by frog
An aspiring artist has sent in the above image, as his “take” on the Brash/Brethren links. I should emphasise that the image and the following explanation are the artist’s views, and not the Green Party’s. Disclaimer over, here’s his explanation of the image:
Note the deliberate similarities between Dali’s Last Supper original here and my re-interpretation, right down to the two kneeling figures in the foreground. Perhaps this was deliberate on their part, but I doubt it.
One of the things that really interests me is subliminal image manipulation. This was a good chance to put my hobby to some practical use. My Jesus is waving wads of cash – the Exclusive Brethren’s real God. Andrew Simmons (standing) plays Judas. A shrunken Peter Dunne head dangles from God the Brash’s middle finger off to the side – a puppet bit player in this drama.
I suspect that the Exclusive Brethren hate the Greens and Labour because these parties have women in leadership roles and stand for gender equality. The Exclusive Brethren have very backward, outdated views when it comes to women. As is the case with their Islamic fundamentalist counterparts, the world would be a better place without the Exclusive Brethren’s sexist views.
If you want to analyse this in more detail, a full-sized image is here.
UPDATE: Oh, and continuing the religious theme: Peter Dunne’s insistence that his isn’t a Christian party is rather at odds with what Mark Blumsky has to say about it. Mr Blumsky, remember, was United Future’s President. He has told Keith Ng:
I was surprised, when I got to the outer regions, [that] the mix of people in the party was different to the mix I had met in Wellington… I got a lot of emails that were quoting various scriptures… It wasn’t the social conservatism that scared me about United Future, it was the… some of them are very fanatical in how they see religion and politics tied up. So that’s why I [said] that I get scriptures or [bible] quotes sent through, and [they thought that] these should be driving, divining reasons for me to be doing things, because it was quoted in this Book of Jeremiah or whatever …
And they weren’t slow in letting me know their feelings. I realised if I was to stand tall as the President of United Future, I had to be more all-encompassing to the wider United Future group than just the Wellington team. So it was nothing to do with social conservatism, it was all to do with how they saw their religion in helping decide how they live their life.
Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with being a Christian party. It’s just a little curious that Peter Dunne always tries to deny it 
Published in Campaign | Society & Culture by frog on Mon, September 12th, 2005
Tags: environment
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
The Islamic Fundamentalists use suicide bombers to target women and children. They stone or hang homosexuals. The Brethrens allegedly lie about the source of a template, and want to preserve the sanctity of the “natural” family: their concept of marriage between a man and a women, that children are created by an act of love between the union of man and women, and thus that is the best family environment for children, that to legalise prostitution is to encourage sex without love and consequences. You sum all of that as “sexist” just to show how tolerant you are, and how you can take on board other views and condense them down for us to a one word bite: Sexist.
You are slowly working up a really good thesis here Frog. Keep it up.
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Yeah so…
The Progressives are nothing more than prohibition simpletons in bed with the Christian fundamentalists in New Zealand First…
Labour’s a bit less left-wing than the Progressives (although thankfully less prohibition regarding alcohol and cannabis), but still willing to bend over for religious lunatics.
I hate National, and were I a Kiwi I would never deeam of voting for a party other than Green, but this is just hypocritical.
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So in essesnce, Anderton is in favour of tap-dancing to Washington and Beijing’s lies with regards to cannabis.
And anybody dumb enough to trust the U.S. or China is too dumb to deserve any political power.
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A vote for the Greens is a vote for New Freeland
A vote for United Fascists is a vote for New Jesusland
A vote for the Regressives is a vote for New DEAland (DEA = U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.)
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“Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with being a Christian party.”, but I’d just like to encourage all my little greenies to say just how wrong it is to be a Christian party.
Once you prove UF are Christians, jj_frapp moves on to prove they are fascists, and want a Jesusland.
“Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with being a Christian party”
Just publish your damn policy condemning Christian parties, explain why they are bad in politics, suggest shipping Christians off to concentration camps and be done with it. You’ll probably pick up another 3% of the vote.
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jj frap…can i suggest a cup of tea and a wee lie down for you..?
you’ll feel better after a nap…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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Frog –
Your update regarding Mark Blumsky’s experiences with United Future’s loony provincial supporters underlines the naivity of christians when they start to get political.
Not everyone has had a biblical education
This needs to be stated as a fact, as the secular nature of NZ education is something christians ignore when they produce quote-ridden and largely incomprehensible material.
As anyone in Wellington knows, when Blumsky was Mayor he served on the WCC with David Zwartz, who is the head of the NZ Jewish Council. Blumsky may not be a practicing Jew, but he has family links to Judaism. I find it unsurprising that he has not read the Book of Jeremiah (a book of prophecy, much studied by those who profess astrology is witchcraft, and with about equal accuracy and coherency for the general public) but I wonder if he has studied the Torah?
katie
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ZenTiger,
“…Just publish your damn policy condemning Christian parties, explain why they are bad in politics, suggest shipping Christians off to concentration camps”
Alas, you’ve twigged us. We had been discussing shipping all confirmed Christians over the age of 16 to Alabama, while sending their kids to ‘re-education camps’ in the Coramandel, there to run free and naked with the birds and antelope and wolves. Their needs would be met with fresh vegan organic produce, and only the finest Northland hash cookies. The spiritual pollution foisted on them by ignorant and oppressive parents will be cleansed by the land’s finest crystal healers and spirit guides.
Now that our covers blown, we’ll have to adopt Plan B, which is to do nothing. So Christian Kiwis will be free to do what they’ve always done, in any way, shape or form that appeals to them (provided it doesn’t harm anyone else). Hopefully we’ll also get over the temptation to kick them as a group, though this is a difficult thing to do, given the bruise marks we have from them. Maybe we can show them Jesus’ injunction to ‘love thine brother’, because there seems to be very little of it coming our way.
Things will hopefully improve after the election, when everyone’s blood cools down and the NZ body politic goes back into hibernation for another three years.
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Frog:
I think there’s a very good reason why political parties shouldn’t actually slag off other political parties using religious imagery – let alone stuff I personally find it offensive to have used as a campaign tool by anyone.
It’s looks like the EB aren’t the only political activists who need to be reminded God doesn’t vote, and we all deserve not to have our spirituality trivialised for the sake of a sight gag.
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zenTiger
“Christian” and “Party” are two words that simply don’t belong together. Christianity is a religion and by the nature of the two things a “Christian Party” is an exclusive club that purports to be capable of governing an inclusive society. Like the Exclusive Brethren, it is the very antithesis of the necessary INclusion that a government of a diverse country demands. The growth in power of the “Christian Parties” in the USA corresponds far too nicely with the loss of freedoms and loss of government “compassion” there.
Nicely put Tane, but I have no intention of adopting plan B and letting them take over this country as well. They are, with the best of intentions, paving the road to hell.
So zen,,, do we get your vote now? Or was it some other 3% you had in mind
respectfully
BJ
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BJ,
I understand your sentiments, but Christianity is not taking over this country in any way, shape or form. The churches in this country have lost ground ever since the First World War, and fortunately so.
It is possible that the Church may undergo some form of renaissance, but I’m not holding my breath. I don’t think we’ll be facing any sort of Inquisition in our lifetimes. Maybe as Peak Oil bites people might turn to faith to get them through the bad times. We will have to be alert to make sure that people get all the good bits of religon (solace, comfort and hope) without all the bad bits being passed on to us unbelievers.
But that time is not yet.
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Tane – that’s what we thought in the US, and the fact that the fundies got along so well with the neocons was not flagged as a danger. It is hard to determine who uses who in that constellation, but the result is deadly to a free society.
Maybe you’re right, but I am not planning to yield them the sort of freedom from opposition that allowed them to put the Presidency in the hands of a man who “never made a mistake” but on who’s watch the USA has lost almost all our allies, the entire budget surplus, two world trade centers, 4 jetliners, a piece of the pentagon, 1500 servicemen (not counting wounded) and the city of New Orleans. God IS saying something to us perhaps, but the fact that he still has a double digit approval rating proves that there’s a lot fo people who don’t listen to that which they worship.
A Federal Appeals court has just upheld his right to put ANYONE in jail without charges for an indefinite period in time of war and his war against terrorism is not expected to end in the lifetime of any person now living. The rumbling sound you hear is Thomas Jefferson spinning in his grave.
I believe New Zealanders are smarter than that. I hope on Saturday they prove me right….
respectfully
BJ
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lol
tane that post of reeducation was awesome mate..
but i reckon BJ might be right to have a fear of religious resurgence in politics; i think religious appeal in politics hinges around people believing the past was more appealing then the present. So maybe an economic crises like an oil spike could be more damaging to the integrity of rationality of ‘the present’ politics then one would think. The present meaning anti-discrimination, acceptance of diversity in our community and others(minus a bit of propogandist rubbish once in a while..ie all Muslims are bad).
Conservatism in politics is regressive because it rejects the present, and religious worse because it harks back even further
I’ll happily go for Plan A as well, got my flax booties and mud soap already prepared, but i’ll rubbish Plan B.
Cheers for Plan A though…see ya later Nan
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oh yeah BJ you might be quite interested in this as well a new law from the Attorney General is under review at the mo that would ultimately remove any difference between citizen and non-citizen.
At the mo they can’t do much to citizens in comparison, they successfully managed to jail a temporary resident called Thar Abdullah in Florida for 4 months for not handing in a change of address form, and then had the nerve to tell the press that they would enforce this law more rigorously in the future. This new law however will see citizens with their rights revoked without right of appeal by the whim of the executive, and failing to find a country to deport them too..could deport them to a country without govt..like Somalia, r hold them indefinitely.
Conservatism + Fear = 1984
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but jesus loves you
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EB don’t believe in televisions and yet when Royal weddings, Royal Funerals etc are on the telly they are only too happy to go and hire a motel unit to watch the dreaded demon TV. Even units that are connected by the dread adjoining walls that lead to contamination.
My father fought in the war and despised the rallys who sat back claiming conchy status. These folks are vermin. They lie, they deceive, they plead family values and yet forbid contraception, femininity, gender equality. They speak for defence but are not prepared to give any blood, sweat , or tears (ok hows that for originality)
They have one god…Mammon..The love of money.!
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All this talk from the Dark Side of New Zealand’s slide into moral decay is beginning to get my wick. The main complaint against Sodom was their demand to “know? [in the biblical sense] all sojourners on arrival. Believe me, should we become further enmeshed in Bush’s illegal resource war we will stand a much better chance of getting the rubber glove at CHCH airport than we do currently. Ahh, the cost of feeling safe from Terror… But as the US administration has said about the appalling civilian cost of this war, “It’s a price we’re willing to pay.? In fact one of the fundamental underpinnings of our consumer society [instilled since birth] is the belief that you can have anything you want as long as you can pay for it, and hence the general acceptance that someone can do anything they want to you as long as they pay you enough. Prostitution is a classic symptom of this. So what do they think we will sell for their tax cuts? To misquote a famous line: “We have already established what you are, New Zealand – we are now just settling on the price.?
earthaerial
: – ) >
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Craig:
It’s looks like the EB aren’t the only political activists who need to be reminded God doesn’t vote, and we all deserve not to have our spirituality trivialised for the sake of a sight gag.
Personally, I believe religion has no place in politics. That’s because religion is a matter of personal, private choice, and because every time religion enters the public arena, it is as an instrument of oppression. You are free to live by whatever creepy interpretation of that Book that you choose, but get off my back please : I don’t believe in it, so it simply doesn’t apply to me.
That said, I have no objection to people forming a religion-based party. But since NZers generally agree with my take, such parties never get any traction.
Hence, they use stealth tactics : denying their Christian motivation (à la UF), or secretly helping National…
The fact that people are making a fuss about (and making fun of) Brash and his Brethren, does not indicate that they are necessarily anti-Christian. It’s a matter of being against dishonesty and stealth in politics, and against faith-based politics.
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The maintaining of a free and just society requires five things: civil libertarianism, equality of opportunity, representative democracy, secularism, and sustainable development:
A party forcing Christian fundamentalist values down the throats of non-believers by using its political leverage is showing utomost contempt fro these ideals.
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jj_frap hits the nail on the head.
Also, perhaps we have forgotten that the notion of the separation of the Church and State underlies all fair and open democracies.
Hence the reason why, for instance, Iran’s new regime is not democratic, nor does it uphold democratic ideals.
A truly democratic state is in essence a pluralist society in which all individuals can practice their religion, free from state interference – even if it should be Christian fundamentalism. That is why parties like Destiny NZ which want to hijack this democratic process are a blight to democracy and anathema to equality (religious or otherwise).
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Thanks for the support, RedGreen.
Destiny New Zealand is the least of NZ’s concerns though:
United Future and National have many clandestine ties to the religious far-right that must be aired out by the mainstream media so that they are not tainted by the whiff of conspiracy when presented to non-radicals.
Also, remember — as your party’s Australian brethren do — the Four Forbidden Allies:
Washington
Beijing
Big Business
Religious Extremists/Anti-Secularists
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oh oh when someone is next interpreting the Magna Cart when they describe democracy ‘in a round about way as seperation of ‘judicial,exec,legislativ and enforcement’ ..can you please slip media in there as well..the whole thing really pisses me off..it’s worse then Womens weekly in it’s subjectivity..who cares if it’s wildly swingings its arms like an angry ape, not caring ho it hits..the point is it’s absolutely misrepresentative and full of lies..last night TV1 used 2020 Treasury prediction v 2006 Labour prediction to sensationalise the fact that Labour had misrepresented the estimates by 300%!!!!!!
jj frap and red-green you definitely been eating your weetbix;)
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