POLITICS AND RELIGION

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 767, 16 March 1910, Page 4

POLITICS AND RELIGION

_ Sir —Tour correspondent, Mr. "W. Orton Sykes, would be' better employed in attacking thei'practical atheism .and moral decay of the masses than in throwing stones at the Church,".The Church is endeavouring to Spread .the Gospel, which, alter all, is the only power on earth that can' permanently * improve k human character and make a great reform of our economic system practicable. Mr. Sykes complains ?i humbug and hypocrisy in the Church. It would bo strange indeed if there were not somo hypocrites there, seeing how imperfect human nature,is. The Church might become a greater power in this'country if Mr. Sykes would get his political friends, to join it. The Church teaches all the great moral truths, as well as spiritual truth. What effect has this teaching;on Socialists and Single-taxers, and Trade Unionists? llow very few of them repent of . their sins. If they repented they would be members of the Church. More than 90 per cent, of them do not attend any place of worship, Whal an ! example' for their- children! The truth is, sir, that tho Church is doing moro for moral and r social - reformation than all the political organisations in tho world. The Church puts into the' hearts of men the spirit of love, and selfsacrifice, and this spirit must pervaik society before wo can get great and just and permanent changes in our economic and social system—l am, etc., CHURCHMAN. Wellington, March 11, 1910. Sir,—Your leader with the above heading is very excellent and, timely, and'well worthy the attention of all thoughtful people—"like apples of gold in baskets ol' silver.' Yet it commences with an assertion which surprised me/ and «-Jiieh <1 only wish, in the interests of pure and undefiled religion, were true. l r ou say: "New Zealand has been fortunate in having no experience of the intrusion of religious controversy into her politics, or political controversy into her pulpits." How happy should we all be were this so; the sad admissions in the same paper at an Anglican mission meeting of tho necessity of following absentees from church on to the beach—a- suggestion I have also seen made in one of our local dailies this week-and the report of Mr. Allan, the Sunday school visitor, of the paucity of a younger generation of teachers, would hardly have been riindo wero. thirf true. Everywhere, especially near olection times, we have the politics of Prohibition dinned in our ears ad nauseam. . We are told in so many words that we cannot bo Christians of the up-to-dnto tyi>e unless we ignore the teachings of the Bible, and vote to rob our neighbours of their property. Wo have organisations, sonic of them actually terming themselves Christian) whose members indulge regularly in language the exact opposite of the express teachings of Christ, but who, because of their almost entiro revolt from the express doctrines of tho Bible, assume to be much better than those who try to walk in tho old well-beaten path of "life. Nay,'in some of our New Zealand churches peoplo who believe and act on tho precise instructions of God's Word in matters of eating and drinking a'ro not admitted to Church membership; such is tho pressure to induce peoplo to become partisans of this political party. You quote from a Radical hymn and give a Nonconformist preacher's words. I can give my personal testimony that you have not ovedrawn the picturo. Being in England during the previous general election, I heard sayings quite as extravagant. The Principal of a Nonconformist collcgo gave

in his sermon; in my bearing, as one reason for voting against Mr. Balfour's Government, that they were intending to introduce 200,000 Chinese into the Transvaal. But I heard so-called Christian clergymen make equally as false statements here during our last election; and, what is perhaps worse, misquote Scripture to support their theories. And as to hymns, 'we arc not a whit behind the people at Home in, what appears to me, the blasphemous way we allude to Him, Who, as His'first miracle, and to "manifest His glory,"'made over a hundred gallons of good wine, and at His last supper taught us to drink wine in remembrance of Him, promising to drink it with us at His second .coming. I quote from the hymns "for use in meetings," which were sung at last election:— "O Saviour Christ, God's Holy Son, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, As Thou had died'to ransom all. Destroy' tho powers which men enthral O may we all Thy will obey, ■ And vote for Thee on polling day." Another hymn ?ays:— "We'll take tho world for Christ's own kingdom." While another cries:— "For your God and country Strike the top line out." To those who, like myself, believe that this attempt to buttress the all-sufficient Gospel, _ which of itself is able to remedy all individual and collective evils, with the hay, straw, and stubble of Prohibition, has been ono of the main factors in reducing religion. to its present. low level, such a mixture of politics with religion is inexpressibly sad. I am aware that there is a graving feeling in inany circles that the ballot-box and gaol are better preventives of vice than Christianity; and that the latter is a failure without them. Such people have doubtless a right to their own opinion, but I do not think that an excellent and influential paper like The Dominion should even infercntially ignore the methods by which they hope' to introduce their Mohammedan methods.—l am, etc., B. ENROTH. New Plymouth, March 10, 1910.