A CHALLENGE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 172, 4 May 1937, Page 7

A CHALLENGE

DOMINION’S MORAL STANDARD.

POSITION OF THE CHURCHES.

(Per Press Association.) MASTERTON, May 3

The steep decline in the moral standards of the average life to-day was one of the most serious aspects that had to he considered, said the Bishop of Wellington (the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland) in an address in Masterton to-night.

It was possible to estimate the force of religion in a country by the moral standards prevailing. When he arrived in New Zealand ho was told that there had been a more or less cyclonic disturbance of the whole moral life of the country. A new type of morality seemed to have clawed into the fibre of the nations, forcing out the old Christian view of life and morals. The new menace would have to be fought.

Referring to the recent Government report on abortion in the Dominion, Bishop Holland described abortion as “a festering sore in the life of the nation,” and said that it constituted the biggest possible challenge to the Church. The appalling revelations of the conditions existing in the country had to be heeded.

When he questioned what was wrong with the moral standards of the nation he realised that there might be a. lot in the stories of the moral evils of dances, of excessive drinking in cars during dances, and of a general lack of moral ideals of sex, and of the Christian ideal of parenthood. The position was a ringing challenge to the Churches which were the one body that could stop the spread of the malady in the country. The only cure was the religious cure. The Churches should try to insist on a higher standard.

Meeting the Challenge. “We have been given a direct challenge,” said Bishop Holland. “What are we going to do about it? What good can come of holding public meetings and passing pious resolutions? We might just as well play a set of tennis or a game of bridge. It is a job for the Christian citizens of New Zealand. Leave it to the parents and I am afraid that very little will be done. We are too limited in our actions. Our views are always suspect because, I think, it is our job. If we speak against the idea of prenuptial intercourse, they say that it is just parsons’ clap trap, and that our ideas are contrary to the new ideas of the nation’s manhood.” .

Bishop Holland said New Zealanders should try to consider how the Churches as a whole could improve the standards of the country’s morals, and Ikhv they could combat the false philosophies of life. “‘lt is the growing generations that I am frightened of,” remarked the Bishop, “if they are brought up on free love.” Once sex morality went, that was the end of the nation. It was the first time he had spoken on the subject, as he felt he should not do so until the Government report was published. The position, however, made him very sad, and it seemed to him that the need for raising the moral standards was a challenge to all, a .challenge to all that was finest and best in the ideal 3 of Christianity and manhood. It was the man outside the influence of the Church that they wanted. “Let’s go out and get him. You can do that if you have concern, and true concern means love.”