New Zealand Conservative

I notice That Brian Eno has written an article for the left-leaning Salon criticizing Israel's part in a "swag bag" of gifts given to Oscar nominees. (A five-star luxury trip to Israel for every nominee in the main acting and directing categories. The trip is sponsored by the Israeli government.). He takes a swing at Israel using the usual tropes and arguments. I thought I'd reply in the comment section of the article, but for some reason my comments do not show up (Wonder why, ey?). So I am reprinting my response below.  I'm sorry Brian, but your article is coming from a place of ignorance. Let me just touch on a few points. You say that Israel is a great country "for at least half of its inhabitants". Actually, unlike pretty much every other country in the Middle East, everyone in Israel has the same rights, be they male or female, gay or straight, Jew or Christian or Muslim. Arabs even serve in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Isreal is an...

We were treated in the news recently to the tale of a female backpacker who, while lazing on the beach in Picton, was tickled when a male jogger who she considered a bit of alright ran past her and smiled. That was enough to get her to design a poster and begin a campaign (subsequently picked up by the media both here and abroad) to try and find him. She eventually found out who the guy was (he worked at a local burger bar) and, by all accounts, they spent one night together and that was it. Hardly the stuff of romance - unless you happen to be One News reporter Heather du Plessis-Allan. Here's what she had to say about the matter during a One News fluff piece report . The reason that we like it, is that it's wholesome isn't it. It's not like these two have met each other in a bar somewhere and kinda like taken each other home with two hours notice. This woman has seen him, she's thought about it, she's missed her chance, she wants a second chance - it'...

I've just been reading an article on the website of The Guardian about an ex-nun, who says she is both a female Catholic priest and a Bishop and wears a Bishop's ring. She was 'ordained' by a renegade Catholic Bishop and, along with six other women, has been excommunicated by Rome. She hasn't let that stop her, however, from performing baptisms, funerals, and marriages. The article also mentions her doing a funeral Mass. Ms Mayr-Lumetzberger, it seems, chooses to ignore her excommunication because she doesn't agree with it. Excommunication, though, is surely a heavy price to pay. “It doesn’t touch me,” she says serenely. “The canon [church] law used against me was an unjust law made by celibate men who rule over people whose lives they do not really know, and who give no explanation as to why these negative laws should be followed. Except fear.” With all due respect, you can't be something if you do not have the authority from the governing body of the...

Society is to blame - time to get outraged by the message The Roast Busters story has fired up many sleepy liberal and progressive types that don't yet realise it, but they are waking up to conservative values. For example, the letters to the editor and talk back radio linked the story in the same week about the government providing free condoms to 12 and 13 year old's even as others are crying "what went wrong?" Sean Plunket, in today's DomPost editorial hoped to write something that would make a difference, and generate a change of culture, attitude and responsibility in NZ Male society.  Ironically, his article starts with something along the lines of "I don't want to talk about Len Brown and his adultery, I want to talk about something more important."  He failed to see the connection between Len Brown, in a position of power and influence, being defended by liberals that his "private morality" is of no concern to us.   With tha...

Liberal freedom is founded on the concept of consent. It is a vital component of their arguments on how society determines what is "right" and what is "wrong". I don't think it is exaggerating to say consent underpins liberal morality. So it should be used precisely, but liberals of course, will redefine even this word to suit their purposes. Take the recent case of an 18 year old starting a sexual relationship with a 14 year old. A 14 year old cannot technically consent. One adult starting a sexual relationship with a 14 year old is wrong, and there are penalties for this. But in this case, the ACLU thinks otherwise: The Florida ACLU has spoken out on her behalf, saying this is a harmless, consensual relationship. There go the liberals, effectively seeking to lower the age of consent to 14, or ignoring the fact that 14 year olds cannot give consent. The ACLU makes out this is all "harmless" and moral (because there is consent). Well no...

An ancient blog post talked about protesters who planned to disrupt the Catholic World Youth Event in Sydney in 2008. They want to hand out condoms to Catholic youth and children to promote their own personal unholy trinity: condoms, promiscuity and abortion. This stems from many non-Catholics taking offense over the Catholic Church's stance on contraception, and the use of condoms. In some ways, it's a strange attitude. I say this because when people protest against the Church's stance on contraception they conveniently ignore that this is part of a bigger message. At the very least, we could mention four things, not one: 1. Contraception is bad  2. Sex outside (before) marriage is bad. 3. Adultery is bad. 4. Divorce is bad. In reality non -Catholic people don't give a toss what the Catholic Church's position is on these points, and they generally don't know or care to know the reasoning behind these points.  Sure, they get offended at the Pope ex...

 Jim Rockford (James Garner) gives an Occupy Wall Street protester a telling off. OK, the show (The Rockford Files) is too old for that, but he may as well be :) h/t Big Hollywood

Democracy is only available to who we say it should be: I'm a gander, not a goose And if you are a wet liberal, we'll call you normal, everything else I don't agree with is just extremism, to be painted black: It's only democracy if we get our way I see a trend here.

You may have heard some "1st century Christian codices" have turned up, supposedly found in Jordan and smuggled to Israel some years ago. It is causing great excitement in the media , less excitement amongst scholars, who having not examined them in detail remain skeptical and in some cases suspect forgery . In any case the Guardian this morning indulges in some speculation and flights of fancy as to what they might contain and the implications for Christianity if so. Of course reading this article reveals a lot about the author and his world view and reveals absolutely nothing about these codices, fake or real.