Law to make PNG Christian is waste of time

THE Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Laws, Acts and Subordinate legislations is inviting submissions from the public on the constitutional amendment to declare PNG a Christian country.
The deadline for submissions is tomorrow.
A public hearing on the same will be convened at Parliament on May 2 from 10am to 4pm.
The law has already passed first reading and it is a requirement of all constitutional laws that they go through this process separated by two months before it is passed in the third sitting.
This process follows a nationwide consultation on the same that was undertaken by the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission before the amendment was drafted.
We reiterate an earlier position that NO law is required to make PNG a Christian nation.
Christianity is not a legal thing. It is a moral code. It comes from deep within and tends outwards. It cannot be forced from the outside in. You either believe or you do not. No law can compel you.
No law will make an unwilling Christian a willing Christian. No law will turn a devout Muslim or Hindu into a Christian by virtue of the fact he lives in a Christian country.
The Constitution, we say again, in its present form gives the matter sufficient and authoritative coverage.
The very first line of the Constitution says: “We, the people of Papua New Guinea, united in one nation . . . pledge ourselves to guard and pass onto those who come after us our noble traditions and the Christian principles that are ours now.”
The third sentence of this document evokes the Christian deity to guide and witness the declaration of Independence: “We, the people, do now establish this sovereign nation and declare ourselves, under the guiding hand of God, to be the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.”
How much more explicit does the Government want to get?
This proposed law is really a waste of time.
You cannot legislate God into the lives of people. Either they want the God entity or they do not. It is a personal choice.
Every waking moment, we exhibit the foulest forms of unchristian vices too gruesome to repeat. Who are we trying to kid– ourselves or outsiders? Both parties will not be fooled.
Crime is high. Gender-based violence, including sexual offences against children, and sorcery-related violence are endemic. Killings happens on a daily basis in all parts of the country.
Are those the marks of a Christian nation? Will changing the law compel Christianity to flourish?
They will not, so again we say, this is a wasted exercise.
Instead, the time and resources should be used on questions like do we want to keep the King as head of State?
Now, here is where some real gutsy decisions need making.
King Charles III, and his mother Queen Elizabeth II before him, signed into existence every law, commission or agreement in this country through their representatives, the governors-general in this country. Yet, they carry no real power of their own to veto or even make a proclamation. A huge, fully staffed and funded office exists for this function.
The head of State role also represents the last vestiges of European colonial influence over PNG, an abhorrent stigma most Papua New Guineans wanted to get rid of at Independence.
With just 17 months to go before the 50th anniversary of Independence, does the Government want to fix the government system or ensure we are Christians by law? The former seems the more urgent option to take.
The national, provincial and local level governments in operation in the country are overly politicised and are burning money like crazy without any tangible benefits going to the people. Despite repeated reforms of the second-tier government, goods and services delivery remain crippled.
Despite the fact that this country has multi-billion-Kina mines, oil and gas projects, fisheries and forestry and yes, even agriculture industries, the country experiences cash flow issues and critical shortages of essential services.
Do not these things warrant urgent attention in law and in policies and programmes?
Those, we put to Sir Peter Ipatas’ Parliamentary Committee, warrant its attention, not trying to make an unchristian country (by habit) Christian by force of law.