Duncan Steel • Dec 31, 2018 •
New Year is coming in a few hours (as I write), at least on the calendar used as the global standard. Not everyone counts years in quite the same way, though. It takes most of us a week or two to get used to the number of the year having changed. In the days when we still wrote … Read More
Duncan Steel • Dec 19, 2018 •
The date of Christmas is a matter many find confusing, and yet the adopted anniversary is easy to understand if you follow through the history, astronomy and human biology that are involved. Why is the Nativity commemorated on December 25th, when it is clear Jesus was not actually born on that date? And how can a year be termed “Before … Read More
Jean Balchin • Feb 28, 2018 •
A recent Newshub Reid Research poll has revealed that the vast majority of New Zealanders support euthanasia. Written by Act New Zealand MP David Seymour, the End of Life Choices Bill has 71% of the country’s support, with 19.5% against it and 9.5% unsure. Under said Bill, a person wishing to end their own life must meet all … Read More
Guest Author • Feb 13, 2018 •
Morten Wendelbo, Texas A&M University and Timothy Callaghan, Texas A&M University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. After a year in which President Donald Trump devoted much of his health policy attention to the repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, Trump used part of his … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 09, 2018 •
It was 2010 and my father had passed away earlier that year. My usual logic blinded by grief, I did what any standard mourner would do and booked an appointment to see a medium. Walking into her home-cum-spiritual lair, I immediately noticed the tacky abundance of quartz crystals (when will people understand that tectosilicates do not have magical powers, … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 22, 2017 •
Brittany Cardwell and Jamin Halberstadt Sick of tinsel, carols and talk of virgin birth? In New Zealand, Australia and many other countries, it’s hard to escape Christmas in December. But even if you don’t believe in Christ or a God, religion can still be a powerful force. Research shows that even nonreligious people may hold unconscious beliefs linked … Read More
Ken Perrott • Feb 16, 2017 •
Mental illness is far more widespread than we often wish to admit. In fact, it is probably worth considering it a normal part of life – like the occasional cold or other ailments we all get. But occasionally mental illness can be more debilitating – even embarrassing. Does any family not have a member who sometimes embarrasses them by behaving inappropriately? … Read More
Ken Perrott • Nov 22, 2016 •
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki’s statement blaming the Kaikoura earthquake on “gays, sinners, and murderers” highlights the stupidity of our charity laws which define the advancement of religion a charitable activity and give tax exempt status to religions purely because they advance religion. Public revulsion at Tamaki’s statement resulted in an on-line petition calling for the removal of Tamaki’s tax exempt status. Currently, that … Read More
Brendan Moyle • Apr 06, 2016 •
The NZ Herald reported on the Egypt’s plan to send Imam’s to fight radicalization in NZ. I will offer no opinion on this issue, given I have no knowledge of the extent of Islamic radicalisation in NZ. Nonetheless, one claim did catch my attention: Muslims, now about 1 per cent of the population, are New Zealand’s fastest-growing religious group. Read More
Peter Griffin • Jan 20, 2016 •
This is the first of a series of posts looking at Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which I visited on a Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City cycle trip in September 2015. “Sabai, sabai,” said my Thai cycling guide on more occasions than I could count, as he accompanied me and a dozen other bikers on our way through Thailand, Cambodia … Read More