Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 11, 2 October 1942, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Sup [3 lied i>y Ihe YVhakatai

RELIGION GR SPORT?

A motion passed at the las! meeting <>l' tile Presbytery oi" Dunklin deplored the; decision of the military authorities to train the Air Training Corps on Sunday. This derision means thai youths from I(s' to IS years of age are to take part ol' their training every Sunday morning I'rom a.m. to 12.150 p.m. This won id. be an even more astonishing decision if it were not for the fact that it is in line with so many other decisions in the 'training of men for tlie defence of their coun try. The motion of the Presbytery is wholly justified. In these days when the great majority of men have the whole of Saturday completely free from work, there is less reason than there ever has been in the history of our country for interfering Avith the sanctity of the Lord's Day. The point is sharpened by the fact that most of the boys in the Air Training Corps arc in secondary schools or University Colleges. Even if they were not, however, the fault would not be altered. The alternation given to these young men is. religion or sport—which should be sacrificed so that training hours might he complete? The authorities have decided for them that, sport is of far grea;' • cr importance. :-•> religion must be sacrificed an<l Sunday reserve ! for training. If, instead of fostering a stronger spiritual life throughout the Empire during these war years, we put spiritual interests in a place subordinate to the interests of the slate, we have been conquered by precisely the same tiling which we set out to fight. If the state, which exists to represent the will of the people, decides that sport is of greater importance than religion, there can be nothing but despair for the future of our country. Yet this is precisely what is happening. T,f wc win the war and then have not the spiritual energy to rebuild, all the blood and sweat and tears will have been as vain a sacrifice as water poured on sand. The time is passing when protests alone can be deemed sufficient for the inroads being made on 'the sanctity of Sunday. With the true well being of our country in our heart, action must be taken. And if action is taken a tension will be set up

Ie Ministers' Association)

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

between two loyalties—the loyally io God. and the loya'tv to the State. If that tension develops then we in New Zealand will be faced by a .similar situation to that which existed and still exists in Germany and German-occupied Europe. Many of 1 lie sons of the Church have given and are offering their lives in this present conflict. is their reward to be- the loss of those ideals for which the}- were an.! are willing to sacrifice so much? We have been told again and again that iwe are engaged in this war so that wc may rebuild a belter world, but it is abundantly clear that no better world, can be built unless its foundations are spiritually sound, and religion alone can build those spiritual foundations. "If we arc to destroy the Christian Faith, we must get rid of the Christian's Day," said Voltaire. That process of destruction is being developed aL a furious pace. Sunday trains, pleasure cruises, bus services, private motoring, Sunday trading, Sunday' games. Sunday concerts, together with much esie have made inroads upon that day. And the process is being developed quickly in the emergencies of war through Home Guard, E.P.S., A.R.P., and now this latest move to capture even the youth of our country., Are Christian men and women to stand idly by and. watch this: process of destruction develop? Are we to be expected to read patriotism into acts which so clearly destroy the spiritual foundations upon Avhich our country is built? Are we to be silent while we watch institutions we hold, sacred tremble before they crash? We shall not! We shall fight those things which threaten to destroy the spiritual welfare of our country. In that battle we shall be content to know that all the cynicism of the world cannot, destroy the fact that we fight for a higher patriotism than those who use the word so glibly and so lightly. We appeal to the Government to i;tand by us in preserving religious values. It is the duty of the Church to develop Christian character, and tlie only opportunity we have of doing this is on Sunday, the Lord's Day. Surely we do not ask too much when we plead for the opportunity to fulfil a duty which means so much for the welfare of our country.