Author: Ian Harris

The series comprises 5 interviews with ‘Progressive’ Christians, each consisting of 3 approx 10 min sessions.

Val outlines some of the steps of her personal faith journey, but started with doubts arising from a literal interpretation of the Biblical text.  She noted we only move forward by exploring and questioning and it is helpful to be able to do this in an environment that is accepting and non-judgemental.  She speculated that in general, clergy are reluctant to share progressive ideas as lay people are not capable of ‘doing’ theology.  In her view it is vital that we each do our own theologising.

The faith journey often starts with the heart (I love Jesus), then for Val moved to the head to de-construct and turnover, consider over time (compost) fresh ideas and concepts and test and challenge these.  Once comfortable with the new understandings, we can re-construct our faith journey which is reflected in how we live ie more heart. (Story of the road-rage driver!) Using our gifts is more important than what we believe.  God is within us and everywhere, so for Val to be fully human is to pray.  All images of God are metaphor and picked up from our environment.  As an example, feminist theology delivered a mortal blow to the patriarchal view of God in the 20^th century.

Everyone (liberal and conservative) is very selective about what is regarded as truth in the Bible. Val urges us to develop our continuing stories of acts in our time and contexts.

The concluding episode covers the development of what is known as ‘the Protestant work ethic’ and its sidekick ‘profit’. Before the Reformation the ideal was to withdraw from the world eg in Monasteries as poverty and godliness went hand-in-hand, work was demeaning, any profits were distributed to the church for the betterment of all.

Calvin’s interpretation was ‘salvation through faith’, but how might one know if one were saved ie one of the Chosen? The answer became that God’s favour was evidenced if the person prospered.  So now work had an intrinsic value and wealth was the best evidence of God’s favour.  So business success with Christian morality/responsibility/spirituality became intertwined.

Faber introduced the importance of the careful use of time as to be saved one had to account that one’s time had been used properly; therefore idleness was not fulfilling this requirement.  Hence ‘busy-ness => business’.  In 17^th and 18^th centuries UK became powerhouse for commerce and industry eg Lloyds, Barclays, Wedgewood, Cadbury.  Puritan Winthrop established very successful Boston which demonstrated God’s favour.  Benjamin Franklin spread the Puritan values with his pithy proverbs eg ‘God helps those that help themselves’.  For Wedgewood the efficient use of time established the concept of the modern factory eg fixed hours, training and use of specialists, worker housing, Unions.

The blight of slavery which benefited the Anglican Church in St Thomas was defended as saving the slaves from idleness!  By over working slaves (to death) the church became very wealthy – it became consumed by an overwhelming profit motive.  The Quakers and Methodists as non-conformists succeed in banning it in 1833 after a 40 year (first) human rights campaign.  This highlighted the ‘slaves’ in the UK – child labour which Saddler’s campaign eventually ended.  Children and women were especially degraded by the profit motive which had regained some balance by turn of 19/20^th century.

In US liberty and prosperity were the twin objectives as typified by Ford production line.  The godly commonwealth was replaced by individual prosperity and the pursuit of profit and pleasure.  Capitalism devoid of Christian ethics has lead to environmental destruction and the rise of the countering (17^th century non-Conformist) challenge of on-site, non-violent protest eg Greenpeace.

So now we have on one hand work, money, profit and on the other protest, highlighting the high cost of capitalism; individualism – v – ethics & conscience.

What started as God everywhere => search for business success => secular world => now God seems nowhere!  The recent observations by Pope Francis on western capitalism seem to pointing to this loss of an ethical keel to keep us upright in the rising storm of ever increasing consumerism and consumption.

The common thread with the previous episodes is the un-anticipated consequences of the freedoms enabled by the concept of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ – the Church no longer had absolute say over people’s lives.  Explored in 3 aspects.

Art: Prior to Reformation there was a large quantity of religious ‘art’ even in parish churches.  The Reformation movement in England lead by Cranmer declared all art forms – stained glass, tapestry, paintings, icons as idolatry and must be destroyed along with the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  The Bible was the only route to salvation – the triumph of word over image.  As art was no long welcomed in churches, this encouraged the development in new directions especially paintings – firstly portraits and then everyday common life.  The establishment of art museums is another consequence.

Literature: As the Bible replaced images and icons, so reading became centrally important to determine whether one was on the path to salvation.  Hence the rise of the diary to confirm one’s life was on the right track and hence the autobiography – as typified by John Bunyan’s ‘Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners’ and then an allegory of true life ‘Pilgrims Progress’ which become the forerunner of the novel, as in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and the eventually into the religious satire of Dickens.

Science: The Protestant ethos of self questioning, challenging of authority had a huge impact on the progress of science and technology.  Protestantism encouraged a direct approach to God on matters of salvation and so supported a direct investigation of the natural world ie not via the Bible or though religion.  In this sense they were not in conflict and the first industrialists (James Watt and Matthew Bolton) and the first members of The Royal Society (Isaac Newton) were pious, God-fearing people. Non-conformists (rejected the authority of C of E), explored and then commercially exploited the natural laws especially physics, formed the Lunar Society with Watt and Bolton as members.  Darwin’s father was also a member.  Newton’s mathematical description of the movement of the planets, sun, moon, tides etc and Darwin’s theory of evolution, challenged the authority of the Bible and hence God’s role in the physical world, leading to increased secularism.  In the 20^th century and especially in USA, this lead to a backlash by Christian Conservatives, such that it was claimed that nearly 50% of Americans believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old!  On the other hand with rapidly increasing knowledge of the genome, should there be limits on what scientists are allowed to do?  Is it anything goes?  As the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams noted “The Reformation is cultural not just a religious one.” Surely an understatement.

The common thread with part viewed last week is the un-anticipated consequences of the freedoms enabled by the concept of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ – the Church no longer had absolute say over people’s lives.  This episode focused on the personal relationships, that marriage was a goodly (Godly) state; that family life could demonstrate a loving, caring supportive, even worshipful companionship.  An example of living a life of Christian values.  This lead to a gradual recognition of the equality of the sexes.  Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer provided the first formal structure for a marriage ceremony (very informal beforehand with little/no church involvement); recognised that marriage was for fun as well as support for each other and children that was regarded very positively by God.  This was in contrast to the RC elevation of celibacy.

In the home the wife was the heart of domestic spirituality – especially with longer and defined working hours for the (male) earner.  This was elevated a step further by Queen Victoria.  In the late 19^th/early 20^th centuries wealthy women became urban missionaries as they sought to bring order/assistance to less fortunate families; this brought a recognition of the very difficult social circumstances which lead women to recognise that they needed political power to effect significant social change.  20^th century has seen women gaining more freedoms (the pill) and equality in business and politics.  There has been an increasing recognition of need for equality for different races (US Civil Rights Movement headed by Martin Luther King Junior, end of Sth African apartheid) and sexual orientation (gay marriage); the rise from mid 20^th century of conservative Christian right in the US to counter these trends – culminating in election of GW Bush.

This traces the impact on the church with the formation of Protestantism and (via Henry VIII) on politics and the formation of the UK Labour Party and more latterly, the divisive politics of the USA. The most critical concept identified by Luther was the ‘priesthood of all believers’, ie that we are free to determine our own beliefs by studying the bible and other writings.  This had a consequence not only within the church hierarchy itself but also with secular society in that it encouraged  challenge to all hierarchies and authorities.  This resulted in the formation of Protestant church from the Roman Catholic as lead by the authority figure of the Pope, the beheading of Charles the First (for religious not political reasons) and may yet undermine US right wing political conservatives.

Luther and his supporters exploited the use for the new technology of the printing press to communicate their view about how one might save one’s soul (through faith alone).

Luther’s 95 precepts were not in themselves, particularly radical but came at a critical time so they acted as a trigger.  Dissatisfaction with the church was high, sale of indulgencies made many uneasy with the promise of ‘salvation’ unaffordable, the Bible was not available to the common person and was only read ‘unintelligibly to most’ in Latin, Greek or Hebrew which preserved the power structure of the church and priests to interpret. Luther’s revelation of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ and his consequence translation of the Bible into everyday German not only broke the priests grip on power but unleashed a pent-up grab for power by Princelings anxious to replace the church’s influence.  This was not what Luther expected or wanted; he was looking to ‘reform’ the (Catholic) church not replace it nor to turn society upside down in the process.  [There is a modern parallel in the publication of A.T. Robinson’s Honest To God in 1963, and Prof L Geering’s  subsequent articles in NZ, which also acted as a trigger with wide and unexpected consequences.]  Change and the need for reformation is on-going.

The chapter author, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, suggests that we are creating the future now in the values and attitudes of today’s children/tomorrow’s citizens.  Evidence and facts (in this case about inequality) are interpreted by those in power as they ‘can determine what is truth and what is nonsense’ and therefore what can be ignored.  We all believe what we want to.  This can only change with compelling stories, vision, courage and persistence.  Ultimately should we harness people’s ‘outage’ to effect change?  What form might effective ‘outrage’ take?

We noted that there are different kinds of poverty – not just money but also time, skills, influence, ability to make choices, education, literacy.  Addressing only one aspect will not address the others!  The author suggests that a common perception is ‘It is the fault of poor people that they are poor’, but when poverty exists across most elements of modern living, the odds are heavily stacked against them.  Often the circumstances are not of their own making, many kinds of poverty have been inherent aspects of their whole lives to date.

The author argues that education is a key factor in addressing poverty.  The group noted that this is only the case if there are jobs available which match the range of skills that the society can offer from semi-skilled upwards and that all jobs provide a level of net remuneration which allow a sufficient standard of living to participate in society ie a living wage.  The NZ economy has removed many low paid/skilled jobs as businesses close; in some cases such jobs have been replaced with higher skilled roles – effectively locking out the lower skilled.  Many roles eg looking after the young and the old and prisoners are not greatly valued by society, so are low paid and additionally have not been well served by the ‘business for profit’ motive. The great proportion of those employed in the tourist industry eg hospitality, are not skilled or well paid, but the Government is placing great emphasis on increasing tourism.  It was suggested therefore that tourism is not a route which will lead a great number out of poverty.

It is our impression that most Government agencies regard beneficiaries as trying to rip-off the system; there is a basic lack of trust which results in unnecessary hardship and high levels of bureaucracy re-applying for benefits and challenging decisions.  (Note these also put the ‘poor’ at a disadvantage.) Surveys suggest fraud is quite low; it would be more fiscally significant if more rigour was applied to simplifying tax law, closing loop holes and chasing down tax evaders.

This chapter gives a very sobering picture of inequality in terms of total income and net wealth and their trends over the last 60 or so years.  Basically half the NZ earning population earns less than $24,000 pa including any social welfare support and tax credits.  The top 10% earn more than $72,000 and the top 1% more than $172,000.  In terms of wealth, NZs 2.9M adults own $470Bn, with the top 1% owning 16%, the top 10% owning 50% of net wealth and the lower 50% owning 5% of the wealth or an average of just $6,000 each.  The country-wide average wealth per adult is just $70,000.  What’s more, those on the lowest incomes have seen very little increase in dollar terms since 1984.. This is not the case for the top 10%.  (So much for the trickle down theory!)  We effectively have a regressive tax system when GST is taken into account.  The chapter has many similar illustrations of the wide inequality gap – many from ‘official’ government sources.

We were surprised and concerned by the inequalities portrayed in the figures.  The ability to support an individual let alone family members on such low income levels and enjoy a reasonable standard of living is impossible.  One consequence is having to take multiple jobs (if available) to make the ends sort-of meet; this has a high negative impact on family life and social cohesion. Bill English is quoted as being comfortable with the level of income inequality and doubts governments could combat it as they ‘don’t have the levers’.  We strongly disagree and feel that our government should be making urgent steps to address inequality before society disintegration forces unplanned changes upon us.

Chapter 13 ‘The Rewards of Work’ notes that we have historically chosen the ‘low wage’ economic model and this has contributed to our fall in relative rankings in the OECD to 21^st (out of 34).  Our productivity is also poor.  As the saying goes, we can’t expect different outcomes if we keep doing the same things – and things need to change.

We started by watching a 10 mins video of the Q&A session which followed the ‘Forums for the Future between Rich and Poor’ seminar at Soundings Theatre.  (See this page entry for 16 Sept 2013.)  Points addressed: globalism and international connectedness have gone ‘too far’ for NZ to go alone by adopting strong socialist policies, general support by speakers  for universal child support and for access to other services, need to raise involvement of fathers in estranged relationships with their children, more bi-cultural emphasis – as this is the essence of ‘being a kiwi’.

Chapter 1 of the book ‘Inequality’ provides a general summary of the critical situation NZ is in.  This engendered considerable discussion including the following points: we need to value ‘service’ jobs more so that they are paid what the job is actually worth (to society as a whole); prices for services eg electricity have increased along with company profitability but this has not been reflected in wages; the trickle-down benefit touted in the 80s has proved to be a lie; when lower paid people earn more they tend to spend more – assisting local economic activity for others; the racial divide evident in the statistics is a major concern as a source of divisiveness in NZ society; those on minimal income are caught in a poverty trap not of their own making.

We could not accept that nothing can be done and while others eg Treasury, Reserve Bank, Unions, and large/international businesses all have a role to play, the Government can still exert considerably influence and pressure should it choose the do so.  In Australia, the Union movement is much stronger than in NZ which by keeping wages higher, has taken the country on a different path than our low labour cost alternative.

This is a hard hitting doco which starts with the searching question “What’s an economy for?”  We would do well to ponder this and challenge politicians for their view and actions they would take to bring it to reality.   The film is full of disturbing factoids – poor families unable to survive as their income, including Social Welfare payments, is barely sufficient to exist.  In NZ the gap between the top 10% and the bottom 10% is growing faster than in any other country.  Bryan laid the cause of this trend over the last nearly 30 years at the door of Neo-liberalism as promoted by Reagan and Thatcher. Their 3 fundamental economic planks of asset sales, privatisation and the tickle down theory (of wealth) have failed in not providing the general population with greater wealth or opportunities.  The result has been that the wealthy have grown even more wealthy.  Why are CEOs paid 100s of times more than the shop floor workers on who the business depends?  Of the detected fraud in NZ, it is estimated $23M arises from welfare payments with 800 prosecutions (60% sent to jail) and $1 – 5Bn in tax evasion with only 20% jailed.  Why not more focus on evasion – or at least, eliminating the legal loopholes? Is the purpose of our life to make money?

The programme prompted considerable discussion: we are actually more heavily dependent on each other (to design, manufacture and provide the technology that underlies everyday living) yet we are experiencing greater social/society dis-integration; every aspect of life and living is being monetarised; less direct Government involvement in favour of markets which favour those who can pay.  Could the ‘Living Wage’ campaign be part of the solution?

The forum provided an opportunity for 3 speakers to address their concerns for, and the impacts of widening inequality in NZ.  The speakers were preceded by Max Rashbrooke who previewed the book he is editing with others entitled “Inequality”, which has subsequently been released in mid 2013.  Inequality in NZ increased rapidly between mid 80s and mid 90s.  The average household in the top 10% now has nine times the income of one in the bottom 10%.  The top 1% of adults own 16% of NZ’s wealth; the bottom 50% together own ~5%. The seminar speakers were from Wellington’s Downtown Community Ministry, Otago University and an economist.  All noted that a high level of inequality will not result in a healthy vibrant, cohesive society and therefore needs to change.

A good discussion followed with challenges to expenditure on infrastructure versus health and education, tax rates on very high incomes, Government support for industries and specific companies, those in power who are out of touch with those with $40 per week available for food, clothing, etc, graduates who can’t get work in NZ.  An attitude change is required – for the vast majority of the poor it’s not their fault – the system has to change to provide better pay and more opportunities.