Meri Kirihimete
Meri Kirihimete to one and all.
This post is a day late, partially because of technological issues and also because of doing nothing at all on Christmas day issues but it is written in response to replies to this TVNZ tweet.
This attracted a number of decidedly unfestive responses. Like these:
- “Show some respect to the 85% of the English speaking population. Merry Christmas New Zealand.”
- “Ah, yep, I read about those days when maori used to decorate their trees in honour of a Christian religion that they knew nothing about. Making up words is bastardsation of actual te reo which had a vocabulary of 20,000 words.”
- “Far Left 1News!”
- “Where is the translation prompt? fuk me days.”
- “Merry Wokemas and a happy woke year! To all the white saviors at 1News.”
- “For those who dont speak Maori @1NewsNZ means Merry Christmas. Of course they are forbidden from being inclusive (to the main population) , we all have to stop speaking English and become Woke PC minions.”
- “Appreciate you using the corrupted form of the day’s historical English name. It rightly shows contempt for the colonisers’ culture and avoids mentioning the figurehead of the religion they forced upon us. Your work to remake history is helping us all create a just new society.”
- “Go woke go broke.”
- “I appreciate you are attempting to erase our culture, but could you maybe leave us one last Christmas before you fully extinguish us?”
There were some good responses including this one:
- “Thank you @1NewsNZ for using Te Reo in youreasonal good wishes to the people of Aotearoa. I am sorry that a small, angry, insecure but disproportionately vocal minority are saying hateful things to you in what is traditionally a season of kindness in Pakeha Christian culture”
I mean what gives? On a day of rest and family and good will to all people some keyboard warriors in the land of Te Reo Maori decide to get upset enough to vent publicly against the public broadcaster for using a uniquely local festive greeting?
The trouble is these people have votes. And quietly and subtlety or otherwise parties on the right are looking to cultivate their support essentially by using the politics of anger, which is really the politics of fear, to motivate them.
This reminds me very strongly of a scene from The Life of Brian and one that I think provides the perfect response:
Anyway I hope you had a very Meri Kirihimete. Even you TheNZRocketeer.