The President of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (NZARH) Elizabeth McKenzie, said today the special legislation being pushed through Parliament to grant special tax exempt status to the Melanesian Mission Trust is a breach of the principle of separation of church and state.

Ms McKenzie said that while NZARH would not oppose charitable work that directly eases poverty in Melanesia, it is inappropriate for the Government of New Zealand to allow tax exemptions for that part of the Trust's work which is purely missionary or purely commercial.

She said the politicians cited in today's New Zealand Herald report of the Trust's activities should understand that Parliament is not a church and elected politicians are not elected to advance the cause of any particular religion's missionary activities.

"Even the poorest people in New Zealand pay tax, yet this multi-million dollar trust doesn't want to pay tax like the rest of us. If religious trusts such as these paid tax and property rates like the rest of us, it would reduce the individual tax burden considerably. Tax privileges based on religion should be a thing of the past."

"If Parliament was passing a Bill advantaging the Scientologists or the Destiny Church in this way there would be uproar. There is no difference when it comes to Parliament funding any religion. We either have a separation of church and state or we don't'."

A new study on tax law and religion in New Zealand and Australia by political sociologist Dr Max Wallace reveals that, in a time when New Zealand is the most secular nation on Earth, religious organizations are still being subsidised indirectly by New Zealand taxpayers.

In his book The Purple Economy due to be released this Sunday, Dr Wallace points out that despite plummeting church attendance, churches still pay no income tax, no capital gains tax and little in the way of property taxes or rates.

Dr Wallace said that "tax exemption for religious organisations is a subsidy from government which makes it effectively a tithe on the entire tax-paying population of New Zealand. The antiquated law that allows religious tax privilege in New Zealand originates from 17th century Britain when both the monarchy and church were tax exempt."

Even in the 21st century, New Zealand law does not oblige churches to spend their money on charitable deeds. The only legal requirement is that churches "advance religion". As a result, the taxpayers of New Zealand are subsidising religious proselytization.

Growing numbers of non-religious people in New Zealand mean that tax privileges for religion are discriminatory. Non-religious people must pay tax, they cannot opt out of subsidising the privilege afforded to religious organisations through tax exemptions."

The Purple Economy book launch commences at 5 pm Sunday December 9th at Rationalist House, 64 Symonds Street, Auckland.

Rationalists and Humanists welcome proposals from the Interfaith forum for the teaching of comparative religion in schools, but also want non-religious world views to be taught.

Elizabeth McKenzie, President of the NZARH said today: "We would fully support any move that promotes tolerance and understanding of different belief systems."

"However, we recommend that any curriculum that was introduced should reflect the true nature of religious belief in New Zealand. Over 1.3 million New Zealanders are non-religious, and they are increasing at a rate if more than 50,000 each year, with the fastest growth occurring in the younger age groups. Therefore we would expect any proposed curriculum to include both religious and non-religious philosophy."

"Furthermore, this may be an excellent opportunity to address the matter of religious instruction in our state primary schools. Because of an antiquated loophole in Sections 78 and 79 of the Education Act 1964, our children are currently being instructed in a very narrow interpretation of Christianity in our state primary schools."

"Over the years, our organisation has received many complaints from frustrated parents that their children have been coerced into Christian proselytizing sessions at their local state primary school without their parents knowledge."

"We believe it would now be appropriate to revise the Education Act by repealing the sections which allow religious instruction in public schools and replacing it with a curriculum that teaches about the diversity of beliefs."

The New Zealand Diversity Discussion Forum on Religion and Schools is on Monday 27 August from 2pm-5.30pm at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland.

A complaint of discrimination has been lodged with the Human Rights Commission over its National Statement on Religious Diversity.

The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists, an organisation that exists to serve the interests of non-religious New Zealanders, claims that the New Zealand Statement on Religious Diversity discriminates against the non-religious.

Andrew Geard from the NZARH explains "The Statement says that religious communities and their members have a right to safety and security. There is no mention of the same right for the non-religious. This is particularly worrying because religious beliefs are often the cause of intolerance and persecution."

"The non-religious have been excluded from being directly involved in the drafting of the Statement. As a result the Statement shows a clear bias in favour of the religious."

The complaint can be viewed at www.nzarh.org.nz.

Budget 2007, announced by the Minister of Finance on 17th May, provides a financial windfall for churches that could see them receive millions of extra dollars of tax payer money.

As part of its coalition agreement with Peter Dunne’s United Future party, the Labour government has pledged to remove the tax rebate cap for charitable donations, which was previously set at $1890. The cap from April next year will now be set at any amount up to a donors net income.

In practical terms this means that donors will pay less tax and more money will be available to charities.

Elizabeth McKenzie, President of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists, a body representing the interests of the 1.3 million non-religious New Zealanders, said "we support any measure that sees more money being passed into the hands of genuine charitable organisations that provide a tangible benefit for society. However we are concerned that an archaic definition in New Zealand’s charity legislation means that the promotion of religion alone is regarded as a charitable activity."

"We do not believe there is any evidence to suggest that the promotion of religion alone provides a benefit to modern society. We strongly oppose removal of the charities cap while promotion of religion continues to be regarded as a charitable activity."

The Charles Southwell Award for 2006 has been awarded to the controversial artist Andy Leleisi'uao for his brave work questioning some sacred cows in Samoan society, such as the dominant - and sometimes stultifying - role of the church.

The Charles Southwell Award is given by the NZ Association of Rationalists & Humanists to recognise outstanding work in defence of a tolerant, pluralist and secular society. Past recipients include Dame Cheryll Sotheran on behalf of Te Papa Tongarewa; investigative journalists Brian Rudman and Michael Laws; abortion campaigner Dr Zoe During and champion of voluntary euthanasia Dr Philip Nitschke.

The Rationalists and Humanists hope that Mr Leleisi'uao's bold and thought-provoking art will encourage Pacific people to question the role the church plays in their lives.

The award will be presented to Mr Leleisi'uao at a dinner on June 25 at Rationalist House, 64 Symonds Street, Auckland.

When is it justified to do something knowing it will offend adherents of a major world religion? Can such a thing ever be justified? This question raised its head recently over the publication, originally in Denmark, of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
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