KEY POINTS:
The Leprosy Mission in New Zealand does itself no favours by cavilling at Prime Minister Helen Clark's use of the word "leper" to describe Fiji's pretender Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.
As a Christian organisation of impeccable credentials and long standing - it was founded in England 133 years
ago - the mission should be above such thin-skinned and petty-minded political correctness.
In any case, the mission's criticism of Helen Clark is plainly wrong: the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines "leper" not only as a sufferer of that dread disease but also as "a person who is shunned by others".
Thus Ms Clark's use of the word to describe how the Fijian dictator would be treated were he to attend the South Pacific Forum was perfectly in order.
And for the executive director of the leprosy mission, David Hill, to suggest that her use of the word was "insensitive" and could promote "stigma" and "discrimination" is preposterous.
He said: "People affected by leprosy should be treated the same as everyone else - they are no different." Well, I have news for Mr Hill: lepers are different; they suffer from leprosy. Which, apart from the treatment which today is invariably and quickly successful, makes them no different from people who suffer from any other contagious disease.
Mr Hill needs to know that most Kiwis will consider his reaction to Ms Clark's use of "leper" far more "shockingly inappropriate" than he accuses her of being, and that it is he who should promise never to raise such an objection again.
He needs to be reminded of the words of the mission's founder, Wellesley Bailey, who called it "a mission born and cradled in prayer. It has been brought up on prayer; it has been nourished on prayer; and prayer has been the foundation of its success since the first moments of its life".
If that is the case, what need to worry about words? The mission depends on charitable donations, mainly from Christians and Christian organisations, to continue its humanitarian work throughout the world. Mr Hill needs to get down on his knees lest those donations be directed elsewhere.
Another this week to run off at the mouth without engaging his brain is Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, who called Australian Prime Minister John Howard "a racist bastard" for intervening to stop child abuse, drunkenness and drug-taking in Aboriginal communities.
Mind you, Mr Harawira's remarks were a lot less surprising than Mr Hill's, for it has long seemed to me that the Harawiras of this world probably consider white bread, white flour and white sugar to be racist.
And if you remember the old adage that "it takes one to know one", then you will be in no doubt that Mr Harawira - and a bunch of other ignorant, arrogant bigots who call themselves "Maori activists" - are generally more racist than all of us Pakeha put together.
I presume they consider that the thousands of white men and women who devote their lives to the welfare of the poor, the starving, the sick and the oppressed throughout the Pacific, Asia and Africa are "racist bastards" too.
I had the misfortune to have to listen to one of Mr Harawira's offsiders deliver one of the most poisonous racist diatribes I have heard at the recording of the 100th episode of that entertaining and absorbing programme Eye to Eye, which airs on TV One on Saturday mornings, moderated (if that is the word) by the ebullient Willie Jackson.
The question was, "Can Maori be racist?", and the woman concerned proved the answer was "yes" beyond any shadow of a doubt.
It's all our (Pakeha) fault, you see. We, with our economic and social power, are the oppressors of Maori and are all conspiring to keep Maori disempowered.
No mention, of course, of Maori encouraging Maori to get off their backsides, get educated, work hard, live right and acquire some economic grunt of their own.
Apart from that, the celebration of the 100th episode of Eye to Eye was one of the most intriguing events I have had the privilege of attending. The spread of people - most of whom have participated in the programme at some stage - was fascinating.
All were having a great time, including Destiny Church's Bishop Brian Tamaki and transsexual former MP Georgina Beyer; Labour Party president Mike Williams, National Party leader John Key, Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and Act leader Rodney Hide; Health Minister Annette King and Labour's greatest loss John Tamihere; Green MP Metiria Turei, National's Judith Collins, Lockwood Smith and Georgina Te Heuheu.
Which summed up for me the greatest attraction of Eye to Eye - Jackson and his producers are never afraid to mix it with all shades of opinion.
And that's the sort of dialogue that, eventually, might take the ism out of racism.
* garth.george@hotmail.com
