Ki te whaiao, ki te ao Mārama Religious diversity There was a significant subset of commentary related specifically to religious diversity. One submitter noted that mainstream culture is not quite what it appears, saying “our public culture could be described as nominally secular, substantively materialist, and tending towards European Christianity.” Identifying this orientation is important for people to be able to position and locate themselves within it, and make visible the origin of apparently neutral practices, including the privileging of festivals, e.g. Christmas as noted previously. This submission referred to religious writings that conceived of humanity as a single living body with inter-dependent parts: When diverse organs, cells and systems are working in harmony and co-ordination, the full potential and capacity of the human body becomes clear. Similarly, when one part of humanity is disadvantaged, oppressed or excluded, the development of the whole is stunted and prevented. When human beings are united in a common endeavour with a shared vision of the future they wish to inhabit, transformational change is possible. Several participants commented on the intersection between religious and racial discrimination. One said: Religion has long been a marker of ‘race’ – the long and horrific history of antiSemitism, culminating in the Holocaust, is ample evidence of this. Islamophobia also has a long history, from the Crusades to the War on Terror, and racist ideas have been clearly implicated in recent atrocities such as the 15 March mosque attacks. The prejudice faced by Sikhs and other religious minorities should also be noted … it may be useful for [the Plan] to include explicit goals and objectives related to religion. There was also another dimension to the connection between religion and racism: religion and spirituality have been and continue to be essential well-springs for anti-racist action. One submission noted this history, referring to the work of Gandhi, Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It emphasised the ‘distinct and constructive role’ that religion and spirituality could play in dismantling racism. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata 64