The last few months in New Zealand have, in my opinion, seen an increase in the number of articles published in the media concerning religion. In part, that’s a response to the tragedy of March 15 in Christchurch, where media found they were underequipped to deal deeply with religion in the NZ context, as well as an increased awareness of religion seen in following events such as the Sri Lankan bombings and an increased presence of religion in the politics of everyday life, including the rise of religiously-shaped political parties and politicians, religion and sport, and things like the euthanasia debate. As part of tracking that, I’ve collected a number of links below to various media outlets etc. connecting to this. Interestingly, most of these are from the Stuff website. I follow that, RNZ, and the NZ Herald regularly but it seems the former has more intentionally covered religion recently. As an aside, the NZ Herald’s new paywall system may result in religious material being less visible and accessible – esp. to communities that don’t have the financial support to access and interact with it.
Christchurch-related stories and posts
- Hanif Quazi on the honest talk needed on cultural differences and problems faced, says Muslim academic – Muslim community leader calls for frank conversation on cultural attitudes | Stuff.co.nz
- Stuff’s “God in a Time of Terror” series:
- Church supports mosque attack victims as they would their own family | Stuff.co.nz
- The conservative Christians who believe NZ has gone too far in its embrace of Muslims | Stuff.co.nz
- Former Methodist leader Keith Rowe says church groups haven’t gone far enough in accepting Islam | Stuff.co.nz
- Ally Hawkes works at a Catholic church and has two sons who converted to Islam | Stuff.co.
- Paul Hunt, Chief Human Rights Commissioner – Human Rights Commission :: Tackling racism, islamophobia and hate in New Zealand
- Op-ed piece comparing New Zealand and Australian in the area of public religion – New Zealand’s model for public religion – Eureka Street
- Aaron Hendry, writing for Sojourner’s Magazine – This Was Not ‘God’s Plan’ | Sojourners
- Clash of cultures? – Christchurch mosque attack: Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki blames alleged gunman’s actions on clash of cultures – NZ Herald
- Cashmere connections: the long Muslim history of a Christchurch community | The Spinoff
Sport
- On Israel Folau
- On the Crusaders name
- Paul Thomas in The Listener of why the name change should be made – Why changing the Crusaders’ name is a sacrifice worth making – The Listener
- Hamish Bidwell at RNZ – Opinion: Crusaders’ name change excuse not good enough | RNZ News
- Geoff Troughton at Victoria of University of Wellington – Playing in overtime: why the Crusaders rugby team is right to rethink brand after Christchurch attack – The Conversation
- The Detail looks at the history of the Crusades, and why the Canterbury franchise should change its name now – Episode 6: Re-branding the Crusaders – Newsroom.co.nz
Politics
- Destiny Church’s political aspirations
- Meanwhile religion and politics happenings:
Music
- Traditional hymns ‘dying’ as churches move to the new beat of music and bands | Stuff.co.nz
- Tongue-in-cheek article on Christian worship songs – Praise Be: A definitive ranking of the best church bangers | The Spinoff
Other
- A plan to restructure the Catholic Church in Christchurch through the creation of new “super parishes” – Five ‘super parishes’ for Christchurch Catholics | Stuff.co.nz
- A response critical of the plan to restructure the Catholic Church in Christchurch – Our parishes are overflowing, so let’s address the lack of priests | Stuff.co.nz
- Article on the appointment of Steve Maina as Anglican Bishop of Nelson – ‘Kenyan Kiwi’ named bishop-elect for Nelson Anglican Diocese | Stuff.co.nz
- RNZ National news article on Destiny Church’s reaching out to the LGBTQI community – Rainbow church group founder sceptical of Destiny Church invitation | RNZ News
- Audio news article here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018697580
- More on Destiny’s reaching out – Rainbow community leader resigns after supporting Brian Tamaki of Destiny Church – NZ Herald
- Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki apologises to gay community | Stuff.co.nz
- Comments on what other Christian voices in NZ might be heard in the media – Broad church: Diverse Christian voices worth listening to | The Spinoff
