The other day I had an opportunity to hear from one of the leaders of our political parties contesting the imminent general election in our country (7 November 2026). For the purposes of this post it doesn't matter which leader or which political party.
The talk I heard reminded me of days of yore - the 1970s, before social media - when to get the real oil from politicians you needed to go to a town hall or community hall in person to hear them speak in person. No sound bites reproduced in a tweet or Facebook post - a good solid 30 minutes plus of high class oratory. In my memory both Bill Rowling and Rob Muldoon were excellent orators. (For overseas readers, these two were respectively leaders of the two main, and opposing parties of those days, Labour and National.)
What struck me, listening to a well delivered speech with interesting content, was how persuasive it all seemed. By the end of the speech I had just about convinced myself I could cast my vote accordingly ... which definitely reminded me of the 1970s when I would hear a great speech or read a book by a leading politician and it would all seem very convincing. Except that in the voting booth I needed to choose one convincing party programme over another! What to do, then and now?
In the end, on further reflection after the recent, persuasively delivered speech, I am not convinced that some policy proposals (and consequential promises of a better life for us Kiwis) stack up. Change proposed to make for less expensive household bills - maybe, maybe not - there are arguments for and against that are in the provenance of experts, not merely politicians harvesting votes. Spending money (which may be borrowed money) to save money, ditto. Looking back on my teenage less than well formed critical thinking, I didn't then have the capacity to assess content compared to rhetoric about what was being offered. If I have that capacity now it is enhanced by a much better grasp of the general principles of economics than I had in those days. (Disclaimer: I know more than I knew then, and I think better than I thought then, but that doesn't mean I have nothing more to learn or no further progress needing to be made on my thinking capabilities.)
Capacity to critically think about things is a refreshed issue for this election, not only because of the variety of policy proposals and promises of good times ahead "if you vote for us, because we will ..." but because this election is the first election in the era when AI is now itself a promise delivered and a harbinger ahead of ... good times? Bad times? World control? Mass unemployment?
Wherever we may go in this AI era, and whatever policies are on offer re AI (including our commitment to develop or restrain establishment of data centres), it would be good to have a policy on educational development of critical thinking!
The Anglican connection to these musings is that both our General Synod and our Diocesan Synod have recentl commissioned working groups to do some work on what AI means for and within the life of the church.
This post is all my own work :).
11 comments:
Critical thinking today: Israel leveraging Christian Zionism amongst Pacific Island nations to extend its presence and influence in our part of the world...
I am not a robot
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/2054343/serious-questions-to-answer-labour-slams-luxon-over-israel-s-pacific-islands-forum-move
Hi Mark
I cannot speak for our PM's disinterest in opposing this move but it is my (Anglican-influenced) understanding that in the Pacific Islands there is a lot of support for Israel. Whether that support is due to "Christian Zionism" or a theological understanding about Israel indigenous to the Pacific, I do not know.
I think it's Christian Zionism, Peter...and we know what Palestinian Christian theologians cautioned us, in regard to that...
Israel's relationship with Pacific is 'biblical, ageless, real', Fijian deputy PM says https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/2084983/israel-s-relationship-with-pacific-is-biblical-ageless-real-fijian-deputy-pm-says
I do not see that what the Dep PM says necessarily evidences "Christian Zionism" at work. People can read the Bible and come to conclusions without an "ism" influencing them. While open myself to the possibility that there is a proven link between CZ and what he has said, I also want to be open to learning what the "moana" worldview/theology is capable of arriving at under its own steam.
I think anyone reading the Bible can appreciate the place of Israel in the purposes of God, without being Christian Zionists. It is understandable that Jewish people would want a homeland and they have been saying ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ after every Passover meal for 2000 years.
Wanting Jews to have a homeland doesn’t necessarily mean that a person endorses everything that Israel is doing at present, nor does it mean that Palestinians shouldn’t have a homeland there as well.
Labels like Christian Zionism don’t really help to bring the sort of discussion and understanding that is desperately needed in the current appalling situation.
Fiji act to intervene in International Court of Justice genocide case against Israel
https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/03/4-countries-file-to-intervene-in-icj-genocide-case-against-israel/
"Fiji's human rights watchdog has warned that the country's pro-Israel foreign policy and diplomatic engagement works against its international obligations and could be enabling "genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity" in Gaza."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/590583/fiji-s-human-rights-watchdog-raises-concerns-over-new-israeli-embassy-plans
"While Israel has long cultivated Christian Zionist
networks globally, in the Pacific, where external actors
rarely engage religious constituencies in diplomatic
outreach, such efforts appear to find particularly
strong resonance."
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/0063f35f-45a0-468a-9ffd-9104a72d2e09/content
Well I might take an association with Israel over an association with Russia aka Donald Trump!!
A good move I think +Peter re investigating AI and pro’s and con’s of use within the church. It is out of my league frankly to get my head around it, however, it does appear as with all things with potential for harm and help that a strategic approach is best.
It does concern me that its development is largely driven by companies whose main mantra appears to be profit - at all costs; and I do suspect the recent trend to make companies accountable under national laws is a sensible one. It was interesting to read lately that now that most main chain shops are overseas owned the level of service has plummeted as there is no ‘buy in’ to the local community (e.g. profit alone is the driver, acknowledging while profit always drives business ventures many businesses/farms etc have at least historically due to their ownership maintained a degree of investment in their communities and the welfare of their clients).
Thanks Jean, Hello Mark
On Christian Zionism in the South Pacific, I appreciate some signs in those articles that it is indeed influential, though it is hard to assess from relatively brief remarks how influential it has been - by which I mean that I would still wonder what specific developments in Christian thought in the South Pacific may have been re Israel/"Israel" that have paved the way for that CZ influence ... I am not an expert on "moana" theology but I know enough to know that South Pacific Christian thinking has its own (bad pun coming up) currents, ebbs and flows.
Yay, There *is* a diversity of Pacific Christian voices...
'Test of regionalism': Pacific church group calls for review of Israel's PIF role https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/2098703/test-of-regionalism-pacific-church-group-calls-for-review-of-israel-s-pif-role
Post a Comment