Hmm. Norway, Canada, New Zealand. The list of countries I might move to is getting longer.
This is a letter from a priest in New Zealand objecting to the claim that New Zealand is a Christian nation!
If my resistance to deem New Zealand to be a Christian nation makes me a traitor, as Brian Tamaki suggests, take me to the Tower, or the New Zealand equivalent, for it would be greatly preferable to living in such a country.
You might think, then, that I am one of the 48.8 per cent of non-Christian New Zealanders.
I am not. I am an Anglican priest serving an Auckland church. And no, I’m not Bishop Richard Randerson under a nom de plume.
As an immigrant from America I know what it means to live in a Christian nation. That’s why I left. New Zealand’s respect for human rights is why I chose to live here as a permanent resident.
Before Christians hasten to denounce my position, take a close look at the only Christian nation. To be fair it should be described as a Fundamentalist Christian nation.
Such Christians, in my experience, imagine that no faith is more loving or forgiving than theirs, while hating and devaluing all other beliefs. They are totally intolerant of criticism, especially of the Bible they hold inerrant and the doctrines they draw from it.
This is a wonderful letter outlining what is going on here in the US.
You can follow up reading that with a listen to this NPR debate about “Is America Too Damned Religious?“. I’ll have to listen to this.
h/t to PZ Myers for this.
