THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JUNE 24, 1929. THE CENOTAPH AND THE CROSS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5439, 24 June 1929, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JUNE 24, 1929. THE CENOTAPH AND THE CROSS.

Astonishment and amazement were caused through the receipt by the “Hauraki Plains Gazette” of a letter from the Rev, J. Lowden on “The Cenotaph and the Cross,” which appears elsewhere in this issue. The leader which the reverend gentleman has taken upon himself to attack contained nothing to wound the sentiments expressed by Christianity or the feelings of Christians. It was written in the Christian spirit of give and take, the spirit of fair play and fair-mindedness so strong in the teachings of Jesus Christ. It does not matter if the Christian majority were a million to one, Christian ethics teach us . that the lowly one must be respected. Would a cenotaph justly commemorate those who fell if it only honoured one of the religions represented by the men who died for Britain ? Should the deaths of those whose religious beliefs were not in keeping with those of the majority go unhallowed and unhonoured ? The Rev. Lowden in his service to his flock last night said that before Christ was crucified the cross had been a despised thing, for the reason that it was a gibbet; Christ’s death on the Cross had made it a thing to be revered. Would the Rev. Lowden have the cenotaph erected purely to the Christian dead alone, thus despising the minority ? It would be a gibbet whereon would hang the spirits of those men who made the supreme sacrifice in vain ; they laid down their lives in the common cause, but being non-Christians their sacrifice was not worthy of honouring. A cenotaph is “an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person who is buried elsewhere,” The Rev. Lowden himself admits that among those “buried elsewhere” were non-Christians. Does he wish that they be forgotten ? If it be deemed desirous and necessary to raise a cross on the cenotaph, should not the revered signs of those other religions be placed there also ? That is why a true cenotaph bears no religious symbol, for it is not for any one faith. It is not the intention of the “Hauraki Plains Gazette” to enter into a religious argument, for no good comes of one, and no finality. A man is entitled to hpld whatever religious beliefs he desires, and in the majority* of cases no amount of argument will shake him of those beliefs, be he Christian or otherwise. Therefore, let there be no argument anent a cross on the cenotaph. The cross is, or should be, in the mind of every true Christian all his waking hours ; in that manner he can see it well and truly blazoned on a cenotaph or any other monument without it being sculptured thereon. And the non-Christians can see their sacred symbols thereon likewise. That a Christian minister should pen such an utterly uncalled for and thoughtless letter, absolutely un-Christian in spirit, passes comprehension, defeating as it does the very teachings of his Leader.