Backbencher

The magazine North & South is a lot like a magazine you would find in the United States. It has a number of different articles that would attract sports fans, people interested in the geography and terrain of New Zealand, and also people just looking to read some interesting material. The April 2007 issue had a number of interesting articles, one of which focused on religion in New Zealand. The article is titled, Religion: Who Needs It? It was written by Caroline Courtney. The article starts off by talking about Bishop Brian Tamaki and his ministry. The Bishop talks about the country of New Zealand and how it is a Christian country, and people who live there, and also people who move there need to understand that. The Bishop basically explains to New Zealanders that they are in a battle because many people will oppose following Jesus Christ, but he says that they do not hate people who are against what they believe in. The article had a number of interesting statistics about the country of New Zealand. On statistic states that around 1.8 million New Zealanders either said they had no religion, or didn’t respond to the question at all. It also said that 51.2 percent of New Zealanders still call themselves Christians, but that is down from 60.8 percent in the 2001 census. Another article discussed good places to eat around the country of New Zealand. The article listed QQ Rice in Auckland, Copita in Wellington, The Waipara Springs Winery in Waipara, and Rain Espresso in Invercargill were all listed as good places to eat. This magazine has something for everybody. From rock climbing and wood chipping, to New Zealand politics, there is something for everyone. The religion article was very interesting to me. I found out that a large number of New Zealanders are Christians, but there is also a lot of diversity in what people believe.