[upnorthkyosa]

In the US, religion is a big deal. The evangelical christian movement is growing and is increasingly dominating public policy. For example, gay marriage and abortion are HUGE hot button issues over here.

Are Kiwis like or unlike the US in this respect?

How, in general, do Kiwis feel regarding religion?

Is it a large part of your public/political lives?

[sarahw]

Personally not at all - we are not religious, but respect the fact that some are.

There are religious people out here but not to the extent of the US with the evangelical movement. In politics it doesn't really figure that much. You may catch a Christian radio station, but you'll not see people on TV imploring you to send money to their religion etc. that you see in USA.

Religion out here is not rammed down your throat. Our neighbours are very religious, they are Sally Army members but they do not preach to us & respect the fact that we have our own beliefs - they're very nice people & we keep an eye out for each other & pop over to see each other regularly.

You will find that a lot of the Polynesian cultures are religious. My Samoan friends are all very religious as its central to their culture.

Pretty much you're always going to have opposition to gay marriage & abortion etc. in a population, but people on the whole are live & let live here.

[Moorf]

I read an article in The Press a month or so ago and it was astounding.

I am not at all religious so I don't usually follow churchy things, but the rise in Mega-Churches in New Zealand is apparently HUGE. In Chch they were quoting some congregations at regularly being 1500 - 2000 +. These churches are (bear with me on my ignorance) "modern" in that they have rock bands playing etc and lots of clapping and raising of hands etc, they even have ATM's in the lobby so you can tithe your 10% of salary!!

I find that religion here is much more widespread than anything I encountered in the UK, anywhere. And the amount of Jehovahs / 7th Day Adventists and Mormons is incredible.

They don't, however, appear to thrust it upon you. Anyone trying to convert me usually gets a good debate!! :laugh Try asking the Mormons about dinosaurs :D

[upnorthkyosa]

Regarding same sex marriage and abortion, how do kiwis in general view these topics? Does it jive with the laws of your country?

[Moorf]

In my experience it's just not shouted about as much as it was in the UK. The civil union laws seemed to pass through with a minimal amount of fuss and I can't say that I've noticed an overt concern about abortion either.

I just get the feeling that people here don't thrust their opinions on you as much as in the UK, and that they don't judge you on your opinions as much either.

I'm pro- abortion, pro-same sex marriages etc and I don't feel like a social pariah for holding those views. My neighbour, Alva (mid 50's), has a gay brother in Auckland who visits often. He is known to be gay by the locals and gets some "ribbing" from the local farmers but nothing vicious or malicious.


Edit: Just had a PM from another member asking if there was anything I disagreed with :uhoh or had an opinion on ... errr.. well.. I guess I have a bit of a live and let live attitude - so people telling me what I should and shouldn't believe in is, I guess, something I disagree with!!

[StevieD]

I think religion is a personal issue, and anybody who "forces" their religious beliefs on others is treading on dangerous ground. Does it really matter what people believe in, whether there is or isn't a god, whatever guise he/she/it takes? Religion is very dangerous, we only have to look down the ages at the amount of trouble it has caused in the world. Live and let live... a good philosophy to have. Stick with it Moorf!

Steve

[Debbie P.]

Religion is very dangerous, we only have to look down the ages at the amount of trouble it has caused in the world.

Um - can I just say that IMO, religion itself is NOT the big danger - it's USING RELIGION AS A POLITICAL TOOL tool that is dangerous. Many religious people (of ALL faiths) are 'live and let live' as well; they use their personal faith as a method for living, but they DON'T shove it down other people's throats.

Not getting at you Steve, just wanted to give my view, because as a Christian with many Muslim friends, I do get fed up with the notion that religion itself is to blame for the world's woes - just because there are so many unscrupulous people out there who use their dodgy interpretations to cause trouble, it doesn't mean we're all to blame for daring to have a personal belief. You said it yourself, forcing anyone to believe something they don't want to believe in is wrong, but please don't think we're all like that!

[willsken]

Edit: Just had a PM from another member asking if there was anything I disagreed with :uhoh or had an opinion on ... errr.. well.. I guess I have a bit of a live and let live attitude - so people telling me what I should and shouldn't believe in is, I guess, something I disagree with!!


:nice1 Sounds good to me!

[jubjub]

One thing that struck me is the amount of people our age that go to church, in the UK we knew practically no-one that went, over here majority of the folks we know do, but it only gets mentioned in passing, and they never ask us about it.

[StevieD]

True Debbie, it is more often than not man's interpretation of the religious doctrine that causes the trouble.

And I was not meaning to cast dispersions on anybody, religious or not. Again, there are all shades and types of people that inhabit this world, and each are different.
Just wish we could all get along better, without introducing hurdles.

[Ana&Steve]

I hope that NZ never gets to the point that religious sects start grabbing at power and getting political standing. I feel that is a HUGE problem in the US, and it's getting worse. I'm a "seek all the happiness and freedom you want, just don't hurt anyone else to get it" kind of person, and that is not what you get with religion as a political power. I think belief is important, and also very internal. I really have a problem with the 10% thing, maybe I've heard too many horror stories about the elderly leaving everything to their church when they die, leaving the partners and families destitute. Also I hate being told what I can read or watch on TV. I'm a big girl, I know how to turn the TV off if it's offending me, and Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have not yet turned me to worship Satan. :roll
Ana
/hopes NZ never turns into the US

[jonSE]

Kiwi religion

Pies
Beer (brand depends upon region)
Rugby
Pies

[StevieD]

:laugh :laugh

[Cardiff Irons]

Kiwi religion

Pies
Beer (brand depends upon region)
Rugby
PiesConsider me converted!

[Avalon]

I actually find it a bit over religous here for my liking to be honest. The religious ranting you can sometimes find in the Dom Post letters pages certainly seems to greatly outweigh the anti-religious ranting also found there. (and no - I havent got a running count ;) ) Its also a bit worrying in tone and content.

Also, (and maybe this should go in teh grumpy old women thread) but I REALLY object to the local free paper (which gets shoved in my letter box without me asking for it) has carried a religous anti- abortion 1/2 page advert telling us that abortions cause breast cancer every week for the past 3 months. And we have to drive past a big billboard with a photo of a foetus and a message telling us its a life not a choice every time I want to go shopping!

And to top of my week on this subject, I had an email newsletter (about property investing of all things non religious) in which the writer claims that it was because he was Christian that in a certain instance he did "the right thing". Cos apparently we have to assume that all the people previously ignoring the "right thing" were not christians, and anyone not a christian would have continued to rip everyone else off !!! I guess he feels you have to be a christian to be a nice and decent person???

On the plus side - no one has been round to get me to go to church, and Ive only had the jehovahs lot round once. So its not all bad. And none of the people we know personally that are Christians have ever even bought the subject up, so on that score I think its fine.

[Caroline and Dave]

Thought this ties in very neatly with this thread

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/943741

The last sentence is interesting

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[wiki]

I loved the bus conversation part:

"I was really amused to hear from one of our cathedral regulars that they were on a bus and overheard a couple of people talking about and really complaining about the church interferring in Christmas," said Peter Beck of the Anglican Cathedral.

It makes a change from the "consumerism interferring in Christmas" line!

I wonder what happened to influence the boost in Catholicism?

[StevieD]

Mass Irish/Italian emigration?? :laugh

I have no problems with religion, as long as people don't go babbling on about it or trying to "convert" you or similar thing... each to their own.