Over the last week or so, the New Zealand Herald and the Independent assessed the status of the Christian Right over the course of the Civil Union Bill debate. Sometimes, I've despaired over Trotter's idiosyncratic views about contemporary left politics, but his Independent article got things right this time. Unlike Michael Laws and the NZH political staff, Trotter didn't conjure up a phantom "family values" constituency from the one-off result of the July 2002 General Election. Trotter described United Future NZ as a fundamentalist political party, and noted that it has been scaring off mainstream voters ever since they realised that UFNZ was a stealth fundamentalist party in bad liberal drag. Peter Dunne is dismissed as a weak 'leader' who has capitulated to UFNZ's social conservatism, while Don Brash and Rodney Hide are credited for the liberals that they are. By contrast, Colin James wasn't as satisfactory. He thought that the Civil Union Bill might damage Labour due to perceptions about something called "political correctness." Dare I say it? "Political correctness" is an excuse for expression of unsubstantiated populist prejudices and social conservative ignorance about whatever the scapegoat is this week. Their cartoon lefties carry on like clothcapped thirties Stalinist fundamentalists, evangelical seventies Trotskyites, or dour dungareed lesbian separatists from the same period. Except that these stereotypes are about thirty years out of date. Lesbians participated in the mainstreaming of feminism and branched out to become involved in broader community welfare organisations during the eighties and nineties. Colin James needs a factual grounding for this foray into unsubstantiated impressionism. New Zealanders use the Net, have presumably read the Civil Union and Relationship (Statutory Reference) Bills and no-one really seems to mind all that much. Moreover, the Maxim Institute and United Future appear to be obsessed with marriage insofar as the general public is concerned. While populist racism has currency, populist homophobia does not, which may be why the New Zealand Herald has had to tone its one-sided op-eds down over the last few weeks. Apart from the usual suspect fundamentalist sects, who else really believes Maxim and UFNZ's propaganda about the "threat to marriage?" The general public doesn't seem to feel that way, as Maxim feels compelled to assert that "New Zealanders 'must' wake up to marriage." Oh, must we? Finally, evangelical Christian journo Dave Crampton's blog queries my assertion that the Maxim Institute is trying to assert centralised control over antigay groups opposed to relationship equality. Well, as I've noted in my reply to Dave, it would make good strategic sense if that were the case. And as for SPCS, why shouldn't it be viewed as Maxim's Wellington area liaison? If it acted in that capacity, the Institute would be saved establishment costs and avoid any possible repetition of the Strategic Leadership Network collapse back in 1997. I don't think it's that much of an inferential jump. And he seems not to have commented on my point about Destiny Church and its independence from the Institute's organisational role. As for Paul Adams, he has a habit of looking like a hardcore fundamentalist zealot, which doesn't help Dunne's assertions that his party is centrist, secular and liberal. Let's face it, he wouldn't even be in Parliament if Kelly Chal's citizenship had been in order. To UFNZ, he is what Graeme Lee was to National in the eighties and nineties, and Whetu Tirakatene-Sullivan and Peter Tapsell were to Labour at the same time. Embarrassing hacks. However, at least Dave tries to engage with the issues, which is more than can be said for Colin James' assertions in place of analysis. Recommended: http://www.big-news.blogspot.com Evangelical Christian Dave Crampton's blogsite and news commentary. Not what you'd expect... Colin James: "How Two Killers Could Put An End to Labour's Rule:" New Zealand Herald: 13.07.04. Chris Trotter: "Minor Placings" Independent (07.07.04): 10-11. Christian Right websites: http://www.enough.org.nz "Enough is Enough" Destiny Church rally, 23 August 2004 @ Parliament. http://www.maxim.org.nz Maxim Institute http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz United Future New Zealand Craig Young - 16th July 2004