Latest Articles
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Liz Gunn versus the Fabians
Since the recent launch of Liz Gunn’s new political party, NZ Loyal, I’ve been loyally watching all of her new party political videos, where she’s been laying out her ideas for how she will run the country when she comes to power. They’re extensive and disruptive, and although I’m not an expert I’d wager that they’re totally unworkable. In one of her recent videos,…
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Back to the Battlefield
Assisted Dying – An NZ Perspective The battlefield for the right to die with dignity is still bloody and will be bloodied again. In 2019, the End of Life Choice Act (the Act) was approved by Parliament and then endorsed a year later at a public referendumby 65% of voters. So isn’t that enough? Maybe not unless your particular medical condition is Cancer. Not…
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The Vatican, its Actions and its Apologies
Transcribed by Max Wallace More than 150,000 indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend government-funded Christian schools from the 19thC untilthe 1970s where they were forced to assimilate. Many were sexually abused, and many died. In July 2022 Pope Francis visited Canada to apologise. In a debate concerning the Catholic Church in 2009 Christopher Hitchens outlined the history of the Vatican’s actions and…
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Book Review: The Little Book of Humanism
Edited by Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts London: Piatkus, 2020 The Little Book of Humanism is a small volume of easy summaries and accessible quotations designed as a genial introduction to humanism. It’s been published under the names of Andrew Copson, the Caesar of English humanism, and Alice Roberts, Professor of Public Engagement in Science at Birmingham University and patron of Humanists UK. Dr…
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Using AI algorithms for fun
A little over a year ago I played around with some deep learning software – back then the latest and greatest was OpenAI’s GPT-3, although I also used the older GPT-2 and EleutherAI’s GPT-J-6G. These are all Natural Language Processing algorithms using a Generative Pretrained Transformer – and they work by reading text to learn from, breaking the text down into “tokens” made of…
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The Story of Rationalist House
Without question, the move from Rationalist House will mark the end of an era. For more than sixty years the Association has been based in this grand Edwardian property on Symonds Street. Prior to that, for more than thirty years, the Rationalist Association was based in offices in downtown Auckland. In its early years it used the office in the Ferry Building of G…
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The Closed Society
I want to show you that the Crown is not merely an abstract symbol of our unity but a personal and living bond between you and me. – HM Queen Elizabeth II, Christmas Message, New Zealand 1953 The Queen Is Dead, September 2022. The only thing I have in common with Elizabeth II is a fondness for cute and useless dogs. Yet she and…
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A New Zealand Christian Republic?
There has long been speculation that with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and her replacement by King Charles lll, New Zealand may give more consideration to becoming a republic. Before considering this question there is a point that needs to be made: all regimes, be they Communist, Socialist, Social Democratic, Liberal Democratic, Authoritarian, Theocratic, Military Dictatorship or Fascist, all have a narrative that…
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Lying for Jesus: Franklin Graham Edition
On Wednesday evening I attended the Wellington leg of Franklin Graham’s God Loves You tour at the TSB Arena. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because Franklin is the son of Billy Graham, who was quite possibly the most famous Christian evangelical preacher of the 20th century. Billy Graham was well known for his large revival rallies (known as Crusades), with claims of…
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Ngaire McCarthy: An Appreciation
When Ngaire McCarthy became president of the NZARH in 1998 she was only the third women to hold the post. Mabel Wilson served for a year in 1960-61 and Blanche Winn served two years between 1981 and 1983. But in one other respect Ngaire broke entirely new ground because she was the first Māori to serve as president. It was an important symbolic step…
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Sir Ivor Richardson Did Not see it Coming
In the New Zealand Law Journal of April 7, 1959, Ivor Richardson, later Dean of the Law Faculty, Victoria University, President of the Court of Appeal and Privy Council member, Chancellor of Victoria University, knighted in 1986, said at p.91: The celebration of religious festivals such as Christmas and Easter as public holidays, the commissioning of chaplains in the armed forces at the general…
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Opinion, faith and belief
by Chris Gee It is imperative that we encourage the separation and definitional understanding of Opinion vs Belief vs Faith in the public narrative. Too often these three concepts are conflated together or used interchangeably, leading our to public narrative (where political capital is manufactured and harvested) becoming vulnerable to manipulation through political, public relations, ideological and marketing sophistry. This is a very bad…
