Some want Christ out of Parliament’s prayer in New Zealand
 

By John McNeil of Challenge Weekly, New Zealand
Special to ASSIST News Service 

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (ANS) – Christians should vigorously oppose a move to remove the words “Jesus Christ” from the prayer that begins each session of Parliament, an adviser to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says.

David Major, who is also a Salvation Army officer, says many people around Parliament are saying the prayer should be more inclusive because we are living in a pluralistic society. “They would say, if you remove the words ‘Jesus Christ’, then a Hindu, a Muslim or someone else could in their mind address it to whomever they like. That doesn’t fit with me, but we have the weight of an argument and we have to have some political force.”Mr. Major says that at a national inter-faith forum in Wellington at the end of August it was pointed out that the first decision made by New Zealand’s first Parliament in 1854 was about religion: “That New Zealand will not have a state church, and anyone of any faith or no faith at all will be welcome to be part of the Parliament, and that we should open our proceedings with prayer.

Mr. Major says that at a national inter-faith forum in Wellington at the end of August it was pointed out that the first decision made by New Zealand’s first Parliament in 1854 was about religion: “That New Zealand will not have a state church, and anyone of any faith or no faith at all will be welcome to be part of the Parliament, and that we should open our proceedings with prayer.“They then sent the clerk of the House out to find a clergyman who could come and pray the prayer, and it happened to be an Anglican.”

Removing Christ from the prayer also posed problems, said Mr. Major.

“If you pray a prayer, you have to actually address it to somebody. The heritage of New Zealand is Christian, and a move now to change it into something other than a Christian prayer is a very great move in our cultural heritage, and I don’t think we’re ready to make that.

In the 1990s Mr. Major was chief executive of the National Party under Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley. He said saying grace was a regular feature of dinner parties at Premier House, whereas now grace was not even said at a state banquet.

“All that’s come to a halt, and we’ve let it happen.”

In the previous Parliament there was a move by Progressive MP Matt Robson to have the prayer removed completely. However, Mr. Major does not believe anyone could muster sufficient votes to carry a move that radical.

He said it was important for Christians to make their views known. “They’ll all moan about it. If 20,000 Christians wrote letters, I tell you that it would be off the agenda. But the chances of that, I think, are zilch.

“We don’t realise the power that the Church and Christians have. Politicians are envious of the numbers that churches get regularly. There are very large numbers of people in church on Sunday, whereas if you get more than 50 people at a political meeting you are doing extraordinarily well. Political parties are struggling to keep up membership, or have a meeting once a year.”

Mr. Major said that for Christians to succeed in issues such as this, it was essential that they get involved, for instance by writing letters and phoning MPs.

“But it’s not a matter of ramming it down people’s throats. We have to win by the force of our arguments, by the way we can assemble the discussion.

“By and large Christians have not done that well. Get involved is the first thing; become intelligent about it; find out how the system works; and get alongside people who are involved and support them.”

The prayer reads: “Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen and the public welfare, peace and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”