SECTARIANISM.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1922, Page 2

SECTARIANISM.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —There appeared in your columns a few days ago a letter by one who signed himself a "Returned N.Z. Digger,” charging Rev. Howard Elliott and others of creating sectarianism or bringing religion into politics. It Is quite evident from the remarks of this digger that ho is of a certain color and he need not wear a green tie to show what church he attends on Sundays. However, perhaps the following extracts from the New Zealand Tablet, a Roman newspaper, edited by Rev. Father Kelly, will educate and convince "Digger” and other like-minded individuals that the charge levelled nt the P.P.A. has been misdirected and rightly belongs to the Roman Church when they publish this sort of stuff.

“Digger,” can you wonder why the P.P.A. catme into existence to organise the Protestants against a church that will deal out such public insults to the Protestant community? I de agree that it is a great pity, but I do not agree that the Rev. Howard Elliott or anyone else except the Roman Church is entirely responsible for bringing religion into politics. The following are two samples of insults published by the Tablet referred to above“ But what are we to say of New Zealand, with its place-hunting politicians, its unprincipled Cabinet Ministers, its debased and demoralised Press, its unmanly school teachers, ready to boycott boys whose success Is a shame and a reproach to them, its noPopery parsons, its meddlesome and intolerant Council-of-Cliurches, its records of crime, its corruptions in public and social life, its system of education which trains the young people not to think for themselves, its pettv tyranny, its pandering to bigots, its retrograde legislation? If New Zealand ever learns at all the danger is that it will have learned too late. It may he that some day England (or Ireland) will take over the Dominion and send out a few men of brains and principles to govern it, but the present indications are that as it has gone down the hill, morally, economically, and politically for the past ten years, it will go down more rapidly in the next decade, unless the people awake.” (N.Z. Tablet October 12, 1922.) "It is only by courtesy that those outside the True Church are called Christians. Christ founded but one church. His teaching is one; therefore to be Christian in the strict sense of the word, one must belong (o the True Church and believe all that Christ taught. Those who reject any part of His doctrine, reject Him. and therefore, strictly speaking, they are not Christians. We certainly hold that if we use words with full consciousness of 'their meaning, Prow?stants are not Christians.” (N.Z. Tablet February 9, 1922.)—1 am, etc..