It’s cheesy for a reverend to apologise about admiring Christ.

The type of change that can actually be made in a members bill advanced by a member of the opposition

I wonder how many ministers or ex-ministers have been MPs over the years? I can think of half a dozen at least.

We have quite a few in the current Parliament!

Good choice of hero, but for all the wrong reasons. Could Clark point to the verses where Jesus “took on the authorities” to “ensure fairer outcomes for those who were struggling”? I seem to recall Jesus using his own initiative to help those people, rather than getting the Romans or the Sanhedrin to do it.

Jesus’ socialism was an individual, voluntary socialism – he used his own resources, and those freely given to him, not resources coerced or taken from taxes or taxpayers. He was not a political activist, he was concerned with changing people’s hearts. The Left wing view of Jesus as some sort of political crusader for “social justice” is completely erroneous.

Which is in a round about way, the point I was making yesterday when I was asked to give up drugs.
Kama’s a bitch.

The first demonstrates the lamentable outcome of instituting a professional political caste of mediocre full-time politicians. Members of Parliament are legislators – they should serve their constituencies by deliberating and debating on laws and to the extent they have time on their hands they should lead normal lives like the rest of us. There is no good reason for MPs to take on ‘case-work’ by using their office to engage in special pleading and advocacy on behalf of constituent clients.

The third portrays a profound ignorance of the Christian religion by somehow re-imagining its founder as some ancient version of Barack Obama – that the “Biblical Jesus” came to establish a welfare state rather than show us how to get to Heaven. Then, from memory, Mr Clark is a Presbyterian – hardly the most intellectually rigorous denomination.

Knox must be turning in his grave.

David also has some ‘luck’ being seen as a new MP with potential amongst a severely shrunk and short of fresh talent caucus.

I also agree on Kevin Hague (being a good MP, not everything he promotes).

And good on David for being up front about who his outside politics hero is. It’s hard to argue against the general perception of what Christ stands for. A few more MPs would benefit from following some of those principles a bit more, whether they are religious or not.

If David learns well he should be placed higher than his last position of 59 on the Labour list.

The trick for him is to learn to be himself and not what he is modeled to be.