COMMUNITY INTERESTS.

Shannon News, 6 September 1927, Page 4

COMMUNITY INTERESTS.

“THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS,” W.E.A. LECTURE. There was the usual attendance at the w'eeldy lecture of the Levin branch of the W.E.A. which was held in the Band Room on Tuesday. Mr Bear presided. Several members sent apologies for absence. HOUSEHOLD GODS. The lecturer (Rev. J. D. McArthur) stated that, owing to the variety of names for religion, it was difficult exactly to define. Whenever we have devotion, devoutness or devotedness we have the primary features of religion. Tracing its early forms, the lecturer showed that the essential features were not unseen beings who were to be feared, but rather kindred beings who might be loved. At a later stage the invisible members of the group are the departed ancestors. The ancient Romans, Teutons, Celts, Hindoos, as well as the Japanese and Chinese, had and have their kindred gods of the household. These gods completed the group and gave to it its highest authority, its deepest sacredness. WIDESPREAD BELIEFS.

All men saem to postulate the probauie existence of unseen beings, benignant or malignant, in the invisible regions round them. Towards these beings men hold attitudes of fear, hate, respectful awe, or love. It is believed that these beings can help or hurt us, and are disposed to do the one or the other by our behaviour towards themIt is now believed that all races of men have their gods >and their own , peculiar religious systems. Some of these systems are crude in the extreme and.are expresed through taboos, magic, etc. Religious instincts seem always to be part of original human nature, but is difficult to define these, as they r.e composite —coloured partly by other instincts. As societies evolve from primitive savagery their religious ideas change also —sometimes insensibly, often voluntarily. Obviously a form . that was sufficient to satisfy a primitive people is found wanting later. Old forms give way to new, but always the new po-ophet has but a few to listen to him, and he may have to be martyred before his message is believed. As time passes, more and more do the best * thinkers of a people concern themselves %ith remoter results and less and less with immediate consequences. In quite recent years missionaries are employing social and medical science increasingly and with the finest resultsFUNCTIONS OF RELIGION.

These are of two kinds —for the individual as an end in itself, and also as a means towards the larger realisations of life. Through the records there are the means of stressing the kind of conduct which makes for life on the one hand, and warning against that v which spells death on the other. Religion may be compared with morality. The latter may mean the pursuit of the true and beautiful, whereas the former is the aspiration after the abso. lute ideal. Morality tends to be bounded by the conventional —by the “Thou shalt not”; religion aims more definitely at what is absolute and com- i plete. All forms of religion have their organisations or churches. RELIGION IN EDUCATION.

The lecturer dealt at length with the ' matter of religion in education. It can be debated that if we consider re- . ligion solely as a means of education, it contains material of greater value than many of the subjects now taught. I the object of education is to give versatility, width of knowledge, largeness of outlook, and to create intellectual curiosity, then what text-book have we better than the Bible? History is unintelligible without some understanding of the conflicts between different religious conceptions and literature would to a large extent be meaningless without some appreciation of the religious ideas, by which great writers have been inspired. RELIGION AND SOCIAL SERVICE. - . ' It is clear that men of cpiite divergent religious creeds may and do work harmoniously together for the good of their fellows. In a recent convention ministers of practically every religions body in New Zealand met together with '■ others of no known denominational connection, and in harmony worked to- , getlier in a desire to find a social ideal. This leads us to a question as to re- ;> ligious toleration —a social problem of sometimes quite an acute kind. The matter of personal religious opinion and its expression is part of the c • general problem of man’s freedom. Differences about religion mean often dif Terences in the- whole ■ outlook upon life—so that they are not merely differ- ;■ cnees in opinion, but differences in " ' practice. Indifference to differences is ' • possible only when they make no. difference. Many of the questions which from time to time stir up friction, can be settled quite easily, for they are so often over matters that are almost negligible. It is safe to assert that in many of these things what is right or expedient for one man under certain circumstances,, may be wrong for another. Real difficulties arise when rights are claimed that interfere directi; , ly with the rights of others. The right tb have one’s own opinion tolerated involves the obligation to tolerate the " t opinions of others. When we consider f the matter of conscientious objectors i' we are on difficult ground, and this is f a matter that has to be handled with •i ■ wisdom. I ' SOLUTION OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS. According to a Greek myth, the heban Sphinx propounded a question, '} ■ the .solving of which meant life, rvliile ; k to fail meant death: “What animal ! goes on four legs in the morning; two -at noon, and three at night.” Oedipus answered that this Minimal is man, who in infancy crawls' on all fours, walks on two legs at maturity, and uses a walking stick in old age. The ; question really aimed at the unveiling T. „ of the mystery of existence. The great motive power in religion has been the ! i" desire, to understand ourselves. Once -j religion was thought of as a bargain , with God—be good, and go to heaven, j be bad and go to hell. But the conception to-day is vastly different- —it 1 Jj? has become less and less an individual &■_. thing and more and more a social iff- , "thing; This was given to us in Matt7 t Paul in I Cor,

j 13. The solution of the problems of j social unrest are ethical and religious j —they can never be solved by econoi mies. The majority of thinking men j to-day realise that the- Church lias imperative obligations to apply the remedy which wa3 sunnlied by Jesus 1900 years ago: community interests as the controlling motive in industry—not either ■ capital or labour —but capital and labour ministering to humanity.