Dr. Alistair Reese, " 'Too Many Prayers at Why-tangie!': The Treaty, Theology & the Public Square"

Keynote Address, Wānanga-Symposium, Waitangi, 18 November 2023
ABSTRACT
Sacred or secular? Since the 19th century the public square in Aotearoa-New Zealand has been a contested space. Multiple proponents claim there is no place in the public realm for the sacred. ‘New Zealand is a secular country!’ However, I propose that if the Treaty of Waitangi is indeed our ‘founding document’, those secularist assumptions can be challenged, because the Treaty itself assumes the sacred. Since the renaissance in public life of the Treaty in the 1970s, the document has been the domain of historians, lawyers, politicians and representatives from te iwi Māori. These interlocutors have significantly influenced our present understanding and application. However, recent usage and scholarship has re-emphasised the idea of the Treaty as covenantal, filling a significant interpretative lacuna and thereby introducing another interlocutor into the mix - the public theologian. This paper is shaped by stories, history and biblical theology. Firstly, via an interweaving of these strands I argue that the Treaty should be viewed as a theological document. Reference to karakia, covenant, biblical neologisms and historical precedence support this perspective. Further, to view the Treaty in its theological and historical context provides a helpful interpretive perspective towards an ethical response. Secondly, despite the increased manifestations of civic religion on Anzac Day and the ubiquitous use of karakia in a variety of fora, it has been long argued that Aotearoa-NZ is a secular country. Thus, religion or religious ideas should have no place in shaping public policy or guiding civic and parliamentary processes. However, I assume the Treaty as foundational to our unwritten constitutional arrangements and national identity. Informed by its theological characteristics I resist the secular exclusion of references to the sacred in the public sphere.
BIO
Alistair lives with his wife Jeannie on a farm in Paengaroa, Bay of Plenty. He has postgraduate degrees in Theology, History and Tikanga Māori. His PhD in theology from the University of Auckland focused on reconciliation and Pākehā identity. Alistair is an adjunct Fellow at the University of Otago and his research and speaking interests include post-colonialism, reconciliation and prophetism. Alistair is involved in local and national efforts to promote reconciliation between Māori and Pākehā and in exploring understandings of what an indigenous form of Christianity might look like.