Increasing Violence ‘a Communist Plot’ (Press, 20 August 1986)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: Increasing Violence ‘a Communist Plot’ (Press, 20 August 1986)
On 20 August 1986, Mr Neville Rush, the director of the Integrity Centre, presented a controversial perspective to the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into Violence, asserting that the increasing violence in society was part of a Communist conspiracy. In his submission, he claimed that much of the current criminal violence was deliberate and aimed at destabilising Western democracies with strong family values and religious beliefs. To support his argument, Mr Rush quoted passages from the Communist Manifesto, highlighting that Communists aimed to replace home education with social education as a means to further their revolutionary goals. Rush identified a coalition of feminists, secular humanists, Communists, and socialists as being behind this intentional scheme, which he alleged was designed to bring about a one-world government. He referenced a historical programme of legislation from a humanist organisation promoting easier access to abortion and divorce, alongside calls for no censorship and the legalisation of homosexuality. In his written submission, he expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the inquiry, suggesting that previous public opposition to such legislation—specifically, a petition with 835,000 signatories against the legalisation of sodomy—had been ignored. Responding to questions from the committee, Mr Rush characterised the New Zealand government as deeply socialist, equating its objectives with those of Communist regimes in China and Russia. He proposed that the resolution to the issue of violence lay in reinstating traditional Christian values. To encourage this, he had created pamphlets targeting young people that promoted virtues such as honesty, loyalty, and chastity. Overall, Rush's submission reflected a belief that the solutions to societal violence could be found in a return to conservative, Christian principles.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand