What is a Soul? The $10,000 Question no one can answer.

The soul is apparently what separates us from animal’s, it is what makes us human. It is our umbilical tube to God & allows us to access eternal life.

But what exactly is a soul?

I posed this question & others, to local Christian Web Site called Soul Purpose. Actually, I had to ask twice and you can read the replies in detail, both here & here.

I appreciated the honest input, but felt unfulfilled in the answers I received (some straight from Wiki, cut & pasted) Souls form a major tenant of Christian & theist belief, yet remain strangely indescribable to even those who say they have one.

“We are not simply flesh and bones - we have personalities, emotions, these are part of what make us unique”.

“A soul is who we are, our body holds us, but our soul contains the essence of who we are”.

“Instilled by God--along with the spirit”

“The soul is some part of us that is separate to the rest of our humanity and floats around somewhere somehow”

So who could tell me what a soul is?

The major source on what a soul is, has to be The Bible, right? But when I researched this avenue, it turned-out there were more questions than answers.

Take the first reference point from its pages “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7)

Am I right interpreting from Genesis that, my whole body is in fact one massive soul? The middle toe on say my left foot? My elbow as well? If I lose a finger in an accident does this mean, I’ve lost a part of my soul as well?

Besides none of this answers ‘at which stage of our evolution development was it God decided we were human enough to blow these souls into us’?

Nor could I find-out if we have different sized souls or does one size fit all? Can I choose a colour, as black makes me look too thin? Do they grow and conversely deflate, like balloons, at different stages of ones life?

“The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (Samuel 18:1)at least gives us something to work-on & seems to say souls can be connected like conjoined twins?

Does it mean a soul form at birth or at the moment of conception? What happens to identical twins, do they share a soul? Does God randomly pull souls from a shelf and implant them into embryos? Do some people get the deluxe soul version?

I also pondered how come brain-damaged people can show radical changes in personality after say an accident? Shouldn’t their souls kick-in and over-ride this?

There are no obvious answers to these important questions.

Jeremiah 2:34, states a soul has blood, which allows us to at least relate it to something we all know about.

So the logical presumption we can all take from Jeremiah 2;34, is that souls must be detectable?

Sadly, this is not the case, and despite what is written in Jeremiah, perplexingly they remain invisible and scientifically undetectable, unlike all other things made of red/white blood cells, platelets, plasma etc.

Another passage that implies souls are made of matter is in account of the torture of Joseph in Psalms “I saw the iron enter into his soul, and felt what sort of pain it was that ariseth from hope deferred.”

The soul is mentioned literally thousands of times in the new & old testaments, 300 alone in reference to death/immortality – but no where is there was there any explanation I could find that could answer the most important question of all “what is a soul?”

For someone seeking answers, I would have thought its pages would have been ‘the’ reference point, but I was left utterly confused and having to interpret every damn thing.

Why can’t a God forsaken unbeliever like me get a straight answer to a straight question?

May be part of the problem with using The Bible to define a soul ( or Nephesh or Psuche) is because the word itself has many meanings, such as ‘life, ‘self’, ‘person’, ‘desire’ even ‘appetite’ etc.

So many definitions of the word abound for the word I’m not even going to start quoting them, other than to say the word & concept pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years.

No way did The God of the Bible did not have a monopoly on soul creation, with thousands of current/past religions sharing the concept. Egyptian Mummies, anyone? What say a Viking funeral instead? Why are the Aristotle, Buddhist, Plato, Bahia, Inca concept’s of a soul any less credible than the Christian one, remembering none of them have any basis in science?

Believing in something doesn’t make it true and Christians would scoff at the polytheist religions like those practiced in Egypt. It’s also possible to put up an argument for fairies at the bottom of the garden, but what we seek as humans are solid answers.

Surely something as intrinsically important as a soul to the Christian story, with billions of believers, should be definable, not open to interpretation?

But it isn’t, and the conclusion I came to was - ‘no one knows, what the hell a soul is!’.

Mind you at least one of the respondents at 'Soul Purpose' had the honesty to come-out straight, and say as much.

I also have little doubt that if you asked, in isolation, 100 theists who claim to have souls, what they are in 200 words or less, you’d get 100 different answers. It would be more intriguing, amusing almost, to see what would happen if you asked believers to ‘draw a soul’.



As ridiculous as the concept sounds there are loopies out there that will paint you a portrait of your own soul! Above is a rendition of what a soul looks like, just in case you were wondering what the hell it was.

I’m positive not even the Pope himself could tell me with any surety, & his drawing would be little better than a 10 year olds down the road.

A soul simply is indescribable, as much as it is undetectable.

That’s because souls don’t exist, and this whole exercise proves it.

UNITED FUTURE – CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS IN DISGUISE

Peter Dunnes hair has been placed on New Zealands Official Endangered Species List. Attempts at captive breeding of his hair, have also proved unsuccessful.


Peter Dunne formed the United Party, which had struggled on, marginal and irrelevant for several years. As part of his search for a wider constituency, Dunne agreed to join up with the semi-marginal Future New Zealand Party, led by a fundamentalist preacher, Anthony Walton and formerly called The Christian Democrat Party (which contested the 1996 Election as part of The Christian Coalition)

So was born United Future, a political party which has always painted itself as a centralist, moderate party with family policies.

‘Welcome to United Future, the party that guarantees New Zealand stable government and commonsense policies that benefit the New Zealand family’ greets anyone viewing their web site.

Expunged of Gordon Copeland, who left U.F in the last term over support of the anti-smacking legislation, and down to just two MP’s, polling at 0.5% in the party vote U.F is fighting for its political survival.

With the Christian vote at this election being dissipated and fractured, U.F needs to re-brand and throw off it’s tag as a haven for fundamentalists, best highlighted by Paul Adams, who was responsible for some of the worst of United’s early publicity, when he said in his 1993 in a submission to Parliament that Aids sufferers should be publicly identified in some way, or even that they be quarantined.

No one knows the importance of this secular re-branding exercise more than Dunne.

He knows being labelled a Christian Party is United Futures one-way road to the wastelands.

What chance do voters have, seeing the moderation & pragmatism Dunne espouses, turned into reality?

Does The United Future Party Dunne leads, top heavy with Christian ‘warriors’, actually want to change?

Looking at the profiles and backgrounds of parties highest ranking members and I’d say “I doubt it”.

Just two years ago, the quintessential Kiwi bloke party ‘Outdoor Recreation’, who had joined forces with U.F, fled (into the bush presumably) citing difficulties with the evangelism of Christian members.

Hardly a confidence vote that things have changed, at least behind the scenes at United Future.

Then there was the revelation from one of it’s ex MP’s Marc Alexander that a frequent topic at caucus meetings was ‘the after life’ and all it’s meetings were preceded with a prayer for Gods guidance. Commenting on the formation of U.F’s list rankings (N.Z Herald 28/09/2005) Alexander said list-placings were formulated on ‘Christianity over competence’

It’s best therefore voters examine the profiles of Mr Dunnes team to see, if I’m on the money with categorising them as ‘a Trojan horse’ and 'Christan Democrats in disguise'.

Voters need to ask if a political leopard like United Future, can really change it’s spots?

JUDY TURNER (Current MP and # 2 on Party List) Described by Marc Alexander (along with Gordon Copeland )”as a useless appendage who made endless soliloquies about the perils of the great moral outrages of the day”. In her civilian life she’s a New Life Pastor, her and her hubby run a church. On record, wanting New Zealand to introduce compulsory ‘character education’ into schools. These characters have names like Mark, Luke, Paul and John. On the subject of bibles & Turner, she once labelled United Futures policy on families as “biblically sound”.

DENISE KRUM (United Future President & # 3 Party List) Denise is the daughter of National Party MP and Christian Democrat founder Graeme Lee (or is it more appropriate I use his more formal title Reverend Graeme Lee?) Graeme wrote ‘the’ book on Christian politics in New Zealand ‘Faith Politics & Servant Leadership’ & once infamously claimed on Paul Holmes show that children were more at risk to be abused around homosexuals rather than heterosexuals.

INKY TULLOCH (Current Board Member, Former President) When asked about the Christian connection & U.F, Gore born & bred, Inky attempted to deflect the question, but ended-up telling the public what they already knew, which was “United Future isn't a Christian party – it's a political party that has a lot of Christians in it”. Hmm, isn’t that like Rudolf Hess saying we are not a Nazi party but we just happen to have heaps of national socialists as members?

MURRAY SMITH (Current Board Member, former Party Secretary, Helped form the UF party, former MP, # 6 on Party List) Murray also happens to have help set-up The Christian Democrats. Baptist & Lawyer, a combination that is lethal to consume over certain doses & best kept locked away from children.

NEVILLE WILSON (# 7 Party List) Originally from Fiji, Nev is a Baptist Church Pastor and back home he sat on The Fiji Council of Churches.

JANET TUCK (# 9 Party List) Involved with Tear Fund Christian Action. The bio on the U.F website says her interests include walking, running a book group, and leading a church home group.

I could have continued further down their candidate-list, there being such a rare vein of evangelism to dig into, that was after I got use to that strong pervading odour of pentecostal sulphur emanating from their ranks.

But by now you’ll get the gist - United Future is riddled with ‘fire & brimstone’ Christians from top to bottom & without them there would probably be enough support or man power for it to function.

Forget the cuddly centralist overtones, United Future’s very DNA is fundamentalist.

Who ya goin’ call? The Christchurch Ghostbuster!!

If his publicity is to be believed, and a high level of belief is a paramount requirement here, then business is booming for Paul Graham, Christchurch’s very own Ghostbuster!

Bill Murray’s archetypical depiction in the movie by the same name, goes spookily (had to get that one in some where) close to what Paul gets up to, only he is a soul operator (I’m on a roll here, pander me) and there’s no right-hand man like Dan Ackroyd , assisting his endevours cleaning-up Canterbury’s pesky un-wanted dead. Isn’t that what we pay the Council rates for along with the streets?

So let’s hear how Paul Graham came to be Christchurch’s lone spirit sheriff (spelling mistakes etc are his, not mine, which is normally the case)

I have been involved with the unseen since a very early age as my mother was a healer at the local Spiritualist Church, I to went on to become a healer I found that I was psychic not to the degree that I could see spirit but I am able to detect the presence of entities as my life unfolded I have found that I am able to dowse and detect lines of earth energy. When I met up with a group of people in Glastonbury England I was invited to join a group travelling out to Egypt where they were to take part in a tour of the famous sights.However this was with a view to heal an cleanse the energies of the ancient places. I later joined the group in Cairo and visited many sites including the great pyramids.As group we had exclusive use on the Kings chamber in the Great Pyramid for a full hour this was an experience that changed my life.I found that I was able to clear energies from people places and things with very little fuss or drama . . . . I mainly work alone but have with me many spirit helpers I am able to negotiate with Diva's and nature spirits to move flows of energy to safer places within the home and to move on unwanted spirit guests!

After reading this bio, it’s clear he’s got all the necessary credentials, minus any of the normal markers of self-delusion you often find with other psychics.

Paul’s web site also has an explanation why all of us at some time ‘feel ill or a bit down’ even ‘grumpy’.

It’s ‘lost souls’!!

Modern psychiatry has been taking us all on a ride New Zealanders, and Paul’s novel-solution named ‘Psychic Make-Over’ is the road to cutting the countries huge anti-depressant bill.

Another myth-busting revelation from Mr. Graham is the work is done in daylight so you don't have to stay up till midnight and sit in the dark! Boy, that’s a relief, I normally sleep with the light on.

Paul also has a warning for all New Zealand house-holders, danger lurks in every corner, especially under beds, and horror of horrors - there’s nothing you can do to stop it!

This ever present psychic presence is all down to 'ley line' or earth energies that are passed unseen through buildings and causing harm to the occupants.

After reading this, things are now falling into place. All those strange sounds at night, cold patches around the house - there’s all a rational explanation.

You have a psychic guest!

Boooooooooo!!

Family First highlights the disproportionately high rates of Divorce amongst Christians & it’s related effects on The New Zealand Economy

Fundamentalist Christian based political party and lobby-group, Family First has released new research that shows the devastating financial effects that divorce has on New Zealand.

Family breakdown and decreasing marriage rates is costing New Zealand taxpayers at least $1 billion a year, according to new research.Prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), the research was commissioned by Family First NZ."The study shows that the decline of marriage, New Zealand's high teenage fertility rate, and our rate of solo parenthood is not just a moral or social concern but should also be a concern of government and policymakers,'' said Family First NZ national director Bob McCoskrie."The report states that even a small reduction in family breakdown and increases in marriage rates could provide significant savings for taxpayers.''

Research of this kind is always selective and done in isolation, does nothing but state the bleeding obvious.

What Family First should have mandated NZIER to find-out is -'who for example is it getting divorced?'

With such a break-down in divorce statistics, we could then start finding a solution to the problem.

NZIER should have scrapped the surface more by finding-out who exactly is getting divorced and why? What race they were? Age? Income? Even their religious beliefs?

Fortunately International Research along these lines has been undertaken, and Mr McCoskrie will be delighted to know the task was completed by none other than a Californian Christian Survey Company, The Barna Research Group.

He may not be so delighted, to read their results:

11% of all American adults are currently divorced
25% of all American adults have had at least one divorce

27% of born-again Christians have had at least one divorce
24% of all non-born-again Christians have been divorced
21% of Atheists have been divorced
21% of Catholics and Lutherans have been divorced
24% of Mormons have been divorced
25% of mainstream Protestants have been divorced
29% of Baptists have been divorced
24% of nondenominational, independent Protestants have been divorced

Naturally there's more to this research (do a google yourself) Barna break it into demographics, states, race etc - but you get the picture.

Put simply this Christian Survey Company concluded: the more extreme your Christian beliefs are, the more likely it was you would end-up filing for divorce.

These statistics make a mockery of Family Firsts presumptions that Christian occupy some ‘moral high-ground’ when it comes to divorce.

Research indicates just the opposite is the case.

The fact is Christians divorce more on average than Atheists & if we want to lower the incidences of divorce and its related economic ill-effects, we actually need more Atheists in New Zealand and less ‘firebrand’ Christians like Bob McCoskrie!

Anglican Church funds Maori Party Election Campaign!

Let’s say you were one of Saturday Night’s lucky Lotto ‘Power Ball’ winners & waking-up a multi-millionaire, you decided to share your good fortune with the less well-off in society by donating a small portion of your winnings away to a noble cause. Say $10,000.

Who would your be recipient(s)? Cancer Research may be? The City Mission is always a standard? You can’t go too wrong with The Salvation Army? Let's not forget about the neglected animals, and toss the S.P.C.A some of the loot.

But what say we give it all to The Maori Party?

“The bloody Maori Party!” I hear you squeal, they’re a political party - why do they deserve a sizeable charitable donation?

The only people who can fully answer this question are The Bishops of The Anglican Church of New Zealand, who were exposed by recent declaration changes to The Electoral System, as one of The Maori Party's largest single backers.

In black & white & so you can get your head around this: Electoral Commission records show The Anglican Church of New Zealand donated $10,000 to The New Zealand Maori Parties 2005 Election Campaign.

Thanks to Jonathan Milne at The New Zealand Herald newspaper, this back-room funding has been revealed, so now both the public and bemused & no doubt angry Anglican church-goers, can judge this 'donation' in the true light of day.

The charade that mainstream churches in New Zealand are apolitical has been blown wide open.

Here we have a church with the audacity to front a campaign to prise-away Kiwi’s hard earned taxes using guilt-tactics, showing us all 'in full colour' where their own charitable sympathies sit – politics not welfare!

The Anglican Churches politically-correct view on what it believes philanthropy is in New Zealand, has been exposed to the publics justified scorn & derision.

Caught with their pants-down at their ankles and robes wide open, The Church of England (New Zealand Inc)pretences of neutrality are now in tatters.

Trillion Dollar Anglican Church get’s a begging bowl out!

Recent market downturns mean The Church of England is down to it’s last 50 Trillion.

There are two words, mentioned together, in sequence, that are enough to get my goat-up & the blood really pumping through my 90 kilogram frame.

The first is ‘church’ and the second is ‘tax’.

Were I was a Police Dog, these words would form my attack command(sorry if reincarnation is true, I already have myself signed-up as a domestic cat, not a working dog)

If it wasn’t bad enough for hard-working Kiwi’s subsidising a plethora of multi-national superstition factories, the countries largest religious denomination is now asking tax-payers to give them their recent, well deserved tax-cut!

This piece of audacious pan-handling dubbed ‘Give It Up’, comes from Reverend Dr Anthony Dancer of the Anglican Church who calls for N.Z house-holds to give-up their $10-$28 per week tax-cuts to a good cause & he’s thrown-up a web site to make us all feel guilty at spending our own money on frivolous things like shoes for the kids, the mortgage, a few nights away on holiday, or dare I suggest it a bottle of wine (unblessed variety naturally)

Hoisting his Socialist flag firmly to the top of the mast, Dr Dancer is targeting “those who might therefore consider undertaking some wealth redistribution of their own”.

Dancer wants us to start sobbing-into our pillows, have sleepless guilt-ridden nights with his words “With discretion comes responsibility” haunting us into the wee hours.

Dr Dancer has clearly lived a cloistered clergical existence for too long, cocooned from the rest of society, seemingly oblivious that a great many Kiwi’s work damn hard and deserve a few more bucks in their pockets & not those of his choice.

Dr Dancer, a key figure in that well known & home-grown Kiwi charity ‘Stop Cluster Bombs’, is so wrapped-up in his own self-importance, high in his ivory tower (his workplace St Pauls Cathedral, has a very large one, as you'll see pictured above) that he’s conveniently blanked-out that trifling issue of tax-avoidance The Anglican Church, have going with The New Zealand Government.

Having bloated himself at ‘the secular trough’ for so long, Reverend Dancer has failed to grasp the irony of an organisation like his, who don’t pay a cent in tax, having the cheek to tell others who do pay their share, what to do with what in effect, is their own money - not his!

Dr Dancer doesn’t want New Zealanders asking - why doesn’t The Anglican Church with 17 Billion N.Z Dollars in U.K Investments alone (not including trillions in property spread over 120,000 acres) choose to ‘give up’ at least a small portion of their vast wealth , rather than come begging to Joe Blogs Kiwi on an average wage of $35,000 to flog their pittance?

Dr Dancer, author of the gripping title ‘William Stringfellow In Anglo-American Perspective’, wants you & me to conveniently forget, that outside the New Zealand Government, Maori Entities, the next largest land-owners (based on property valuations) in the country is The Anglican Church, and to date Dancers bosses have been unwilling to ‘give up’ even a single cent of their billion dollar plus property portfolio, to the charities he outlines on his begging site.

It’s time Doctor Reverend Anthony Dancer got a real job, and stopped bothering those that do.

And for the record Reverend Dancer my preferred charities of choice remain: New Zealand Breweries & New Zealand Totalisator Agency Board.

Exclusive Clip of Hillsong's Latest Single

Knick-Nack, Paddy-Wack Give The Priest A Bone

This is not a unique story, it shares many similarities to other cases around the globe. It is therefore neither remarkable, nor is it just, a decade old Christchurch story.

This is the case of Father Paddy Thwaites, a case that polarised his congregation & exposed an endemic policy of neutrality and obstinence by his Church towards his victims.

Thwaites was found guilty in May 1999 on two charges of indecency with a young boy, but the jury was unable to agree on a verdict for two further charges relating to the boys brother and another boy.

A 2nd later trial was held in relation to the two other boys, and on the 28th October 1999, Christchurch District Court Judge Colin Docherty sentenced Thwaites (then aged 54) to 2 ½ years jail for sexually molesting all three boys, in the period 1980s through to 1990s. The three boys were aged 12 or 13 at the time of the abuse.

In his summing-up at the second trial Judge Docherty said “On each occasion you befriended them, made them feel special and gained their trust and confidence”.

The Christchurch Press reporter noted at the time of his sentencing the Court was packed with Thwaites supporters. There to observe proceedings, The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, and many of his former practitioners from St Teresa’s Church of Riccarton (pictured above)

Patrick Arthur Thomas Thwaites, Father Paddy as he liked to be called, was more than just a parish priest. He was credited with turning around lives, a ‘rugby, racing and beer’ man who was popular at the Marist Rugby Clubrooms & in all his parishes – firstly Timaru, than West Coast and lastly Riccarton.

Character evidence at the trial described him as ‘dynamic’.

Thwaites supporter, Dr Mick Goodwin dismissed the charges against his mentor as “preposterous, completely outrageous and inconceivable”.

Father Paddy himself declared his innocence to the charges, inside and out of court.

In the end his ‘not guilty’ plea was meet with deaf ears by the people who mattered most, the jury, who returned a unanimous guilty verdict at his second trial.

Court reports show one of his victims, was not motivated by vengeance, or necessarily to see Thwaites go to jail, he simply wanted to stop Thwaites preying on more boys under his care. He wanted the abuse to stop at him (and his brother) and had already taken his allegations to the Catholic Church two years prior.

These allegations were investigated by The N.Z Catholic Churches in-house Special Issues Committee, but ‘procedurally’ this committee were unable to progress his claims.

Under church policy in cases like this, an admission of guilt was required from the offending priest before action could be taken. So all Father Paddy had to say was “I didn’t do it”
& he was back indulging the freedoms of his position for another two years.

Thankfully that’s was until the civil authorities caught up with him and his predatory desires were curtailed.

To this day Thwaites claims he is innocent and he is currently enjoying his retirement courtesy of The Catholic Church.

At one stage, after his release Father Paddy returned to his old job ‘moonlighting’ as a funeral assistant at Lamb & Hayward Funeral Services.

He has never apologised to his victims.

Paddy remains a popular figure in church circles.

The Catholic Church, did offer professional help, confined to its ‘confused’ parishioners at St Teresa’s, reeling at the reality their favourite son was a convicted homosexual paedophile, but it was left to the N.Z tax-payer to treat the three real victims of his abuse.

Catholic Church spokesperson Lynsey Freer was quoted at the time saying “I think there is a great deal of confusion in people’s minds”.

Not enough confusion for the liking of one of the outraged Police Investigators involved with case, who took the radical step of withdrawing his children from St Teresa’s Primary School, upset at the way officials from the Church & School had ignored the hard evidence & continued to tacitly support Thwaites.

The veteran Police Investigator had interviewed all parties.

The Policeman had got to look into the eyes of Thwaites victims, hear first hand how he had enticed them with ‘props’ like the popular computer game ‘Leisure Suit Larry’.

This old man, he played three;
He played knick-knack 'on my knee,
With a knick-knack, paddy whack,
Give a dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home

He knew who was telling the truth, as did a jury of the priest’s peers.

So why drag-up an unremarkable decade-old case like this?

What can we hope to achieve by ‘scrapping at this wound’?

Simple, it is necessary to highlight the ‘environment’ that allowed this paedophile priest to operate, has not changed in the ensuing ten years since these offenses occurred, and since the thousands of similar shocking stories of Priest abuse sprung into the public domain, worldwide.

We still have a Church (and sadly, some of its practitioners) that operate in almost permanent ‘denial mode’.

The interests of the victims are still placed a distant second to that of the perpetrator & well below the interests of protecting the churches ‘good name’.

In-house investigations of impropriety within The Catholic Church achieve little to nothing, at worst relocation or a backroom job.

Irrespective of the heinous nature of their crimes, a priest is never fully defrocked, and mandatorily accepted back into the fold.

Therefore expect more Father Paddy’s.

Rudolf Steiner: Racist Esoteric Cult or Credible Educational Alternative?

“An island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars.” [Rudolf Steiner]

Before I began my research into Steiner, I would have issued a widely held & shared opinion (read; unfounded generalisation) that the parents who send their kids to one of these schools would fall loosely into the category of Green Party voting, bohemian, alternative life-stylers ,who opt to ride bikes as their main mode of transport, and don’t have televisions.

After finishing my research I would have but two words to sum-up parents who send there kids to a Rudolf Steiner School : blissfully unaware.

That is not meant to be an out-right criticism of parents who choose this form of education, this is a free society, I just don’t think many of them really know much about Rudolf, nor the basis of his teaching methods.

90% of parents, with kids in Steiner Schools, have never heard of, let alone examined its founding philosophy: anthroposophy.

Which one of these thousands of parents or even those who have spent time at one of these schools can tell me and you, what the hell Steiner is talking about when he said "The vowel is born out of man's inmost being; it is the channel through which this inner content of the soul streams outwards.... If we utter the sound A, (as in mate) and take this out-going stream of the breath as the prototype for the Eurythmic movement, we find that this breath stream reveals itself to our imagination as flowing in two crossed currents. This is how the Eurythmic movement for A is derived....Curative Eurythmy can be of extreme value in the treatment of illness, and can be applied in those cases where one knows the way in which a certain movement will react upon a certain organ with beneficial results"

What is this ‘warm fuzzy Steiner stuff’ all about, what really goes-on in their classrooms up and down the country?

To find out we need to go back and examine Steiner himself, after all Rudolf Steiner's life and writings are the foundations on which his Waldorf schools are built.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher , literary scholar, architect, playwright and educator, who is founded Anthroposophy (anthroposophist focus their attention on the freedom of every individual and one's association with and pursuit of the arts, science, and spirituality) Steiner is best known for starting Waldorf Schools (ironically named after a Cigarette manufacturer) but he also was the father of Biodynamic Farming, the Camphill Movement, and the Christian Community (the religious wing of Anthroposophy)

A true polymath, between the years 1902-25, he mixed agriculture, architecture, drama, maths, philosophy, reincarnation, cosmology, karma, occult and religion into a giant melting-pot, resulting in Anthroposophy – the basis the 800 schools which exist around the globe today.

In many circles the likeable Steiner was regarded as a mystic, with his eclectic mix of spirituality & science. These crude attempts lead him to claim “the main life process in the human body is the transformation of oxalic acid into formic acid”. Clearly Steiner was no biologist.

Neither was he evidently any sort of a physician - believing the heart was not responsible for pumping blood, but it was blood itself, that circulated of its own accord. And if that wasn’t absurd enough, thinking did not occur in the brain.

Nor for that matter was Herr Steiner any astronomer, looking at this quote of his “It is not that the planets move around the Sun, but these three, Mercury, Venus, and the Earth,follow the Sun, and these three, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, precede it.”

Steiner never the less continues to promote Anthroposophy as a “spiritual science”.

He believed in a special spiritual consciousness that provides direct access to higher spiritual truths & spiritual evolution is hindered by mankind being mired in the material world.

According to Steiner, people existed on Earth since the creation of the planet. Humans, he taught, began as spirit forms and progressed through various stages to reach today's form. Humanity, Steiner said, is currently living in the Post-Atlantis Period, which began with the gradual sinking of Atlantis 7227 BC . The Post-Atlantis Period is divided into seven epochs, the current one being the European-American Epoch, which will last until the year 3573. After that, humans will regain the clairvoyant powers they allegedly possessed prior to the time of the ancient Greeks.

There is clear evidence,Steiners daft theories, were later plagiarised and expanded on by L.Ron Hubbard (Church of Scientology) who merely introduced an extra-terrestrial 'spin' for a modern-day audience.

The Sun with loving light

Makes bright for me each day;

The soul with spirit power

Gives strength unto my limbs;

In sunlight shining clearI reverence,

O God,The strength of humankind,

That Thou so graciously

Hast planted in my soul,

That I with all my might

May love to work and learn.

From Thee come light and strength,

To Thee rise love and thanks
[Steiner Approved Morning Verse recited until

recently]

Steiner's education system, may not look 'religious' or 'spiritual' on the surface,but in reality it is a mismatched bunch of religious ideas,dressed-up under the guise of education.

His own words probably best sum-up what his system is all about.“By employing our methods we will harmonise the higher being, being the human spirit & soul with the physical body and the lower being”.

Teachers in his first schools were taught by Steiner himself they were on a divine cosmic mission.

For example Rudolf Steiner Schools teach children at one age to paint on damp paper because their souls are were not developed to cope with such large distinctions, not for any proven educational reasoning or proven benefits to the child.

Here’s Steiner’s own thoughts on reading & writing, which make interesting reading themselves particularly for any parent considering this line of education.

"It is a very bad thing to be able to write early"

"Reading and writing....are not suited for a human till the eleventh & twelfth year"

So education bows to spirituality & in obeisance to the mystical number seven Steiner even divided a child’s developmental stages into seven year cycles (7,14,21)

Educators at Steiner Schools prefer the colours ‘white & blue’ over ‘black & brown’ not for any reasons relating to teaching and children’s learning process’s , but because Steiner believed there was an eternal battle for mans souls, and white and blue represented the powers of light over the powers of darkness.

Earlier versions of Steiner Schools segregated classrooms into pupil temperaments, rather than scholastic ability.

In Melbourne this year the parents of one child at a Steiner School were told their son had to repeat his prep-year because the boy's soul had not fully incarnated.

Another pseudo religious part of the school curriculum involves something Steiner dubbed “Eurythmy” which is described as ‘art of movement that tries to make visible the inner forms and gestures of language and music, brought about by the spiritual world penetrating the soul’.

If you are confused by that description of Eurythmy, then what say we refer to The New Zealand Anthroposophy Associations site to see if they can better describe the workings of Eurythmy to laymen like you and I.

Eurythmy is a new art that has been developed since the beginning of our century. Its instrument is the human body. Its form of expression is movement. The human body originally developed out of movement and it is movement, that keeps the human body healthy and alive. The inner movements of our organs, the outer movements of our limbs. The world around us too is in constant movement. The earth in its rotation, the sun and moon, the more distant planets. There is no standing still. There is a constant change in evolution. The laws of movement and their significance in the cosmos, are studied in the new art of eurythmy.

Still, none the wiser about Eurythmy(?)- then you are not alone!

Think Pagan Dancing meets Ti-Chi, and you are close enough.

Doubtless the biggest ‘skeleton’ in Steiner’s cupboard, was that he shared the same belief in racial superiority, as that of the worlds best known Austrian. As mentioned above, his theory was there was a migration of humanity from the mythical states of Atlantis & also some place called Lemuria, and these different races had reached differing evolutionary levels, with the Africans at the bottom, East Asians in the middle ( specifically "they will never come up with ideas of their own") and a mixture of Middle Eastern, Greco-Roman and Modern Europeans at the top.

"We are within the great Root Race of humanity, which has peopled the earth, since the land on which we now live rose up out of the inundations of the ocean. Ever since the Atlantean Race began slowly to disappear, the great Aryan Race has been the dominant one on earth. If we contemplate ourselves, we here in Europe are thus the fifth Sub-Race of the great Aryan Root Race. [Steiner 1905, rather than out of the pages of Main Kampf, but you’d be forgiven for thinking as much]

"You see, when we really study science and history, we must conclude that if people become increasingly strong, they will also become increasingly stupid. If the blondes and blue-eyed people die out, the human race will become increasingly dense if men do not arrive at a form of intelligence that is independent of blondness. Blonde hair actually bestows intelligence. It is indeed true that the more the fair individuals die out the more will the instinctive wisdom of humans vanish." [Another racist gem from Rudolf 1922, which unfortunately for the world and in particular The Jews of Europe, Hess and Himmler took deadly seriously]

It is clear the Rudolf Steiner Schools must be doing something right, the proliferation of schools indicates some level of success, although there is no independent evidence they offer a superior level of education versus the main-stream alternative, nor any advantage in the field of child development.

There will be parents reading this that will support Steiners system, with claims their child has thrived in its learning environment etc, but any such anecdotal support of this kind is based on personal bias & opinion, and can not be borne out in any independent studies.

More ever, support for Rudolf Steiner Schools from any quarter, completely ignores Steiners own wacky & overtly racist theories.

Parents don’t want to hear that Rudolf entered into meditative states from which he would ‘dream-up’ his preposterous theories – including all the ones their kids are now taught.

Whilst astral-plaining one day he made claims to have checked out a book from God’s library (the Akashic).

The cure for cancer is, at least according to Rudolf ........mistletoe! (remember his largest benefactor Waldorf made smokes)

He came back from another meditation ‘trip’ with claims he was about to revolutionise the growing of crops through-out the world. For the benefit of these parents & Steiner proponents only, the recipe to Rudolf’s ‘magical fertiliser’ is: bury the ground you are about to with stag bladders full of yarrow flowers.

And in case Steiner supporters were wondering why Negroes have darker skins(?) Rudolf comes-up with the goods yet again!

“But the people that didn't develop their id, that was too exposed to the influence of the sun, they were like plants: they produced far too much carbon under their skin - and became black.”

And Waldorf Steiner School fans in case you are wondering what happens when you die(?), good- old-Rudolf has an answer to that million dollar question as well.

What a guy!

“A soul can be incarnated in any race, but if this soul doesn’t become evil, it doesn’t need to be reincarnated in a descending race, it will reincarnate later in a ascending race”.

So next time you want to chastise your kids put in the threat “if you are naughty Mr Steiner says you’ll be a Chinaman in the next life”.

Or speaking of possible avenues for child punishment for Steiner followers - why not scare the kids with tales of Goblins?

Steiner (leaving reality again) argued for the existence of Goblins, even pushing the idea they live in vast numbers within hollow caverns, beneath the surface of the earth.

Parents of Rudolf Steiner Children; Wake-up!

This guy Rudolf Steiner was at times, clearly delusional.

In fact most of what he wrote falls into the category of fanciful rubbish, that has long since been discredited, in all but his own circles, who continue fight to preserve his 'good' name, in much the same way David Irving denies The Holocaust never happened.

I urge you, to start doing your own research on ‘the real Rudolf Steiner’.

Get one of his many unintelligible books from the Library.

Don’t just believe what I have laid down here, and more importantly don’t believe all the ‘revisionist’ propaganda that comes home from school.

I’ve saved what I consider the best, or should that be weirdest?, Rudolf Steiner quotes for last.

"1. If, as he had developed on the Sun, man was called plant man, the man of the Moon can be called animal man...The Sun man could only elevate himself into a plant by thrusting a portion of his companions down into a coarser mineral realm...The animal man of the Moon does not yet have firm bones. His skeleton is still cartilaginous. His whole nature is soft, compared to that of today....2. These were human beings who had their origins in the interbreeding of Earth offspring with humans who ... moved to Jupiter.” [ 1. Rudolf Steiner in Cosmic Memory: Prehistory of Earth and 2. Man & An Outline of Esoteric Science]

Polygamy is a Christian Value Worth Fighting For!

Exodus 21;10: 'If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish' (Translated: if you want to another wife, as long as you can afford to keep her housed, feed and shagged regularly, God is cosy on the arrangement)

The taking of wives has changed little since the days of the Old Testament.

It’s always been a case of the rich, powerful and famous guys getting to score the hot chicks.

Church leaders know this better than most, as did some key players in pages of The Bible.

Biblical kings and patriarchs often took multiple wives, all under the nose of God.

If ol’ Yahweh found the practice of polygamy offensive, he certainly didn’t show it. Not once does God say “you greedy bastards, cut this multiple wife thing-out, it’s one each only guys and reminder to all - if you end-up at the back of the line you get the ugly ones”.

This total lack of condemnation from ‘the big guy’ towards polygamy, clearly shows the practice was not a sin, wasn’t even worthy of a mention, not a single sentence saying “don’t do it”.

In-fact back in those days the ability to take more than one wife was both enshrined in law, and blessed by the church.

For a male, you could therefore opt for one or more wives, and the accompanying plural family, with an impunity, all enshrined under both the laws of the state and the church alike. Monogamy and polygamy were indistinguishable.

Anyone who accepts The Scriptures as Gods literal truth, must accept Christian Marriage includes an option to include multiple wives (rather bizarrely in the ‘fine print’ there’s an exception if you happen to be a Bishop, if not you’re a shoe-in)

Those that want to argue on the grounds of ‘Christian values’ (big inverted comas around those two words) marriage is the exclusive union of man and woman, needs to also defend the rights of men to chose more than one wife, to run more than one household, to “be fruitful and multiply” by knocking-up all those said wives, and spitting-out as many snotty-nosed brats as your income & Social Welfare will permit.

If it was good enough for Ziba (Samuel 9:10) to father 15 sons with his wives - why not Zac Thompson of Penrose?

Abijah (Chronicles 13:21) displayed his stamina with fourteen wives, who produced 36 off-spring, so why shouldn’t Andrew Wallace of Hamilton, get to show us his staying power & patience, as ordained by God himself?

Old Gideon had threescore and ten sons (Judges 8:30) setting us a biblical bench mark every Kiwi Christian male should aspire to.

Moses himself wasn't adverse to a wife or two (rumour has it the tenth commandment should read ‘thou should not covert thy neighbours wives)

King Solomon was a ‘the legend’ clocking-up 700 wives and untold nippers – but unfortunately he took the recipe for Gods Viagra to his grave.

If rock-star’s of The Bible like Jacob and David can have a couple or more wives – it’s time for every Christian Kiwi male to do so freely as well (just don’t run it past the encumbent mrs’ first, they get a bit testy on subjects like this)

The prevention of multiple marriages with a male head, is therefore yet another piece of anti-Christian legislature in New Zealand & must repealed, along with same-sex marriages & civil unions.

Secular Society in New Zealand must accept polygamy is a Christian Value worth retaining.

If New Zealand wants to continue calling itself a ‘Christian nation’ we must not only sanction marriage as a unique bond between male & female, but also male & female/female/female etc.

The right to have more than one wife is enshrined in the holiest of books, and there today's reading ends.

So ‘snap em up lads’ before they all run-out!

How to become a Bishop in 24 Hours!

Pictured above is what I can best term as a ‘Do it yourself Reverend Certificate’ available online from a Californian based company, ideally named Ordain Corporation.

Ordain Corps web-site indicates they even have their own Church, or at least a quaint picture of one.


It’s all legal and above board, they say so on every page, and if you can’t believe a Church, even one called World Christianship Ministries, who can you trust?

Bear in mind, all this kind of stuff helps build credibility, an important factor when you are in this sort of business.

Ordain Corp, don’t just limit their range to a ‘garden variety’ Reverend either – hell no!

For the same price, all within 24 hours (U.S Residents only), you can become a certified: Pastor, Evangelist, Chaplin, Apostle, Prophet, Missionary, Elder, Deacon, Preacher, Parson.

However let’s not limit ourselves to a lowly title like a crumby-old, dime-a-dozen 'Missionary'.

I ask you, who is going to be impressed with a certificate hanging from your wall stating John A. Smith - Missionary?

Who gives large donations to a Preacher?

What self-respecting housewife can say with pride “My husband is an ordained Apostle”?

Instead, what say you shoot for 'Archdeacon John A. Smith'?

Impress the neighbours by announcing you are now Bishop John A. Smith.

Gain instant trust with adults & groom their children under the mantle Cardinal John A. Smith.

Yes, what I’m indicating is for one flat price and overnight service you can climb the religious totem-pole right to the very top!!

But what good is a lonely old Certificate if you are about to start your own Church and march around town as a newly ordained Right Reverend?

The good folk at Ordain Corp have all the bases covered here.

They have, what you could say is ‘the full package’.

When you become a certified ‘Arch-Bishop of The World Christianship Ministries’ you will also be couriered:

•Pocket Laminated Ordination Card
•Marriage Certificates (5 pack)
•Baptism Certificates (5 pack)
•Preparing Your First Sermon
•Marriage Laws in Your State
•Ceremonies for Marriage
•Ceremonies for Baptism
•Ceremonies for Funerals
•Ways Your Church or Ministry Can Raise Money [most important this one]
•Clergy Dashboard Sign

By this weekend you can be marrying off your kids! (so what they are only 10 and 12 years old, this is your Church now, run it like you want, all other Churches do the same)

Yes, you too can throw water on babies heads, damning them with a Hollywood stars name for the rest of their living-days (I’m guessing a font will be extra in the fore-mentioned package and if the real granite is too expensive try plastic, no one will tell the difference anyway)

Now those of you outside the United States reading this, are probably chortling away at this ‘instant minister’ stuff and placing it in the category of ‘Only in America’.

Fret not, for a small additional cost to cover freight they’ll ordain anyone on the planet!

So don’t delay, their helpful telesales team is waiting & available 24/7.

Note: Doctor of Divinity is extra & look as hard as I could, I never did find-one for a Pope.

Human Rights for Chimps!

About 6 million years ago, what we now call Chimpanzees, and what we call ‘human’ ancestors, diverged.

Chimps went their way and we went in our own direction.

The split led to various,obvious differences.

Chimps are covered in hair, humans much less so.

A chimp’s brain is about one-third the size of an average human brain and we walk on two legs, whilst chimps typically walk on all fours.

Despite these obvious differences in terms of Genomes, Humans & Chimps are 98.3% identical.

99.4% of the crucial stuff.

Chimpanzee’s like their closest relatives are capable of compassion and joy, aggression and sadness.

Chimpanzee’s, are capable of sophisticated cooperation, hunting, sharing food, using different objects as tools etc.

Chimpanzee’s, can educate other chimpanzee’s.

Female Chimpanzee’s, have been observed ‘selling’ sex for food.

Chimpanzee’s, copulate in different positions, for pleasure only rather than procreation.

Chimpanzee infants stay around their mothers till around 12 years old.

The list of what we arrogantly call ‘human traits’ goes on.

Yet the hairless human Chimps have arbitrarily decided the sanctity of life, only applies to them and not their primate brethren.

Have you ever wondered what gives ‘human’ chimps the automatic rights to torture and imprison other chimps, at a scale that puts the indulgences of Nazi Germany to shame?

A Bonobo chimp may share the same I.Q as a five year old human but none of their rights and entitlements.

It’s fine by humans to conduct cruel and painful experiments on Chimpanzee’s but not a fellow five year old homosapien.

If we are so abjectly inclined towards manifesting our intellectual superiority - why not strip naked a group with downs syndrome, toss them behind the bars at a zoo, so humans without chromosomal disorders can gawk & laugh at their behaviour?

Even the most ardent Christian or Muslim now accepts it not just God that makes the wind blow, a plant grow but evidently it is only God that can create this undetectable thing called ‘a soul’ and care and nurture them.

It is religious doctrine that has created and continues to perpetrate the chasm that separates the hairless chimps from the hairy ones.

Chimps may act like humans, share a great percentage of what we like to call human genomes – but they don’t have souls.

It is these things called souls that have lead humans to differentiate ourselves to a ‘God given’ position - that’s one that sanctifies barbaric cruelty against Chimpanzee’s.

Along with every other creature on the planet Chimpanzee’s are ‘souless’ beasts.

Nothing but mere ‘animals’.

So when did humans become human enough for God to warrant us being infused with these indefinable things souls?

Homohabilis perhaps?

Australopithecus may be?

Was it a Cro-Magnon toddler that first ran up to his mother and said “Hey look Mum I’ve now got a soul”?

But any critical thought along this tact would drag us from the hard facts of bio-chemistry, molecular biology etc and into the superstitious, scientifically-unfounded realm called theology.

Without the ability to sell your soul a one way ticket to eternal life the very foundations of religion would crumble.

Unfortunately for the hairy Chimpanzees that walk on all fours there are enough hairless bipedal chimps, stupid enough to believe in things called ‘a soul’.

Surely it’s about time we woke-up as a species and accepted - however reluctantly it must be for those who believe in books like The Bible - that we are all just intelligent bipedal chimpanzee’s!

Get over this chimp phobia!

Think for one moment what a Chimpanzee sees when he looks at a human?

By in large they see this narcissistic and cruel unit of rival chimps - best avoided.

When this realisation of where we fit into the earth’s species is adopted by enough of us – then may be we’ll begin treating not just Chimpanzee’s better, but other creatures as well.

And when we reach this level of human development, and get our true role imprinted inside our oversized craniums we might, just might, start treating our fellow bipedal chimps and the environment better as well.

Fat chance of this happening, whilst religion is still on the scene.

Family First Party Poopers want to ban Kissing in Public!

Inspired by Katy Perry's hit single (who ever she is?) The Edge Radio Station has set a new world record for Girls Kissing Girls!

Run through-out New Zealand’s main centres on the 4th of September, 120 couples (240 girls) puckered up and pashed for 20 seconds, in the bid to win a trip to Melbourne.

20 Couples made it into Christchurch’s Cathedral Square (one of which is pictured above, Anglican Cathedral resplendent in the background).

Let’s put our ‘cards on the table with this one’ – by in large heterosexual males get turned-on by lesbian activity (much to the annoyance of lesbians themselves)

The Edge, knew they were on to a winner with this format.

That’s why the ‘eyes on stilts’ spectators, who watched the Radio Promotion, were almost exclusively male.

Any normal bloke, who claims not to be stimulated by watching two teenage girls kissing, is in need of hormone treatment, bucket loads of the stuff injected straight into the offending testicular region, with an overly large syringe.

Included amongst this minority of males who fall outside the bounds of the normal sexual response to visual simulation, such as ‘lip locking ladies’ - members of the fledgling Family First Party (currently polling at 0.4% of N.Z Party Vote, well below the margin of error, and beyond a political resurrection of biblical proportions)

Family First Party Poopers wanted the event cancelled, saying the competition ‘crossed the lines of decent public behaviour, and sent the wrong message to young people’.

One presumes banning such events will form a major policy platform to launch the party poopers bid for Parliament.

F.F.P.P would much rather mums & dads were in The Square, beating their kids under the guise of discipline, seemingly this sort of ‘moral’ behaviour being in-line with their gospel, of how society should be run (old testament naturally)

We should be encouraging more wholesome events in Christchurch’s Square, like outdoor re-runs of The Waltons, or say a gala to celebrate the reunion ( rather than union) of the Capill family.

When exactly, does the unrepentant & highest profile Christian politician New Zealand has ever had, get out of ‘the clink’ again?

But back, to those terrible girls kissing, signaling a decline of New Zealand society as we know it.

What’s next on the slippery-slope to becoming The Sodom & Gomorrah of The South Pacific?

Gays, having the same rights as others, in society?

Legalised Prostitution?

It doesn’t bear thinking about, and as for those vile, perverted, animalistic young ladies, engaging in lewd public acts – you brazen hussies are doomed to burn in hell!

Warriors of Christ and fellow members of The Family First Party Poopers, we have to put a stop to this degradation, before the rot sets in!

Brothers & sisters, so you can recognise such licentious activity in future, here’s some more photos of New Zealand Girls Kissing Girls.

But before viewing these perversions of Christ’s love, kindly remember to close the study door first, and have some tissues handy.

God is but an Idea

Let’s say we assembled a sample of the world’s ‘theists’ and asked them in neutral terms, about God.

What sort of consensus do you think we would get, to even a small range of questions?

- “What is God?”
- “How did God come into being?”
- “Where does he/she exist?”
- “Where does he/she get his/her power from?”
- “Why doesn’t he/she speak directly to mankind?”
- “Define how exactly it is God helps people?”

Every theist claims to ‘know’ God, often intimately, so why is it hard, if not impossible for even members of the same church, to define God and his dynamics?

No one has every seen ‘a God’, heard a God speak, even measured his/her presence, but millions believe in his/her existence, as if they were talking about the family dog.

Theists often make definitive, often convoluted, statements on ‘the workings’ of God, as if they were truisms.

Yet, these ‘truisms’ differ from individual believer, to individual believer?

The reason for this inconsistency is simple.

God only exists in peoples minds.

God is but an idea.

The family dog is real, and if queried as to his colour, 99% of people will recall it was say ‘black’.

Because God is an internal idea, a mental musing, as opposed to something that is real, quantifiable & substantive – there will always be differing opinions on “what is God?” etc.

Let’s prove this another way.

Let’s say you believe in U.F.O’s, and I asked you, “what do aliens look like?”

Automatically the first reference points when answering a question of this nature, are the external ones.

Extraterrestrial devotees would automatically search their memory banks till they come to a popular reference point, like say book or television program.

They are in fact employing identical 'learnt' thought-process’s as religious believers.

I’m guessing 80% of U.F.O buffs will say aliens look like this:

How do they know this to be?

No one has ever seen an alien life-form, yet believers able to form much the same ‘mental’ picture of one?

Then we take this Alien line of questioning to the next level, and ask similar ‘probing’ (no, not the anal alien probe again!) questions, similar to the ones above, and the ‘cracks begin to show’.

Individual ideas now, come into play:

- “What do Aliens breathe?”
- “Why can’t our radars pick their spaceships up, but we can see them?”
- “Why don’t Aliens signal their existence?”
- “Why has the worldwide SETI program failed to even detect a simple radio signal emanating outside the Earths atmosphere?
- “Where don’t these higher life forms simply wipe us out?”

The reason why God is outside human definition, is simply because every human is different, and even though there are 6.7 billion of us, it will still be impossible to find two people on the planet to concur on a complex idea like God.

New Zealand MP Literally Bible-Bashed

Nothing like a General Election, to bring nutters & extremists scuttling forth from under their rocks, and into the daylight the rest of society lives in.

When it comes to the nutcase/weirdo brigade, the religious element there-of, rightfully sits on the podium in gold medal position.

Manurewa’s local Member of Parliament, George Hawkins (above) is invited , to what he would have presumed to be, one of many innocuous meetings on the campaign trail, debating ‘the issues’ with other local political candidates.

The community meeting in question, was held last Sunday evening, under the auspice of The Manurewa Baptist Church (on your left)

Fairly ‘ho hum’ fodder, right?

Towards the end of the evening, after the candidates had spoken, the audience were asked to approach the stage, and use the microphone to ask questions.


First-up to tackle to candidates, a well-dressed gentleman.

As he strides to the stage, it is noticed he is carrying a bible, and not just any bible I hasten to add - a 1860’s version.

Nett weight of this monster, a wopping 5 kilograms (the illustrated or cartoon version perhaps?)

The gentleman is heard to mumble something about “the government poisoning food” as he progress’s straight past the microphone, and to the middle of the stage where the candidates from all political persuasions, are seated around a table.

Taking aim at George Hawkins, he slams the bible down on his hand.

A melee ensues, ending-up with the offender being carried bodily from the Church Hall.

George trots off to hospital to see if his fingers are still in one piece.

After the dust settled it comes to light the nut-case is, himself a reverend of some religious persuasion, had made a previous threat again Hawkins, involving the said ‘monster bible’.

Clearly this guy has issues of the head variety and Hawkins, whilst laying a complaint with N.Z Police, intimated as much that he needs treatment not servitude.

Now let’s wind the clock back before the attack, to the time when George came into contact with the good reverend & was subject to his initial physical threats.

In place of the bible let’s use knife & replace a reverend with a gang-member.

Viewed under these circumstance, there would have all been a different outcome.

Hawkins (ironically an ex Minister of Police) has learnt the hard way, that religious nut-cases sometimes ‘bite’, and not to dismiss threats of this nature, even when the provocateur uses the mantle ‘reverend’ and his weapon of choice is a 150 year-old bible.

Other politicians should also take note.