New Zealand Conservative

I read a very good article on Darren Aronofsky’s new film 'Noah' that is in cinemas at the moment. From what I've read the film is weird - very weird; with walking 'fallen angels' covered in molten rock that help Noah build the Ark etc. In the article (which has gone viral and is stirring up much controversy), the author has an opinion that the film is not based on the Bible at all, rather a Gnostic version based on  Kabbalah. In this tradition, basically The Creator is bad, and the snake (Sophia, or Wisdom) is good. Except that when Gnostics speak about “The Creator” they are not talking about God. Oh, here in an affluent world living off the fruits of Christendom the term “Creator” generally denotes the true and living God. But here’s a little “Gnosticism 101” for you: the Creator of the material world is an ignorant, arrogant, jealous, exclusive, violent, low-level, bastard son of a low level deity. He’s responsible for creating the “unspiritual” world of ...

This is the time of year when we are told that Christmas is really a pagan holiday that was taken over by the Christians in ancient Rome in order to replace paganism with their own beliefs. Atheists love this and are happy to promote this idea because it reduces the historical certainty of the entry of Christ into our world, and erodes the credibility of Christianity as a whole if it's just paganism transformed into something slightly different. Some Christians also believe that the origins of Christmas are pagan, following in the footsteps of the old Puritans who hated celebrations of any kind, but I hope that if they investigate they will realise that nothing could be further from the truth. There are two major arguments: that Christmas somehow copied the Roman feast week of Saturnalia, celebrated December 17-23, or that Christmas replaced the birth of the Roman Sun god, that had been celebrated on December 25. Both are ridiculous, as you shall see. Let's start with S...

A new movie, called The Hunger Games has recently been released onto the big screens in New Zealand.  It's set in a future world where young people are selected from 12 rebellious districts as "tributes" to fight to the death on live television.  It's reminiscent of ancient times, when human sacrifice was not uncommon. Father Barron, in the video clip above, talks about why this story line is resonating with audiences today, and how Chrisitianity (when people are really living it) prevents human sacrifice from re-emerging in our cultures. Why is it, that this dynamic of human sacrifice is so prominent in our culture ... from ancient times to today ... Rene Girard uncovered this dynamic ... discovered what he called the scape-goating mechanism ... tensions arise within human communities ... how do we solve the problem ... by this mechanism we choose someone to blame, someone to isolate, someone to ostracise, at the limit, someone to kill. We discharge ...

An Auckland caterer asked one of his employees to cover her tattooed arm while at a function last year. She complied with the request but now has the guy in court on charges of discrimination. Apparently, since the tattoo is "culturally sensitive", she was discriminated against for being asked to cover it. The problem is, in Western society, tattoos are seen as crass. So we have cultural clash going on here. What if the tattoo had been on her butt? Would she still have been discriminated against if she'd been asked to cover it? The mind boggles. Tattoos should be covered, especially in a formal catering situation. To feel discriminated against because you are asked to cover a tattoo is being culturally insensitive to the guests of the function. Unless they themselves are heavily tattooed, and I suppose then you would get away with it. But to get that upset that you she takes her former employer to the Human Rights court and sues for emotional harm shows the ...

Four years ago I wrote a post a post on the Neo-Pagans, which spawned the most amazing comment thread. Here it is, in the web-archive . Given that primitive religions are also making a comeback , I think it's worth reproducing that post here.

Here at NZ Conservative, we will specifically not be observing Earth Hour. Neither will we be dancing naked around a fire under a full moon, should anyone suggest that be required in years to come. Related Links: Earth Hour: Cities, Landmarks to Go Dark NZ kicks off hour plunging millions into darkness