Is anyone involved in Kiwi politics untainted?

As noted a post or two above there is an unfolding sex scandal involving NZ politicians which is full of salacious interest. One danger with such scandal is that it deflects attention from other stories of importance, arguably of greater importance. One such story involves an MP, John Banks, a politician both in national and local body politics, representing over the years two different parties, who has been dogged by a scandal of his own making, concerning the non-salacious but nevertheless politically interesting possibility that he may not have been as transparent as possible and as legally required concerning the source of donations for a political campaign in 2010. Until this past week police had adjudged that available evidence was insufficient to make a conviction likely to succeed. So no charges brought.

You are probably half-asleep if you have read this far, and wondering what this has to do with theology ...

This past week a keen Wellington businessman, Graham McCready, has successfully brought a private prosecution against Mr Banks to a point where a judge has committed Mr Banks to trial on the matter of filing false papers re the electoral finances. Victory for David against Goliath, for the individual against the system, for obscurity against fame, and for purity against (allegedly) impurity? But ...

A blog I follow, Keeping Stock (written by a fellow Christian) has done a little homework on Mr McCready, as you can read here. It is a salutary reminder of the obvious and well-known theological truth, that we are all sinners, not one of us is untainted. Nevertheless I find myself, as I reflect on these stories, avidly following the (mis)fortunes this week in American politics, keenly interested in the state of the political play in our fair land. Naively I keep wishing that some people in NZ politics were untainted by wrong-doing, obsessed only with serving their fellow-citizens and not personal agendas and wish fulfilments.

But then, are we citizens untainted? It is from our ranks that politicians come and it is we who buy newspapers, turn TV news on and read blogs, none of which are compulsory.