DIRECTION WANTED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 45, 3 December 1940, Page 7

DIRECTION WANTED.

DEFINITION OF “RELIGION.”

(Per Press Association)

WELLINGTON, December 2

What is a religion? The Wellington Man-power Committee was unable to answer the question when a man calling himself a minister of religion 1 -appealed for exemption from military service. Mr M. Sullivan, secretary and Crown representative on the committee, said no definite ruling had been secured from the authorities as to what actually constituted a religion, except a general definition. * Any group of personables not engaged in subversive activity could call themselves a religious body. There was no hard-and-fast rule, and a clear official statement was required. Pending a definition, he adopted the general practice of ascertaining whether the appellant was entitled by law to perform marriages. In this case the appellant was a member of the Commonwealth Covenant Church (formerly the British Israelites), and he was listed as a person entitled to perform marriages. In view of the difficulty encountered in cases of,this nature, the committee decided to ask the Director of National Service for some clarification of the position. In the meantime, decision on the appeal was held over.