From BreakingViews archives: Brian Gill - Who promotes science thinking when everyone defers to culture?

With New Zealand science agencies shy to push the general power and wonder of science, and instead applauding ethnic world views, the science view-point flounders.

The seven University of Auckland academics whose letter to the Listener in July 2021 provoked what a former newspaper editor called "the full, vindictive fury of the woke academic left", weren't just concerned that a government educational working group proposed making science and Maori knowledge of the natural world equivalent in the school science curriculum. They also worried generally about "disturbing misunderstandings of science emerging at all levels of education and in science funding".

Steven Gaskell: The Gospel According to the Treaty: Nothing Is Sacred Anymore

Once upon a time, the University of Otago taught theology the study of God, Scripture, and faith. Now it teaches cultural compliance. In the new “Māori Theology and Religion” course, students don’t learn about divine truth; they learn how to reinterpret it through a Māori worldview. The Bible, apparently, isn’t sufficient anymore. It must first be translated, filtered, and approved by the gospel of biculturalism.

Judy Gill: Teaching Children to Think — or Teaching Them What to Think?

New Zealand: Indoctrination in the Classroom

From early childhood onwards, New Zealand children are not being taught to question. They are being taught to accept.

Three powerful narratives dominate their schooling:

Steven Gaskell: The Teaching of Māori Spiritual Worldviews in New Zealand Schools

The teaching of Māori spiritual worldviews in New Zealand schools is a legal consistency issue.

New Zealand’s commitment to secular education is grounded in the principle that the state should not privilege one religion over another. Under current practice, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and other faith traditions are clearly defined as “religion” and therefore excluded from classroom teaching, except in contexts where students are provided choice and parents’ rights are respected. In contrast, Māori spiritual worldviews are reframed as “culture” and integrated directly into the curriculum. This inconsistency raises significant legal and human rights concerns.

Judy Gill - The Fallen Pōhutukawa at 47 The Strand, Takapuna: Historical and Cultural Context

Overview

This document consolidates historical evidence, council records, and cultural statements regarding the pōhutukawa tree known as Tree 9A, located at 47 The Strand, Takapuna. The intent is to provide a clear factual account of its history, legal status, and the differing perspectives on its significance.

John Robertson: New Zealand’s Holy Empire of Make-Believe

New Zealand was supposed to be a secular democracy. But blink, and suddenly we’re living in a tax-funded theocracy built on ghost stories and cosmic real estate claims.

Let’s say it flat-out: this country is being governed, influenced, and guilt-tripped by a belief system that no one’s allowed to call a religion — because it’s labeled “culture.”

Suze: Which Waka You In, Bro?

In the culture stakes, the Māori waka is streets ahead of anyone else.

Karen Chhour is frequently accused of not understanding Māori culture and last week it was more of the same when Chhour presented a bill introducing sentencing for a new category of criminals known as “young serious offenders” and opened the door for military bootcamps. Māori offenders are disproportionately represented in the youth justice system.

Guest Post: Ancestors and the Culture Clash

A Guest Post by Sisyphus posted on The Goodoil

For an upcoming university course, one of the requirements is a stay on a local marae in order to get properly acquainted with Māori culture. None of us in the course are ourselves Māori, yet we must fulfill this requirement to pass.

One of the main requirements is that we perform a mihi. Which, if you don't know, has you list out a number of things, including your spiritual mountain, river, boat (which your family brought to NZ), tribe and a number of other things, ending with your name.

Denis Hall: Maori culture shaped by European culture

I got up early this morning because I had what is to follow in my head – and I sat down in front of the computer and its video function and talked all this out over about forty minutes.

Now below I go back and sort the wheat from the chaff of that discussion with myself.

Some people familiar with my writings will recognise some of the concepts I put forward – but I want this to be a something of a summary of all I have previously had to say on the subject.

My first question to myself was: Are Maori and Maori Issues above criticism - and all opinion on Maori issues inoculated from the vagaries of discussion by the ever present threat of being called a racist?

Brian Gill: Who promotes science thinking when everyone defers to culture?

With New Zealand science agencies shy to push the general power and wonder of science, and instead applauding ethnic world views, the science view-point flounders.

 The seven University of Auckland academics whose letter to the Listener in July 2021 provoked what a former newspaper editor called "the full, vindictive fury of the woke academic left", weren't just concerned that a government educational working group proposed making science and Maori knowledge of the natural world equivalent in the school science curriculum.  They also worried generally about "disturbing misunderstandings of science emerging at all levels of education and in science funding".

Denis Hall: Here it is: The great big lie that underpins New Zealand society

This will be difficult for Kiwis to read - because this particular Kiwi found it difficult to write.

If you can’t cope with reading something substantial - run away and hide now. Off you go! Netflix or Netporn is calling! Don’t forget to shut the door.

I’m going to paint you a picture - and I’m not going to put the brush down till it’s done!

I challenge anyone at this early sentence of this Essay - that if he decides that what I am going to say here is all lies - he/she should just cut and paste the entire essay - into an ordinary “Word” file - and go through it sentence by sentence - and try to identify a single actual lie - and tell us ALL - about it.

The Real Lie - is not in what I’m going to say here - it is the cultural Lie deeply embedded in the modern-day Kiwi Culture - and it is being used to clobber us - and rob us of our rights and our heritage and they are engaged in a full frontal assault on our democracy. It is damaging our language - and it is changing the very nature of our Nation as we speak - so this is THAT important.

Denis Hall: More on the Treaty

The Treaty of Waitangi; Isn’t it time we consigned it to the scrapheap of history.

The Treaty is a worn and tattered document from 182 years ago – nearly ten generations - and it’s relevance is long since gone. We – all of us – live in a completely different world now – and instead of just the two races who signed this thing living in this country then – there are perhaps as many as a hundred now.

A hundred different races - and the first two can't reconcile the reality of where we began and what we have now - and more to the point - where all that stuff came from.

None of it came from Pre-European Maori Culture.