Easter is a marker pointing to ultimate meaning in a cultural and spiritual landscape increasingly devoid of any signposts to hope. Last week our MPs made that marker even harder to see. They voted to open the way for unfettered commerce to further subsume the social significance of Easter Sunday. In their minds the god of shopping must take precedence over the God who defeated death for all of us.

What is most disappointing is that all the Christian MPs in the National Party voted along party lines. Not one of them found the courage to cross the floor and vote against the proposal. Perhaps they convinced themselves that by voting to allow Councils to make the decision on Easter trading they were not actually supporting it. That is hair-splitting. We all know where this is heading.

Perhaps they lectured themselves about pluralism and the need to respect the will of those who don’t share their beliefs. Nonsense again. You can respect others views without abdicating your own. The very logic of pluralism is that all have the right to express their view of what is the common good. If Christians won’t vote to protect the significance of Easter – who will?

This is not about tourism, workers rights or even family time. It is about meaning. Easter Sunday is one of the three and a half days remaining in our national calendar when the all-consuming buzz of business and commerce is stilled. One of those days when the transcendent very briefly touches our national consciousness. Such days are a precious breath of fresh air in a society drowning in shallowness and gasping for meaning.

What will we say to our young people increasingly alienated in a kardashian culture and wondering what life is ultimately about. We thought tourism and shopping were really, really important ?

This was a vote about ultimate meaning in our society. It was not a time to go with the flow. It was time to fight. Michael Jones and David Tua knew that. Sadly our MPs did not.

Ewen McQueen
August 2016