretation of NZ history, and certainly not spiritual values on its staff.
A former Head of Department says 'Google it'? Is that what such highly accomplished academics propose?
What a joke.
If you had 'googled it' Bud you'd know that racism is prejudice + power. Not skin colour. It's academic. A historic power imbalance is a necessary ingredient for racism and Maori do not have that. Google it.
What you appear to be forgetting as one of those ungrateful immigrants that move to a country and then complain about it is that your are in a Māori country that was later occupied by others. This always was and always will be whenua Maori. As many others have said before, if you don't like it 'go back to where you came from'.
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