At the edge of Howick’s shops, a hulking shroud of scaffolding and gleaming plastic recently stood so long ensconced in daily life that its intrusion, as an object and metaphor, came to barely elicit attention.
Erected that remedial building work might be carried out beneath, only the odd tearing storm gust allowed passers-by to peek inside and guess at the building’s final manifestation.
One day, the scaffold was gone: the product of months of unseen labour finally stood revealed. Slowly, deliberately, our Christian heritage, which largely provided our society’s moral structure, is being covered over. Today, self-serving political co-option, heretical ideology, dissembling statute, historical revision, scientific corruption, cultural sentimentality, technological dependency and ecumenism are building the framework upon which our worldly pretentions can be stretched to obscure reality.
Relentless digital manipulation blocks open public scrutiny of this underhanded, unnecessary societal transformation.
What will result if the good news of the coming Kingdom of God is completely supplanted?
What shall become of us when those diverting and misusing the power of our government, judiciary, corporations, foundations, academy and media for their own ends, define virtue?
This scaffold will soon come down; will we be shocked by what emerges?
Rees Sutcliffe
East Tamaki Heights
