Our Constitution reminds us right at the beginning in the Preamble about our traditional roots and Christian heritage.

The Preamble of the Constitution reads in part:

“WE, THE PEOPLE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA–

• united in one nation
• pay homage to the memory of our ancestors—the source of our strength and origin of our combined heritage
• acknowledge the worthy customs and traditional wisdoms of our people— which have come down to us from generation to generation
• pledge ourselves to guard and pass on to those who come after us our noble traditions and the Christian principles that are ours now.

“By authority of our inherent right as ancient, free and independent peoples

“WE, THE PEOPLE, do now establish this sovereign nation and declare ourselves, under the guiding hand of God, to be the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.”

In my layman’s view the Preamble is explicit about our indigenous traditional roots and Christian heritage and identity. The Preamble also clearly advises us on our role as a people and nation to preserve our traditional and Christian heritage and identity.

The fourth pledge of the Preamble says we pledge ourselves to “guard and pass on” to the future generations “our noble traditions and Christian principles that are ours now”.

The Constitution’s use of the word “guard” is key here. A Google online dictionary defines “guard” as a verb to mean to “watch over in order to protect or control” or secondly “protect against damage or harm”. As a noun, “guard” means, “a person who keeps watch, especially a soldier or other person assigned to protect a person or to control access to a place” or secondly “a device worn or fitted to prevent injury or damage”.

So our Constitution quite clearly gives every Papua New Guinean a responsibility to “guard” our noble traditions and Christian principles that are ours now”.

By saying “ours now”, the Constitution implies ownership and attachment to “our noble traditions and Christian principles” and the need to pass them on to the young generations.

The Preamble goes on to declare that because of our combined inherent heritage, which includes the noble traditions and Christian principles, “we, the people do now establish a sovereign nation declare ourselves, under the guiding hand of God, to be the Independent State of Papua New Guinea”.

Here the Constitution uses the phrase “guiding hand of God” which denotes the source of our individual and collective wisdom and understanding to run our country in the most just manner and engage with fellow citizens and those from other lands and faiths who come to live with us and do business with us

With the above prelude, I must say our current government is making a mockery of us by attempting to legislate Christianity as a national religion. It has dispatched the Law Reform Commission Secretariat to the provinces to gauge our views on whether legislating Christianity is the right thing to do in the 21^st Century

Any attempt to legislate Christianity as a national religion is un-Christ-like and un-Christian in the first place. One has to read the Bible and know this reality. Jesus Christ taught and left behind a message of love – love your God and love your neighbor as you love yourself: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

“This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). This passage carries the message of paying homage to God as the source of our being and respect and acceptance of our fellow men irrespective of who they are.

Christ also made it clear in his three-ministry of the separation of the State and Religion. Christians know very well one of Christ’s famous quotes in the Gospel of Matthew (22:21): “Render unto the Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus worked outside of the state establishment and he did not mix his teachings with secularism. Again, Christians know the story in the Gospel of John (2: 13-16) where an upset Christ chasing away the money lenders and others doing business in the temple because they were defiling the house of God.

Jesus Christ did not leave behind a faith that must work with the State establishment to expand its teaching of the Gospel and winning souls. It was the ordinary people or followers of Christ on the margins of a Roman occupied province who, as of the Day of Pentecost, went out to the known and unknown world to share the teachings of Christ. This work of the early followers of Christ evolved into what we now know as Christianity or the Christian faith.

What Christ did leave behind are His verbal teachings about love and respect for one an another and the a free will of mankind to choose to accept his teachings or not. The role of Christ’s early followers was to bring His messages from the teachings as they heard to others and the work continued throughout the ages to this day.

Our government is also attempting to go against the global realities of the 21^st Century where the rights and freedoms of individuals and groups are being protected or amplified.

And lastly, an attempt to legislate Christianity as an official State sanctioned religion would also go against other sections of our Constitution that allow for the freedom of movement, assembly, religion, conscience and speech. Let us take note that legislating Christianity is un-Christian.