Back in the 1600s in Europe there were many wars. These ended because agreements were signed saying that Kings would not demand their subjects follow their conversion to a particular religious belief. People were free to choose.

Like those kings, let us resist the temptation to go to war. The more religious and cultural values are imposed by law, the more fractured and intolerant New Zealand will become. It is suffering for others, and kindness – things which cannot be created by paper in a government department – that unites us. Unity in New Zealand must be based, as it has for almost two centuries, on treating others the way we would want them to treat us.

Our national anthem is a request to God to protect us from “dissension, envy and hate”. Some would say, God’s love was shown in the suffering and sacrifice of his Son for the sake of bringing hope, and to reconcile enemies. His birth, the very first Christmas, was proclaimed by angels with the words:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”.

Andrew Clow, Te Puna