Representing New Zealand Religious Diversity? The Removal of the Words "True Religion" and "Jesus Christ" from the Parliamentary Prayer

Bibliographic Data

ID5707155
AuthorsTheis Oxholm (0000-0003-0681-4673, (BA, Aarhus University, Denmark) is an MA student in Religious Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark), Catherine Rivera (0000-0001-9657-5789, (BA (Hons) and MA (with distinction), Massey University, New Zealand) is a PhD Candidate at Massey University), Kearly Schirrman ((BA, The University of Melbourne, Australia) is an MA student in National Security Policy at Australian National University), William Hoverd ((BA (Hons), BCA, MA, and PhD, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) is Senior Lecturer at the School of People Environment and Planning, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Wellington Campus, Massey University, New Zealand), William James Hoverd (0000-0001-5184-2599, Victoria University of Wellington, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume64
Issue1
Pages87-109
Publication date2022-02-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Church and State (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-969X • E-ISSN: 2040-4867
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jcs/csab004
OpenAlexW3133974401
LanguageEN
Citations received4

On November 11, 2017, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives the Rt. Hon. Trevor Mallard chose to open the House with an amended version of the traditional Parliamentary Prayer. This new version omitted the traditional references to “Jesus Christ our Lord,” “true religion,” and “the honour of the Queen.” Moreover, it was also spoken in the indigenous language, Te Reo (Māori).1 For some religious groups, this omission stirred strong opinions. For example, the group “Jesus for NZ” (hereafter JFNZ) was created in response to this event.2 There have also been several public petitions, some for reinstating the words “Jesus Christ,” but others for completely removing all religious elements from the House.3 Subsequently, the Speaker has been letting other Ministers of Parliament (MPs) read the prayer, which has allowed for increasing variation in the wording.4 Christian protests at the New Zealand Parliament grounds are not new, but this was the first protest about the prayer.5 JFNZ organized two protests about the prayer, the first in January 2018 and a second larger protest on October 30, 2018.6 The protests called for the Speaker of the House to reinstate the omitted words. The wording removal and subsequent protests brought into the public limelight unanswered questions about the extent to which the nation’s Parliament adequately represents Christianity, religious diversity and/or secularity. We empirically examine the various dimensions of the tensions inherent in the removal to better understand the dynamics between religious diversity, politics, and the state in New Zealand. Our data are drawn from a three-part qualitative methodology: (1) ethnographic attendance at the JFNZ protest on October 30 at Parliament grounds, (2) an interview with Minister of Parliament, the Honourable Alfred Ngaro, who spoke in support of the protest, and (3) fourteen anonymized interviews with community leaders of New Zealand’s religious and humanist groups (including JFNZ).

Art · Diversity (politics) · Faith · Jesus christ · Prayer · Religious diversity · Sociology · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Anthropology · Philosophy · Religious studies

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