The Trouble with Gloriavale and a Liberal Progressive Democracy
Minister won’t rule out closing Gloriavale amid ‘horrendous’ abuse claims
A senior government minister has not ruled out closing Gloriavale, saying revelations in theHerald about a child disciplinary technique – likened to suffocation – are “horrendous”.
It comes as the Herald has discovered authorities are currently visiting Gloriavale “multiple” times a week and a new high-powered “multi-ministers” group has been set up to respond to ongoing issues at the West Coast commune.
Briefings from August this year obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act show 10 ministers are part of the group, which was quietly established after the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care issued its final report and recommendations.
Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston has been appointed the group’s lead minister.
The latest attempt to gain some type of accountability from the Gloriavale cult is back in the news and I think it’s time to ask, why we tolerate Gloriavale again?
As a liberal progressive democracy we all have to tolerate religion.
We never want a State to tell you what you can and can’t believe, the powers we would need to give the State to enable that level of coercion over the individual would immediately stop it being any type of State any of us would want to support.
You’d have stormtroopers smashing down temples, do we really want that?
If you want to believe in a magical invisible flying wizard for your day to day decisions, that’s your right, as insanely crazy as I think that is.
As good liberal progressive democrats, we have to tolerate freedom of religion because the alternative, a State that can compel you to believe only its truth, is vastly more damaging and dangerous.
And goodness don’t we tolerate religion here in NZ?
We tolerate that the churches don’t pay tax.
We tolerate Scientology – fucking Scientology!
We tolerate Bishop Brian Tamaki. Ugh.
If you as an adult want to believe this garbage, you are free to, just don’t expect me to have to play along with your fantasies.
What is most difficult however about tolerating these religious lunatics is when they stop educating their children so that they remain brainless worker drones for their magical invisible flying wizard.
The Gloriavale cult purposely stops young women from learning and becoming educated so that they effectively remain in domestic servitude!
What parent could ever hold their head high knowing they have purposely kept their children blind and stupid to the wonders of this world?
And it is this tolerance of freedom of religion that obligates us to fully support all Gloriavale survivors who manage to escape this cult with wrap around services and welfare benefits alongside constant outreach programs to ask if families wish to leave.
We tolerate these cultists because we tolerate religion, but by doing so we write off the children they purposely keep stupid. If anyone manages to escape, we have an obligation to support them because we so willingly turn a blind eye to their abuse in the name of tolerating their fucking religion!
We owe those who escape because we tolerate a system that abused them.
Look, I acknowledge the historic role Christianity had in building academia, the arts and the philosophical creation of the Western sense of the Individual, but we moved past being scared by that which we couldn’t explain and removed the limitations of angry invisible gods who want to punish us for our lack of faith and weekly tithing to the Church.
In the West, we won’t be controlled by the dead ghosts of yesterdays gods any longer, you want to believe in that, knock yourself out, welcome to freedom of choice, but fuck right off if you want to start making rules for the rest of us.
I have no problem enjoying the beauty of religion, the art of religion, the passion of religion, but I also enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I’m not praying to Tony Stark each night for an Iron Man flying battle suit with lasers, guided missiles and a billion dollars.
This isn’t just an anti-Christian position, I have this position against all religions. I tolerate them as well, but hold them at the same intellectual standards I would frightened children trying to explain what lightening and thunder is.
We have to allow Gloriavale to exist and we put up with the fake Bishop because NZ is a liberal progressive democracy and if you chose to live this weird life where your invisible magical flying wizard tells you to work on a farm in some strange rejection of modernity, then that is your right and our intrusion as the State should be the same as anyone else who gets accused of crimes and there is evidence.
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The State whether run by the Left or the Right has let down the children of Gloryvale and Destiny Church.Both have been brain wash and filled with hate and fear.
This country hasn’t been run by the left since the sixties when Labour was on the left and we didn’t have this great big yawning gap between the rich and the poor. Look at the totally wimpy taxes that Labour have put up, we need a financial transactions tax, we need a wealth tax. Has nobody figured it out yet that to have wealthy people you need to have lots of poor people.
Gloriavale should have been shut down a long time ago, how come when the people from the education ministry suddenly decided after years and years of supposedly checking on them as they do with other schools that there was something rotten in the state of Gloriavale. Those people who wrote the reports on that school should have been fired.
Is that Zelda in the accompanying photo, it is!
I like this song about believers. But true hopeful believers can be diddled by those presenting themselves as ‘elders and betters’. Having enough plus a bit is good. Not having too much keeps your brain centred on the important. If the left and Labour could give us some good times in between working for living wages we could be as happy as the southern boys and girls.
Down in the River to Pray from O Brother where are thou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnmYSIzZBc
I am a Man of Constant Sorrow from O Brother Where Art Thou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkuKwEOajzY
I think a good settled life is what people are looking for at Gloriavale but their upwelling of religious togetherness has like some other group living, been brought before the Courts for unsuitable unChristian behaviour. Till recently the paramount leader lived in Australia and at a change of leader the people don’t have much or any say. Gloriavale is run as a religious village and farm to make profit – less religious, more business – and some of the managers don’t control their own wants and desires and may use members to their detriment.
But some music and togetherness and sharing and satisfactory useful work with good pay for reasonable output, with enjoyment after, would create an enjoyable life. Would any of our leaders,who have grabbed the reins of power, be able to settle for a salary limit at the old ratio, was it seniority and advanced to 5 times ordinary pay and the few top people a bit more? The simple life is what we are left with now the financial players have gutted the country’s asset base and rejected ordinary people’s rights to aspirations and lives.