That beating your children and child abuse are wrong.
That any discipline that leaves bruises, broken bones or injury is unacceptable.
Both sides agree.

Everyone agrees that we want well rounded children who contribute meaningfully to society. We all agree that good parenting is important for raising children. No one wants children that are belligerents, stubborn, aggressive, or totally unresponsive to parents. No one wants good loving parents, who spend quality time with their kids to get a criminal record for lightly smacking their child on the bottom.

I wonder if the two sides just have different images in their heads? Does Larry have in his mind a good middle class Christian home where a reasoned smack is part of the overall loving parenting policy used in extreme situations, while Sue is picturing a lower socioeconomic home that struggles constantly with financial pressure where a parent who has too little support reacts in frustration to their kid and strikes out. If you have been involved in any child youth and family case this image will not leave you.

Those against the reform of section 59, two questions. Firstly, what are you afraid of? Are you concerned that if all parents stopped smacking their kids they will become totally unruly? That they will be aggressive in school, ignore their teachers? Lose all respect? That society will suffer? Is this your primary concern? If so, there are schools throughout the country with children who are exactly like you are afraid of. But, they are being smacked at home. Is the issue that they are not being smacked enough? Or that they are not being loved, nurtured, and given enough of their care givers time?

A second question, do you believe that smacking is a compulsory part of good parenting? Is it possible to be a good parent without smacking? If it is possible, since law change has to effect everyone, can you allow that ‘good’ parents have the recourses and skills to explore other means in order to close a loop hole for parents who are not as good as you? Can you consider the point of this law change to be about shifting the social norm on striking children? Force the consideration of what it takes to parent well – time, care, play, time for example – once as a nation we accept that we will not strike children.

This is the main reason I will vote yes. I want to shift the social norm in Aotearoa.

The funding is being cut.

If this funding is cut, can we continue such a good program? Is one running in your local school? Do you have gardening skills and an afternoon a week? Is there a way that allows the local parish and the local school to work together on this? If there are people in your Parish who have time (just retired perhaps) maybe they could pop along to the local primary and have a chat with the headmaster. I’d love to hear the results.

One of the early stages in the setting up of a TT is the formation of sub-groups. These groups form around issues of specific interest to those involved: food, economy, transport, advocacy, and more. The final working of each of these groups then forms a major part of an energy decent plan for the whole community.

In many churches the environmental group is seen as a sideline. A minority interest group that can pull energy away from other groups and projects that are more in keeping with the primary purpose of the church. One possible response is to drop the environmental title. Care of creation is not a thing in its own right; it is a description of how we go about our other tasks. Those in the church of an environmental mindset then approach all the other groups in the church; worship, mission, outreach, fair committee, social services; and ask “what would be the implication for your group if we could no longer afford oil based products?” (Obviously good current information on peak oil and related issues is important).

All of these church activities become sub-groups of your transition community. Rather than the environmental group being seen as pulling energy away from or detracting from mission, worship or outreach, they are feeding into those groups. The thinking done with those groups then forms a major part of the energy decent plan of the church, with the added advantage that you are far more likely to get participation and buy-in by genuinely engaging people in the area of the particular interest.

“Refugee Services operates a unique programme which trains volunteers to work alongside quota refugees as they begin to settle into their new communities. The programme currently operates in the resettlement centres where we have offices: Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Porirua, Hutt Valley, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch.”

Our Volunteer Training Programme helps equip volunteers with the skills and knowledge and confidence needed to provide newly-arrived refugees with practical support, advocacy and friendship during the initial six months of their resettlement.

The work is challenging and involves commitment and responsibility but brings with it great rewards. Our volunteers come from every walk of life. If you enjoy meeting people from other cultures and would like to share your own; want to help refugees adapt to life in NZ; and have time to spend with a refugee, this could be the opportunity for you.

We operate an in-house training programme for volunteers at different times throughout the year in the different centres. The course is around 17.5 hours long and classes usually take place in the evenings or at weekends.

A broad range of topics relating to refugee and resettlement issues is covered including:

the refugee experience
the role of the volunteer support worker
refugee cultures
support services and resources for refugees and their support workers
refugee health & well-being and education

The programme is approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and is designed so that all support workers can qualify for our Refugee Services Certificate in Refugee Resettlement Support.

After attending the programme and acceptance interview each successful support worker is placed in a small team and introduced to a refugee individual or family. When the refugees arrive in their new communities support workers offer practical help and undertake to be in weekly contact for a six month period. We provide on-going support and supervision to all support workers.

Every Media that Matters event is unique. The combination of films, inspirational speakers, and games and prizes has impacted hundreds of adults and young people alike, and no-one walks away quite the same afterwards.

And quotes from young people:
“Moving and inspiring!”

“Awesome movies, great ideas, and wonderful to see people taking action”

“Amazing films and amazing people!”

“Loved the aspiration & determination of those involved”

“It was great to see young people empowering themselves!”

“Like Hollywood, with the facts kept in!”

This is a call out to individuals from communities all across Aotearoa to join in organising an ongoing project which aims to start a Peoples Movement actively addressing the Root Causes of Climate Change

Join us at Parihaka for a weekend of tasting and devouring, information, discussions and workshops on climate chaos and climate justice. The bases of the gathering is to share skills, up skill and take action. Some of the workshops are on topics such as permaculture, collective organising and direct action strategies. For more information please contact: climatecampnz[at]riseup.net http://www.climatecamp.org.nz/HOME.html

What is a Climate Camp?

Climate Camps have been successfully held in several countries. Each camp has generally covered the following themes: direct action, education, direct democracy, sustainable living and building a movement to effectively tackle climate change by both resisting climate damaging activities and developing sustainable solutions. The camps are a place for anyone to take action on climate change; for anyone who’s fed up with empty government rhetoric and corporate spin; for anyone who’s worried that the small steps we’ve been encouraged to make in our personal lives aren’t enough to match the scale of the problem; and for anyone who’s worried about our future and wants to do something about it.

How is this organised?

Previous camps have been organised in a community based and collaborative way. Before and during camp regional groups [Auckland group / Whangarei group / nelson group / Christchurch group / new groups] work and organise by making decisions together and sending prooposals to one another. This is different from coming as a representative of an organisation, and is far more democratic, sustainable and conducive to building a peoples movement. There are already many regional and issue based working groups up and running that you can join, maybe there’s one in your area, if not feel free to get in touch and start one up yourself.

Hope to see you at Parihaka!

It is disturbing news because of the speed at which biotechnologies are developing. General public understanding is simply unable to keep up with new scientific learning. How then is the community to be helped to form and support ethical views about the implications of these developments? The Council was established in 2002 as a result of one of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. The Commissioners reported the public concern that decision-making was not adequately addressing the ethical, cultural and spiritual dimensions of genetic modification and biotechnology. The Council’s objectives are to enhance New Zealanders’ understanding of those issues and to ensure that Government receives high-level advice about them so that decisions around the use of biotechnology are made in a way that reflects community values.

The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 has allowed the exploration of the science around cloning, genetic modification, and stem cell research. All of these pose ethical questions for society. Significant debate continues around the use of GM in relation to food crops. Like it or not, with an estimated 100 million acres of farmland worldwide planted with GM crops in the year 2000, bioengineered foods are becoming part of the world’s food supply.

Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997 and at least six other species of animal have been cloned since. The technology now exists to clone a human being. Would we be prepared to go that far in order to contribute to the broadening range of assisted reproductive technologies? Or would we be willing to use the technology in order to provide human embryonic stem cells which are showing great promise in the processes of human healing, offering particular hope for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s that are proving beyond the ability of pharmaceutical drugs to effectively combat?

And in the news this month was the controversy being caused by a Los Angeles clinic stating that it expects to see a trait-selected baby born next year, that is, an assisted reproduction fetus with certain predetermined genetic characteristics such as eye or hair colour. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) technology, used to determine the presence of certain genetic conditions which could cause severe impairment prior to the implantation of an embryo, could now be turned to the service of what are inevitably being called designer babies. A technology developed to avoid suffering could now be used for very questionable purposes.

Which brings us to the ethical rub in these matters. The capacity to relieve human suffering and to contribute to human healing is finding new horizons with such technologies, a fact that would have to provide one of the greatest arguments in favour of continued research and development and increased use of them. But at what point do we determine that such interference and manipulation has crossed an ethical boundary? Who decides and how do they decide?

Christian people might approach such questions from a particular theological worldview, though that would differ across the spectrum of Christian belief. People of other faiths would bring their own worldview, as do Maori, as do libertarians, as do utilitarians, and so on. A starting point for Christians would be the belief in God as Creator. The Creator remains deeply concerned for what has been created, and there is a special care for human life, God’s greatest gift and the pinnacle of Creation. Here are the creatures with both a capacity for God and who share in the spiritual life of God. Here then are the creatures able to act with God and for God for the good of Creation and humanity.

Or not, of course. For it is not a straightforward task and it is one that in relation to biotechnology offers strong parallels with the trees of Eden: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The latter tree has always offered up danger to human beings. In fact at the conclusion of the human genome project when the scientists involved met at the White House to announce that they had succeeded in decoding the genome, then President Bill Clinton said this: “Today we are learning the language in which God created life”. That is a statement that reveals the kind of potential that now exists to meddle in the work of the Creator.

The gravity that I think many people feel around issues of biotechnology provides communities with a window for public deliberation before the onward rush of the application of that technology overwhelms us. These may be the years when non-scientists and scientists together have a chance at determining the direction and limits of biotechnological advances.

But how do we have such an ethical conversation as a nation? Where in our morally diverse and morally fragmented society do the pieces get drawn together in order to allow a value to emerge that we might in some way be able to claim as one for Aotearoa-New Zealand? I would think that a national bioethics council could be such a place, and I would think that it is worth spending a million dollars on it. Taking care of those few pennies that are a weighty issue might help the pounds that are the future of the human race to take care of themselves.

• The second biggest killer of children under five worldwide is the lack of clean and accessible drinking water.
• Nearly 5,000 children die every day as a result of water-related diseases including cholera, typhoid and malaria.
• Just $1 can provide a child with safe drinking water for 30 days.  

What’s the Tap Project about?

This is the second year that New Zealand has taken part in The Tap Project (also running in the US) and already a record 300+ restaurants and cafes across the country have signed up to participate, including a number of major chains (all listed on our website: www.tapproject.org.nz).  

In the lead up to World Water Day on 22 March, the campaign celebrates the clean and plentiful tap water Kiwis are lucky enough to enjoy, while helping UNICEF provide safe drinking water for the world’s poorest children, with this year’s proceeds going to specific projects in Laos. 

Five easy ways to get involved

It’s really easy for everyone to get involved and a great way to make a life-saving difference to the futures of thousands of children.

1. Dine out or have a coffee at participating establishments and make a donation whilst there – all venues listed at www.tapproject.org.nz/restaurants.html
2. Make a donation online at www.tapproject.org.nz or by texting TAP to 833 ($3 automatic donation)
3. Join the Facebook group and help spread the word about the Tap Project. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11175254404
4. Get your school or workplace involved by running water-themed events or activities, e.g. donations for drinking water from the water cooler. Download free education resources at www.tapproject.org.nz
5. Come to UNICEF’s World Water Day events:  On World Water Day - Sunday 22 March, local councillors will join a water challenge to coincide with Wellington’s dragon boat festival. On Sunday 5 April, an attempt will be made in Auckland to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simultaneous squirting of water pistols.   

Celebrity support

Many New Zealand celebrities are supporting the campaign, including Mike McRoberts, Alison Mau, Jay Reeves and Amber Peebles.

Further Information:

• For news, videos, online donation and useful info and links: www.tapproject.org.nz
• Media enquiries: david@unicef.org.nz (David Youngmeyer)
• General enquiries: carolyn@unicef.org.nz (Carolyn Shivanandan)
• UNICEF NZ: www.unicef.org.nz

Why do you let homeless people and refugees stay with you?

Why do the local kids hang out with wadjalas (white fellas) like you?

Why were you on the news peacefully protesting?

Why do you have time for me when no one else does?

Why do you volunteer in the community permaculture garden when the food often gets taken?

The challenge for youth pastors is the challenge of hearing Jesus say, “Follow me”; to lose our lives in living God’s love.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/02/11/jesus-and-justice-always-kiss-a-plea-to-youth-pastors-making-out-with-empire/

WHAT ARE THESE FUNDS?
HIF - The Housing Innovation Fund. The HIF provides funding support for community sector and iwi housing organisations. The fund is administered by Housing NZ and aims to provide social housing that targets:
   * households whose housing needs are not fully met by Housing New Zealand or the private market, such as Māori and Pacific peoples, older people and people with disabilities * low or moderate-income households whose housing needs are not met in the private market but for whom no suitable alternative exists.”

RHP - The Rural Housing Program. Also administered by Housing NZ the RHP provides funds to help repair substandard housing in rural districts.
It is possible to find the discussions in the house between Phil Heatley and Sue Bradford on the Parliament website here. The conversation didn’t appear to be as conclusive as Sue Bradford feared (although that is perhaps not surprising when everything in the house has a tone of attack and defend). Yet anything that even hints at cuts to opportunity for improvement to substandard housing for low income families is a concern.
What caught my eye about this story was the possibilities that exist for churches to get involved in securing funds for housing estates and substandard living areas in their neighborhoods. There are a few other trusts out there who also provide financial help for things like insulation. One thing is clear, advocating, getting funding, and getting work done in an area is easier if you have a group involved. Does anyone out there know of a church involved in these areas?