Bruce Bisset says he abhors the phrase attached to"Donald Trump "leader of the free world". Photo / File
Bruce Bisset says he abhors the phrase attached to"Donald Trump "leader of the free world". Photo / File
COMMENT: There's a hint of synchronicity in the fact, as revealed by the latest Census, half of all New Zealanders do not consider themselves religious at a time when the leaders of most of the major powers seem as far removed from spirituality as a cow from the moon.
Take theso-called "leader of the free world" – a phrase I abhor as much for its condescension as its hypocrisy – Donald Trump.
His inherent disconnect from anything remotely spiritual in nature makes you wonder what lighter shade of death he would be without the constant sunbed tanning.
Or Boris the Brexit buffoon Johnson, who seems more like an Orwellian pig from Animal Farm practicing at being human and failing miserably, than a British Prime Minister.
Or our own would-be-leader, Simon Bridges, who exudes an oily void whenever he attempts to address – usually ending in pitiless misunderstanding – anything to do with social or humanitarian concerns.
Is it any wonder, then, that with men like these in charge of world affairs, the average person finds it difficult to believe in something less tangible but more inspiring, such as the concept of God?
It's made worse by the seemingly-endless trail of sycophants who praise these "leaders" for the positions of power and prestige they've achieved, not for the type of men they are. Or worst, for that too, as if to lack all human grace is a conceit we should aspire to.
Meanwhile the church itself – by which I mean, the dominant Christian churches – has not exactly overflowed with the milk of human kindness.
Given the claims of paedophilia and other childhood horrors which regularly emerge from its cloisters, that we are no longer a Christian nation, with barely more than a third of citizens identifying belief in that faith, should not surprise.
And many who remain church-goers have – perhaps naturally under fire – retreated into a more fundamentalist view, setting themselves increasingly apart from the general secular do-as-you-will trending mindset of the majority.
That's not to say those checking the "no religion" box possess neither faith nor a sense of the divine. Just as every person is unique, so there are as many religions in the world as there are people, for no two of us see or believe things in exactly the same way.
Even a rational agnostic like myself allows there are more things in the heavens than we can dream of, and thus that anything – even a full-creationist God – is possible. More to the point, anyone who feels genuine empathy for their fellows or the planet in general recognises a spiritual element in that that cannot be wantonly cast aside.
We should no longer expect, or even respect, piety in our leaders, but equally should not hesitate to call out those with so little faith in their own humanity they are willing to stand inert as the world burns.
That the "righteous" of dirt-town America are raising Trump to messianic status – and others elsewhere doing the same with figures like Putin and Xi – only underlines the paucity of humanitarian and spiritual awareness in this sorry little world today.
These creatures that naive populism has thrown up to herd the world into the charnel dark of the sixth mass extinction event should certainly not be taken on faith.
But faith – in the race, in the planet, and in the survival of both – is what is needed to ensure the last candle guttering in the abyss is not snuffed out, but fed with the spirit of hope.
