New Zealand Listener Issue 46, 2022

I don’t dispute the integrity of the 2018 census data, which revealed that the number of New Zealanders with no religion had for the first time outnumbered Christians. But I do question Listener columnist Bob Brockie’s conclusion that religion in New Zealand is “on the path towards extinction”. It’s important to consider that the census asks people about their “religious affiliation” – not the practice of their faith or the significance their belief system holds in their lives. In the past, a person might have ticked “Presbyterian” because, when they were a child, their parents took them to Christmas services at the church Nana went to. Perhaps previous generations identified as Hindu, so they did, too; or maybe they ticked “Sunni” for 40 years, but no longer feel the need to hang onto the…

WINNING CAPTION Kate Gore, Tauranga FINALISTS Caption: Hit Prince practises King hit. – Steve Horne, Raglan Prince William: I thought the title of Harry’s book was Spar, not Spare.” – Derek Tovey, Glen Eden William: “I’ll go spare if that book is mentioned!” – Ann Love, Nelson William: “But I won’t need these. Dad said that the gloves are off with Harry.” – Peter McDonald, Whāngarei Caption: William reacts defensively to approach of Meghan lookalike. – Marie Curran, Dunedin William: “Put up your dukes, Harry. Ha ha.” – Ann Love, Nelson Caption Competition {listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 486” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can be posted to “Caption Competition No 486”, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352. Entries must be received by noon, Tuesday, November…

I can only admire Hamish McRae’s optimism for our future (“10 billion reasons to be cheerful”, October 29). Although I appreciate his honesty regarding climate change and mismanaged technological troubleshooting, it seems he does not factor in irreversible tipping points when predicting our perpetual growth towards the year 2050. We may indeed make progress to reduce our environmental impact. However, once tipping points are crossed, they cause cascading effects. For instance, new findings suggest parts of the Arctic Ocean are warming up to seven times faster than expected, and it may lose its sea ice entirely by 2035. When this happens, the ramifications are mind-boggling. With no ice to reflect sunlight, oceans will absorb much more heat from the sun. As a result, ocean currents will slow down, the jet stream in the…

“Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?”– James Thurber“That’s not a term in office. That’s a juice cleanse.”– Stephen Colbert jokes about Liz Truss’ 45 days in office“Getting Botox not for ageing reasons but to stop my face from being able to react to things before my brain gets a chance to weigh in.”– Seen on Twitter“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.”– R Buckminster Fuller“I am not young enough to know everything.”– Oscar Wilde“Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.”– Truman Capote“Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.”– Margaret Atwood“I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone.”– Lord Byron“The…

1. Which astrological star sign traditionally covers February 19 to March 20? ❑ Pisces❑ Aquarius❑ Capricorn❑ Aries 2. Which of the following is not a prime number? ❑ 19❑ 37❑ 59❑ 87 3. Cynophilist means a lover of: ❑ Dogs❑ Cynics❑ The colour blue❑ Royalty 4. During WWII, the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, da da da dah, were played at the beginning of BBC broadcasts because they were the Morse code for V, understood to stand for victory. True or false? ❑ True❑ False 5. What in the Nato phonetic alphabet is the letter between Xray and Zulu? ❑ Yellow❑ Yankee❑ Yes❑ Yippee 6. Who is not one of the sisters in the band Haim, coming to Laneways in 2023? ❑ Este❑ Danielle❑ Alana❑ Riva 7. Which film does this quote come from: “All those moments will be lost in…

In his seminal novel A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute’s portrayal of Australia as a honeyed continent of opportunity helped fuel the post-war influx of “ten-pound Poms” taking up the federal government’s offer of assisted migration. A trickle came to Alice Springs, described in the novel as a “bonza place” in the shadows of central Australia’s rust-red West MacDonnell Ranges, 1700 miles (2750km) by road from Sydney. Other early intruders were left anxious. The Yiddish poet Melekh Ravitsh, who arrived in Alice Springs in 1933 while exploring a futile plan to populate the Outback with 100,000 East European Jews, wrote of his “uncontrollable joy and fear”. “One feels,” he wrote, “that one is in the middle of the hot, wild heart of the most remote of all continents – Australia.” Ravitsh’s edgy description…