There are concerns Destiny Church is manipulating children, after hundreds of youngsters took part in yesterday's hate march to Parliament against the Civil Union Bill. Lawyer Marie Dyhrberg argues children are not capable of differentiating between dislike of a person, and dislike of a person's actions. She contends that the way the children were whipped up into hysteria over something they do not understand is a form of child abuse. Dr Andrew Ladley, from Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, says there should be more scrutiny of the Destiny Church. He says normally religions come together to call for more to be done to prevent poverty and deal with other social issues. Televangelist Brian Tamaki has dismissed the concerns, saying he is amused by them. Despite the high number of children visible at the hate march, Tamaki said the media were making an issue by “aiming a camera at half a dozen kids”. Talkback lines this morning have been dominated by Destiny Church supporters calling to say the media have manipulated coverage to make them look bad.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 24th August 2004 - 12:00pm