ABSTRACT
In what has been described as ‘the most solidly Christian part of the world’ (Forman 1982:227), the emergent nationalisms of the Pacific are heavily infused with Christian teachings. Indeed, several Pacific nations define themselves in their constitutions as Christian; their indigenized Christianity is ‘intrinsic to sovereign statehood’ (Jolly 1992a:342). Small wonder, then, that narratives of nationalism in the Pacific are frequently underwritten by a salvationist master-narrative deriving from Christianity. To a remarkable degree the modern Pacific nation rides on Christianity’s back, and in the Melanesian states particularly (Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) the state not only relies upon the Churches to provide many basic services it cannot itself afford, but it also co-opts Christianity’s ideological
purchase on hearts and minds-its narratives-for its own integrative purposes. Christianity can be promoted, then, ‘as a source of national unity despite local diversity’ (Jolly ibid.). In every national celebration, I would wager, a Christian sub-text can be found.
