Guy Fawkes vs Parihaka: Whose Blood Changes Nations?

Historian Reverend Dr Malcolm Falloon of the New Zealand Christian Network joins Andrew Urquhart to unpack the history and theology behind Guy Fawkes Day, questioning why New Zealanders still mark a 1605 English plot rather than our own 5 November history. He traces the Gunpowder Plot to geopolitical and religious strife between Protestant England and Catholic powers, framing the day less as celebrating an individual than as marking hard-won freedoms from tyranny.

Falloon draws a pointed parallel to the 1881 invasion of Parihaka, which also fell on 5 November, where Te Whiti and Tohu's community met government land confiscation with peaceful resistance rather than violence - an approach he links to Christ's example in 1 Peter and later influence on Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He argues the deeper theological question - whether blood is required for societal change - is answered not by revolutionary violence but by Christ's once-for-all sacrifice, while lightheartedly suggesting Kiwis could reclaim the fireworks tradition for Easter bonfires instead.

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