Do politics and religion mix?
Less than two weeks now until polling day, and with all that's going on around us, the thing everyone wants to talk about is Judith Collins in church.
She happened to be there to cast her votes early, and stopped for a public prayer on the way in.
Now, she's made no secret of her faith, and personally I respect anyone who has a faith, whatever their choice.
All the evidence seems to point to faith being good for your well-being: mentally, spiritually.
Her opponents think it was a cynical move to let the cameras see her praying.
By and large our politicians seem to be a godless lot, apart from one or two who believe they themselves are God.
Trevor Mallard, and don't for a minute think I'm suggesting he's one of those. Hr is the Speaker of the House though. And as Speaker, he changed the prayer used at the start of each sitting of the House, getting rid of the reference to Jesus Christ, but keeping "Almighty God" and the Queen.
At the time, he said he'd been lobbied by some MPs saying it was wrong in a secular country to have God in the opening of Parliament.
Some wanted to go back to something strictly Christian but Mallard wanted to recognise that MPs come from a wide range faiths and have different beliefs.
Now, I don't know what the agnostics and atheists do when the rest of the House is praying. Perhaps they use the time for a moment of quiet reflection.
Anyway, back to Judith on her knees in the Auckland chapel. I have to wonder if there's a danger during an election campaign in allowing cameras to capture you in that way.
Do you run the risk of someone saying you're trying to trade on your faith? Â And is that potentially more of a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows?
It's going to make no difference at all to the way I vote, but there's a critic lurking in every corner looking for the tiniest thing to snipe at.
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