Against The Current

Ethos Alliance and the Culture Wars

Two years ago a new law-focused charity with a human rights focus was launched in Auckland. Ethos Alliance is dedicated to promoting and protecting fundamental human rights focusing on freedom of conscience, religion, and belief.

While the organisation has a Christian base, its CEO Alex Penk says in their short operating history, Ethos has already had clients who are Muslim, Jewish, agnostic and atheist, alongside Christian.

Penk said the increasing polarisation of society led he and others to believe there was a need for such a firm at this time. This was confirmed in a Talbot Mills poll Ethos commissioned last year.

The poll asked people to respond to the statement that "Society should have more tolerance for people expressing differing beliefs even if they are unpopular or about sensitive issues like sex and gender identity, the Treaty of Waitangi, hate speech, or religion." Fifty-nine percent agreed we need to be more tolerant. Only 11 percent disagreed.

“People talk about tolerance but one of the things you see when people express views that go against the mainstream consensus, is that they tend to be excluded and shut down,” says Penk.

Anyone advocating for sex-based rights for women against the onslaught of gender ideology knows this to be true. It’s no surprise that Ethos has done considerable work in this sphere.

Not only have they written articles on the competing rights of children when it comes to prescribing puberty blockers but they have also created guidelines for schools on students who wish to transition and provided a guide for schools titled ‘Students and Social Transition: A gender identity policy guide’.

The guide was emailed to schools across the country and has the support of education academic Dr Melissa Derby, distinguished epidemiologist, Otago University Emeritus Prof Charlotte Paul and Resist Gender Education. Derby has since become the Race Relations Commissioner.

Ethos has also taken on legal cases that defend the rights of sex realists. One featured a female roller derby player concerned about males in her sport and awaits mediation with the Human Rights Commission. See accompanying story.

In another case Ethos acted for a teacher who was asked to change a trans-identifying student’s pronouns. The teacher felt that he could not in all good conscience do this based on his faith and also his knowledge of the social risks of gender transition. He knew many medical professionals questioned whether the spike in gender questioning teens was a social phenomenon rather than a medical issue. He explained his concerns to the pupil which led to a complaint and an invitation to meet with the principal.

The teacher then contacted Ethos, who employed an expert employment lawyer to represent him at the meeting. Following the meeting with the lawyer, a compromise was reached. The teacher would not be forced to use the pupil’s preferred pronouns. He would simply avoid using pronouns when referring to the pupil

As well, Ethos has reported on the Human Rights Commission view on conversion ideology which they said had implications for religious freedom. They cite the Commission’s promotion of advice to ungender language and use gender neutral terms in teaching and worship. The advice given to the Commission and promoted by it contended that using “He” to refer to God reinforced the importance of the gender binary and male dominance.

Other contentious issues Ethos has tackled include supporting healthcare professionals and organisations who object to having to participate in practices like euthanasia or abortion. Ethos has advocated for institutions that opt not to provide euthanasia under the End of Life Choice Act. They argue these organizations should not be forced to refer patients elsewhere if doing so violates their values.

Ethos contends that this lack of clear institutional protection could lead to conflicts, such as disputes over allowing assisted dying assessments on premises that object to the practice. For instance the Hospice philosophy is to neither hasten nor postpone natural death.

Ethos has also responded to the 2024 Ministry of Health’s report on the flaws in the legislation and suggested they should be amended immediately. They also objected to Ministry proposals to erode conscience rights for health practitioners and facilities that care for vulnerable people.

Penk says Christianity is often misunderstood in an increasingly secular society and the Christian faith is often portrayed in an unfavourable light. Faith-based schools face closer scrutiny than other schools because their beliefs are no longer part of the common consensus.

“It’s become harder for people to say anything that goes against the cultural mainstream in the last few years. But we all have to ask and answer the big questions about life. Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, who wrote Man’s Search for Meaning, argued that the primary human drive is not pleasure or power, but the pursuit of meaning.

“There is less appreciation that living out your most important beliefs is an essential part of being human - it’s what makes us moral agents. But if you can make someone go against their core beliefs then there’s nothing that you can’t make them do. Respecting conscience is one of the most important freedoms we have.”

Ethos has written a robust defence of why organisations that advance religion should retain their charitable tax status though they point out this is different from the issue of whether charities that also run businesses should pay tax on their commercial income.

Penk says the importance of debate or what has been called ‘argumentative grit’ is not always appreciated at the time but it forces us to examine difficult topics such as apartheid and this is how progress is made. New Zealand’s opposition to the Springbok Tour in 1981 during the apartheid regime in South Africa bolstered the global anti-apartheid movment. New Zealand did not send an official rugby team to South Africa again during the apartheid era and the nation’s protests further isolated South Africa from the international sporting community.

Ethos Alliance is funded largely by donations from supporters who believe it is offering something worthwhile. As a charitable trust it is also eligible to apply for grants from various government organisations although it has not done so to date.

Ethos not only offers support for clients and assistance through its alliance of lawyers. It is also engaged in education via public speaking events and media work and vocational support for Christian lawyers and students. The organisation’s focus crosses over wth the Free Speech Union but Penk says where they differ is that Ethos is concerned with a broader range of activities that put people’s beliefs into practice.

Penk’s background (and yes he is the brother of MP Chris Penk) includes working at one of New Zealand’s largest law firms, at a public policy think tank, as a strategy consultant and serving on several non-profit boards.