The need for moral and intellectual clarity in the fight for freedom.

Yesterday our team sat down with two MPs from different political parties for a conversation in the lead up to the November 7 election.

We’re excited to share these with you.  

As I reflect on both of those conversations, there is a common thread (aside from a great love for New Zealand) that I felt ran strongly throughout both of those conversations – the following proverb sums it up well: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” 

For those MPs, advocates, policymakers and leaders who love and cherish the liberties New Zealanders have long upheld and enjoyed, one thing was vividly apparent: the greatest threat to preserving these freedoms is a culture that lacks a clear vision of what freedom means. 

Once we lose sight of the great gift of liberty handed down to us by generations past, we become susceptible to the false promises of new and enticing political utopias - visions that promise a perfect world, but too often leave chaos and destruction in their wake.

The great gift of democracy is that it allows ideas to compete freely in the “marketplace of ideas” - therein lies the great beauty of free speech. However, if those who cherish truth and value freedom fail to stand courageously for those principles and speak in their defence, that marketplace will inevitably become crowded with falsehoods, to the detriment of our society, our culture and the freedoms we hold dear. 

It was apparent to our team, and indeed to the MPs themselves, that the fight for freedom in New Zealand (and around the world for that matter) is not one that can be fought and won in Parliament alone. Rather, the greatest bulwark against tyranny and undue state interference is a culture that possesses both a clear vision of freedom and the courage to stand against any encroachment upon its rights and liberties. 

Without this cultural buttress, we stand to lose the fight. Freedom cannot be preserved through legislation alone, nor will legal protections endure for long if the culture fails to value and cherish freedom itself. 

PILLAR’s campaigns on issues around the social media ban, foreign interference, digital rights, free speech, policing legislation, and so on may seem fringe and even unimportant to some. However, I suggest to that tyranny and authoritarianism do not descend upon a country overnight and the principles that underlie bad policies encroach very slowly but before long we realise that they have captured considerable grounds.

This is why vision and clarity matter.

At PILLAR, our mission is, in part, to be a voice that speaks with clarity into our culture for the sake of freedom and liberty. The future of freedom in this country cannot be taken for granted. Freedom will endure only so long as we possess the clarity of vision to understand it, the courage to defend it, and the sense of responsible citizenship necessary to preserve it. 

Thank you for standing with us.