This is part three on the writing and founding of our Cook Islands Constitution. By Thomas Wynne.

The intersection of faith and governance is not only a global phenomenon but also a deeply personal one for many of us in the vastness of 13 islands we call the Cook Islands.

Let alone the 94 thousand living in Aotearoa or 21 thousand in Australia. Especially now as our government must consider our Christian nation status.

It is vital we look at the broader context of religious restrictions and governments around the world and move beyond calls of hate or preference.

A 2019 Pew Foundation report highlighted this dynamic with profound insights. With over a decade of tracking, the report revealed increasing global government preference toward specific religious groups, particularly in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

In these areas, Islam is predominantly preferred, often enshrined in their state constitutions, laws, and societal norms.

For instance, 19 of the 20 countries in the MENA region officially recognize Islam, with legal systems often deferring to Islamic law.

In Egypt, for example family law is dictated by the religion of the spouses, defaulting to Islamic law when there is a disparity. Their governments have no problem declaring and enforcing Islam as their state religion and its flow into their laws and practices. 

Across Asia, Africa, and even Europe, governments have shown increasing preference toward dominant religious groups.

In Thailand, constitutional amendments have elevated Theravada Buddhism, while in Europe, countries like Greece and Iceland maintain close ties between state and Christian denominations. Even in secular states such as Fiji, constitutional provisions ensure equality of religion while recognizing the predominant influence of Christianity on their cultural fabric.

Watch a game of Rugby and hear them sing hymns before and after the game, giving thanks to God for their safety and participation.

Closer to home, Pacific nations like Samoa and Tonga explicitly declare their Christian identities within their constitutions. Samoa, for instance, amended its constitution in 2017 to affirm itself as a Christian nation, while Tonga’s constitution upholds the sanctity of Sunday and requires its monarch to be Protestant.

As we deliberate on the Cook Islands’ identity as a Christian nation, these global and regional precedents offer valuable lessons. They illustrate how nations both Islam, Buddhist or Christian have balanced their religious heritage with their self-determined principles of inclusion and freedom of religion if that is their choice. But each is free to determine that as they see fit.

At its heart, this is not just a legal or constitutional question but a deeply spiritual, deeply moral and deeply cultural one.

Christianity has been central to the Cook Islands’ identity since prophecies of its arrival by Taunga in Rarotonga and Enuamanu, and the arrival of its message and gospel. It shapes our values, our community spirit, and the very fabric of our society, our traditional leaders and government.

It would be remiss of me to suggest that the God of the Bible is not singular in his desire for worship and honour, clearly stating there are no other Gods before him.

Or that if Jesus is God, then he is not as Islam states merely a prophet of God. This distinction in each other’s scripture is more than just a difference of opinion, it is a crossroad that sends both faiths in opposing directions and on roads that never cross again.

Ultimately, the question of the Cook Islands as a Christian nation and religious diversity is not just about constitutional amendments or legal frameworks. It is about what kind of society we aspire to be, our identity and our laws, our values and the basis of our internal and external moral code within the diversity of the world we now live in.

A leader who knew diversity was King Solomon, who in the Hebrew book of proverbs inscribed, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” In this simple verse, a rule, or standard, composed of two alternatives, there is no middle ground, and there are two causes and each with its own effect. Therefore, we pray for our leaders the wisdom to discern, courage to choose and conviction to lead our nation.