The Destiny Church leader revealed his disciplinary habits at Parliament yesterday, after about 1000 Christians rallied against Green MP Sue Bradford's anti-smacking bill.
Organised by three conservative churches, the demonstration contrasted starkly with a modest vigil hosted up the street by mainstream Christians. Yesterday's event was a far cry from Destiny's 2004 protest against civil unions and prostitution, when 7500 black-shirted church members marched through the city.
This time, the assembled masses were dressed in casual clothes, and theatrics were kept to a minimum.
The stage-managed event passed with only one real disturbance.
After Mr Tamaki invited good parents to Parliament to spank "errant" MPs, Labour's Parekura Horomia joined him by the podium for a handshake and a hongi, only to usurp the microphone and declare his support for the bill.
"I am not a Kahui," shouted one angry woman in response. "You leave my democratic rights alone."
Protesters were largely unaware of a last-minute amendment to the bill affirming police's discretion not to prosecute for "inconsequential" assaults.
Bishop Tamaki said he still opposed the bill but the amendment was "a glorious victory for every good, caring Kiwi parent".
But the Rev Mike Weitenberg, of Metro Global Church, said the amendment was a "sugar-coated pill" that would deliver a "deathly blow" to families.
Mr Tamaki and City Impact's Pastor Peter Mortlock also spoke out against the liberal, secular policies they said were destroying family values.
Speaking after the rally, Mr Tamaki, a father of three, said he used smacking "as a last resort to follow through when there was any type of defiance from my children".
Only a few people turned out to oppose the church demonstration.
Ken Findlay planted himself in the middle of the crowd hoisting a placard that read: "Peace in our families. Repeal s59".
"They're actually quite a small minority and I think they've been misinformed," Mr Findlay said to opprobrium from those around him.
A short distance up the street, Christians supportive of the bill gathered at Wellington's Anglican Cathedral for a prayer vigil that was also attended by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Ms Bradford.
The bill has the backing of the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches and the qualified support of the Catholic Church. Candles were lit as the church bells tolled 11 times - once for each child who dies in family-related violence in New Zealand every year.
From the altar, children's author Joy Cowley read from A Letter to Parents, which she wrote especially for the service.
Church leaders then presented an ecumenical letter to Ms Bradford.
3 comments:
Look I am sick of not being able to trust politicians and today I terminated my membership subscription to the National Party .
How about we start a conservative party ?It would be simple because we got the the good fellow upstairs, morals and brains ?
Any Democracy is an affront; an enormity & abomination contributing nothing but travails to society.The sort of degeneracy seen in the party politics of the present age is a direct consequence of the enfranchisement of women & innumerable other liberal erosions of the natural order of things.
I know from my own experience as a successful schoolmaster that boys will learn nothing without the reinforcement of thrashing as an aid to memory. Girls have no place in schools: their natural function is entirely domestic. They need only play pianoforte, do fine needlework & perhaps, if their voice be found suitable, learn a few songs for entertainments at the hearth. They may be tutored at home in their few necessary accomplishments by a suitably qualified governness.
As for the poor, their lot should be of no concern to governments: charity & alleviation of hardships must become the exclusive domain of the work house; debtor's prisons & the criminal justice system. Their diets should be no more wasteful of food resources than what is barely sufficient for their daily needs; discipline should be maintained in these charitable institutions by flogging not only those guilty of misdemeanours, but also those surly individuals who fail to exhibit due gratitude for the considerable kindnesses shewn to them.
Good on you Dad4Justice.
I really looked up to John Key, I thought he was just what our Nation needed.
And then we see the beginnings of a totalitarian, authoritarian state in the form of a Labour/National coalition.
It's annoying.
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