Wednesday, September 19, 2007

It does the soul good, you know

Update: It's a slow motion train-wreck

First, an important announcement. September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. I've done my bit, though the eyepatch had to come off at about 2pm as strange Moire hallucinations were starting to happen to my covered eye.

Now, on to the story of the day. From NewsTalk ZB radio network news:

Seams of new Christian party unraveling?

The deal to form a new Christian political party is in disarray.

Just yesterday, Destiny Church deregistered as a political party and said it was forming a new party with other Christian groups. They announced former Destiny New Zealand leader Richard Lewis would be a co-leader.

Independent MP Gordon Copeland then announced he was the other co-leader and said Mr Lewis' appointment was news to him.

Mr Copeland says he is today in damage control mode, as it all looks "Mickey Mouse and shambolic", which is not the way it was planned. He met with Mr Lewis for two hours at Parliament today and claims the Destiny Church representative apologised for landing him in it. However, Mr Lewis says he did not apologise.

[...]

[NewsTalk ZB political editor] Barry Soper suggested to Mr Copeland that it does not auger well for future relations and the MP replied "You can say that again".
But the comment that brings tears of delight to my eyes is from the end of the New Zealand Herald's piece on the same story. It's important to know that Peter Dunne is not by any stretch of the imagination a liberal by NZ standards:


UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne, whose party Mr Copeland quit earlier, said the whole thing was "amusing to watch".

"But frankly anything that involves [Destiny Church leader Brian] Tamaki and the black shirts is doomed to fail."
Self-styled Bishop Brian Tamaki is probably the closest thing we have to a US-style televangelist, and in the words of Douglas Adams, I would trust him about as far as I could comfortably spit a rat. I'm not alone, either; at the last general election Destiny New Zealand polled a whopping 0.6% of the vote. Let's hope that sanity persists.

Update: It's a slow motion train-wreck

Oh, I'll let TV3 National News provide the tune. First, they can add to the joy above.

Yesterday
Copeland may pull out of new Christian political party

[...]
Destiny Church yesterday went off the prepared hymn sheet and prematurely named Lewis as a co-leader - it took Copeland by surprise, he was forced to come clean.
[...]
Yesterday Destiny's Brian Tamaki suggested all the major churches were on board, but when 3 News rang around today we found no senior clergymen or representatives have signed up at all.
Today

Co-leader pulls out of new Christian party

Another major upset has hit the formation of a new unified Christian political party with one of the co-leaders pulling out.

Independent MP Gordon Copeland says he cannot work with Richard Lewis from the former Destiny New Zealand party.

His announcement this morning comes just two days after a farcical series of press conferences where it was announced they are to co-lead a new pan-Christian political party.

Mr Copeland says he still plans to set up a new Christian party and Mr Lewis is welcome to join him, but not as co-leader.

He describes them as being not on the 'same page politically'.

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