A better New Zealand electoral system?

My suggestions to fix some “issues” with our current proportional system.

1. Remove list MPs, with the sole exception of the party leader. The party vote over and above the number of mp’s actually elected would be given to the leader of the party.  So if National gets enough votes for 50 MPs, and 45 are elected, including the leader, then the National Leader has his own vote plus 5 “party” votes in parliament.

2. Remove the 5% threshold. If a party gets enough votes for one MP, the party leader gets in.

Who to vote for in 2008?

Act? An OK choice, but the worldview that sees corporations as moral entities is a bit silly.

Greens? Sue Bradford? Environmental achievements such as the anti-smacking bill and civil unions? No.

Family? An unashamedly Christian party. Mangere vs the 5% threshold. The heart choice.

Kiwi? Support Gordon Copeland? The schismatic slayer of the “single christian party”? No.

Labour? Can you be born again and still vote for Helen Clark and her crew? Yes, but Nooooo!!!

Maori? A legislated race based party? No.

National? Better by far than Labour, but still secular. A good choice as the safe vote against Labour.

New Zealand First? A better voting record, shame about the Peters circus. You could do worse.

Progressive? Too close to Labour. No.

United Future? The Treasurer, Mr Dunn, who voted with Labour against the nation and his own party’s policy to pass the Anti-smacking bill. No.

National or the Family party? Hmmmm.

Value your vote

You can see how the various parties voted on various issues.

Family Party Conference

Speeches by Richard Lewis

We’re a rugby mad nation. So I want to use rugby to illustrate my next point.

Whenever things get untidy and out of control, it’s best to come back to the game plan and do the basics right.
At the General Election in exactly six weeks from today, we have a chance to do exactly that. We’ll get a breather for a moment but then we’ll have to put a team back out onto the field.

And here’s where it gets exciting folks. You are the head coach and you get to pick the team. But just remember, you will be stuck with that team for the next three years. And there’s no rotation policy.

So lets look at some options.

The Greens don’t play rugby so they’re out.

We can’t put Labour back on the field because they’re primarily responsible for the mess we’re in, in the first place. They need a season on the bench to have a good hard look at their attitude.

Barring major injuries, National will more than likely take the field. But on their own they won’t have the numbers for a full compliment. That is the political reality.

We’re still uncertain about what game plan National has in mind, and whether it is really any different to Labours besides having different coloured jerseys. So we need an insurance policy.

Winston is out because National won’t throw him the ball. And even if they did, he’d likely tuck it up his jersey and deny he received it in the first place.

Rodney will likely take the field and that’s good because every team needs a right-winger: just not a whole team of them.

Peter Dunne will likely be there because he’ll basically do whatever it takes just to be there.

The Maori Party is also an option. The problem for National however is the risk that the Maori Party will decide part way through that they want to play League instead. National won’t play League.

and Paul Adams

So don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that the Christian vote has no meaning or that Christians cannot affect change in this country or that Christians should keep Christianity out of politics. It’s a lot of rubbish. Don’t you believe them for one second.

Anglicans sorry for upholding God’s word

Sob.  The Church of England apologizes to Darwin. Thank God for Dr Sarfati. Enjoy his viewpoint from the perspective of someone who takes the word of God seriously.

Albert Mohler also has some good words on the apology.

Britney I’m sorry

What a great song by Bebo Norman. I remember when Britney really lost it with Justin Timberlake. Her external beauty mirrors the real beauty that God sees in her. It is a real horror that she is so broken, but Bebo puts it so well. Wouldn’t it be great if Britney came back?

Britney im sorry for the lies we told
we took you into our arms and then left you cold
britney im sorry for this cruel cruel world
we sell the beauty but destroy the girl
britney im sorry for your broken heart
we stood aside and watched you fall apart
im sorry we told you fame would fill you up
and money moves the man so drink the cup

i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
you never see it coming back
i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
but i can see it coming back for you
yes coming back for you

britney im sorry for the stones we throw
we tear you down just so we can watch the show
britney im sorry for the words we say
we point the finger as you fall from grace

i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
you never see it coming back
and i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
but i can see it coming back for you

yeah, its coming back for you, yeah, its coming back for you, yeah, its coming back for you, yeah

britney i do believe that love has come
here for the broken
here for the ones like us

i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
you never see it coming back
and i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
but i can see it coming back

i know love goes around the world we know
and you never see it coming back
you never see it coming back
i can see it coming back for you

its coming back for you… yeah

Linux equivalents to Windows apps

A useful wiki page from Groklaw.

St John’s Pastor at GAFCON

Good to see Wally Behan at Jerusalem.

Global Anglican Future

A final statement from the recent conference. Hmmm. Where do sub-39 article Christians fit with this? I’ll bold the most controversial bits for me.

The Jerusalem Declaration

In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:

We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.

1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.
6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.
12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.
13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.
14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.

Alltrue on the way

Our new site for community based topical bible study is coming along. The idea is to collect what God’s word has to say on topics of interest, and present these scriptures from most to least relevant, as voted on by the Alltrue community.

Check out the site here: www.alltrue.net.nz