RELIGIOUS LIFE

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 250, 23 October 1942, Page 6

RELIGIOUS LIFE

VALUE TO TROOPS. AUSTRALIAN ARMY ORDER. The value of religion in the life of troops is stressed in an Australian Army order to all commanding officers to provide opportunities for their men to attend church services Wherever practicable. The order states that there is in the forces a large percentage of young men whose lives would normally be in process of being moulded under the influence of their homes and religious institutions. With the loss of home influence and the continued challenge to pre-conceived ideas which is being made by Army life, it is doubly important that suitable opportunity should be provided for the practice of religion. "The personal qualities which dehiand a high standard of conduct at all times and which inspire coiirage and self-sacrifice in a. crisis are, by nature, spiritual, and not physical," the order continues. "These are essential to our nation during the war and in the difficult years which must follow. To undermine these qualities by an excessive zeal for technical efficiency is as unsound as the reverse procedure. Hence, attendances at religious services should not be regarded as something interfering with training for war, but as a desirab'le adjunct to such training. The qualities referred to are not confined to any particular religious body, and the Australian constitution grants freedom of worship to all. This freedom is preserved in the forces." It is possible for the major religious denominations alone to be represented by chaplains in the forces, the order states. Because of the number of organisations involved, it is often impossible for a member to attend a service conducted by a chaplain of the denomination to which he belongs. Members of the forces will not be compelled against their will to attend religious services. At the same time, everything possible will be done to provide church parades at appropriate times, to encourage attendance at such religious services as are available, and to release men to attend those services. V