Three Common Grace workshops captivated the attention of some 40 Christians from Anglican, Baptist and Catholic parishes. Hosted by the Diocesan Commission for Justice, Peace, Development and Ecology, and held at the Catholic Diocesan Centre in August and September, these workshops challenged participants to think deeply about three social justice issues on which social harmony, public peace and social justice depend in Aotearoa New Zealand. These issues are: keeping the promises the Crown made to tangata whenua in the Treaty of Waitangi; responding to the fact of a changing climate as Christians who truly care, and thirdly, understanding the cost of living crisis as a “social construct” because poverty is built into the system.
These are serious topics indeed and participants engaged passionately with them, eager to understand the causes of injustice and even more eager to correct them. An all-star cast of scholars, theologians and Christian activists enabled participants to see the human face behind what must be called “structural sin”.
Setting the scene was Dr. Bonnie Robinson, policy analyst for the Salvation Army. She pointed out that Jesus was the first policy analyst: “when Jesus told stories, his parables, … were actually analysing the systems and structures of the day. People were excluded, discriminated against. His parables peeled the onion of his own society.” And that’s exactly what participants learned how to do: peel back the historical layers of a social and political crisis.
In looking critically at the history of the Treaty of Waitangi on 19 August, participants were amazed to learn the extent of the Christian legacy of the Treaty, and therefore, why the Crown’s many breaches of its promises in the Treaty are an important issue for the Church. The word “covenant” was used time and again to speak of the sacred relationship between the Crown and tangata whenua. Speakers of the quality of Hon Christopher Finlayson, former Minister to Treaty Negotiations, enlightened us about the Crown-Maori reconciliation journey since the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal.
On 26 August, a range of superb speakers spoke about climate change as both a challenge and a unique opportunity. Just to mention two speakers, Professor Katherine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University emphasised that climate change is not just an environmental issue but an issue “of hunger, and poverty, housing and health, and perhaps, most of all justice and equity”. In the seminal encyclical, Laudato Si: On the Care of our Common Home (2015), Pope Francis defined the concept of “integral ecology” in precisely these terms. Environmental justice is integrally connected to social justice, because everything is connected. Whatever we do to damage the earth and oceans, we do to ourselves. Whatever we do to serve the earth and oceans, we do for ourselves and the next generation.
Since Aotearoa New Zealand is geographically a Pacific nation, we have an acute responsibility to small island nation states who are bearing the brunt of a crisis they did nothing to create, because their carbon footprint is minuscule in comparison with ours. Rev. James Bhagwan, Methodist Minister in Fiji and General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, implored all Christians to join the crusade to phase out fossil fuels and make a just transition to clean energy. In this way, taking collective action for climate justice for our Pacific Island sisters and brothers is a huge opportunity to enhance New Zealand’s economic and social resilience, with many co-benefits. Adaptation policies can lower long-term economic costs, protect infrastructure, and improve food and water security. But adaptation measures can’t be sustainable if emissions keep rising, so mitigation must receive at least equal attention.
Finally, on 9 September, we looked critically at the cost of living crisis in order to discern how to take creative action for justice and fairness. Speakers included Archbishop Paul Martin who defined the common good in Catholic Social Teaching as respecting the rights and responsibilities of all people. Therefore Christians must work at all levels of civil society and government to create the conditions that allow every person to have what they need to thrive, not just survive. Housing challenges were the first issue we examined. If safe, affordable housing is essential for family wellbeing, the fact that safe, affordable housing is out of reach for many New Zealanders poses a real challenge for Christians in a position to do something about it. If we are indeed our brother’s keeper as the Gospel commands us to be, we must rectify what is essentially a human-made crisis with greed at the centre in many instances. The fact that home ownership is unaffordable for many New Zealanders, likewise a lack of social housing or accessible housing for people with disabilities, not to mention long-term homelessness for some, presents a challenge for Christians to be on the cutting edge of advocacy for safe, affordable housing for all.
Likewise, there is the need for a living wage. There are many Catholics engaged in the living wage movement in this country. What a gift this is! What a witness this is to the Gospel command to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, in short to provide for the basic material needs of all people to live a humane life. The fact that wages have not increased with the cost of living explains why more and more people in this country have fallen into poverty. Indeed, we have the phenomenon of the working poor, of families where parents are working two or three jobs to make ends meet, especially where meeting the needs of children is concerned.
The Thriving in this Land Workshop series underscored the huge role that Christians are called to play in public life at this moment in our country’s history. The fact that these thought-provoking workshops have been offered in an election year is not accidental. Christians are called to understand the moral values that underpin various policy platforms and vote public servants into office who honour the covenantal relationship of the Treaty of Waitangi, understand that we are all in this together when it comes to coping with the negative impact of a changing climate, and come to realise that poverty is a social construct. Just like policy options can be put into effect that lessen the gap between rich and poor and make sure that all New Zealanders have what they need to thrive, policy options can remain in place that favour the interests of the wealthy and powerful. We do have important moral choices to make.
My sincere gratitude to our wonderful facilitation team of Helen Simmons, John Waldon and Nick Wilson who worked with me to bring these powerful workshops to such a motivated, energised group of people.
Mary Eastham is a member of Diocesan Justice, Peace, Development and Ecology Commission.