"TROGLIDYTISM"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 17, 20 January 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

"TROGLIDYTISM"

On Religion

A i I it, oe in od■O. served, is not an insect with many legs, or a quadruped with two heads, or something which hangs down from the roof of a cave and' drips, but it is "one who creeps into holes." Now I have been getting into "holes" ever since I was born, and at least half* my mental energy has been spent in devising plans to get out of them. But I am not a troglodyte, because troglodytism has to do with real holes, and not just awkward situations. It is an interesting word, although I could not find it in my dictionary in the form in which I have used it in this article. Harold Nicholson, 31.P., in "Peoplo and Things," that most brilliant page in the "Spectator" for which week by week he is responsible, in any issue just to hand, has a good deal to say about a trip which he, and eight other members of Parliament, made to France, Ho gives a most telling description of that horrible feeling of uncertainty and fear which has taken hold upon all of us since war was declared. He likens it to the feeling which a man has when he suspects that he is a victim to some fell disease, and is afraid to consult a specialist lest his fears should bo confirmed. His-trip to France, he says, was like a trip to Harley Street, and what he saw there had the effect upon him of such words as "I assure you at once that there is nothing organically wrong." Oh, the sense of relief. For months past many of us have been wondering what ails the human family, that periodically and in various places it breaks out in such fits of violence and cruelty. Human nature which; in individuals, can be, and is, so attractive, and which has such a capacity for kindness, for friendship, for sacrifice, for love and all that is noble—but which in the aggregate is so disappointing. Even so, I think that the specialist could say in respect of it "there is nothing orgar ally wrong." Our troubles aro largi psychological. Troglodytism is more symptom than a disease. A symptom fear. It affects all nations. If dangi increase during the next fifty years the same rate as they have increas during the past fifty, then civilised m will become a troglodyte. A dweller holes instead of caves like his forbea I suppose you all know Kiplin; "SoDg of the Little Hunter." Very softly down the glade runs a waltii watching shade, And the whisper seems to. deepen 1 * and near. And the sweat is on thy brow, for passes cvon now— He is fear, O Little Hunter, he Fear! In respect of fear, man is not near so far advanced as he thinks he is aloi the road of progress. In past age 3 fc has given rise to many superstitions, fact most of those we know are born fear. We will not walk . under ladde for fear something fall on us. Lightii three cigarettes from one match is oi

by the - ■ ReO. C. If. Chandler

of the very natural superstitions which : arose during the Great War. It was . born of a fear that a match that was . alight long enough to light three 0 cigarettes would be likely to attract : enemy fire. Fear of bad luck makes : thirteen a very unpopular number. To break a mirror, spill the salt, or to hear a howling dog are each believed to be omens of an evil fate. Some consider ■ that religion is born of fear. It is cer- • tainly an antidote for fear, although it . need not be born of it any more than [ docks are born of stinging-nettles, or ' that a blue-bag is in any way related to 1 a bee's sting. Because it is natural for man to fear j that which he does not understand, it » was natural for him to fear the gods r when first he conceived the existence of ; the supernatural beings. As his know- • ledge of them increased his fears de- , creased. Eventually, polytheism gave way to monotheism, and as the revelation of one God was nearing completion, , David was able to say, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of , death, I will fear no evil," and the fear of death is the greatest of all fears. k The Psalmist fgund, therefore, that the greatest of all his fears was assuaged by the .knowledge wliicli he gained from faith and experience. With the advent ' of Jesus Christ came the possibility of ' complete liberation. Born-again Christians cannot fear. The act of conversion ; breaks the chain and sets the sinner free. As the bright beams of the sun completely dispel' the shades .of darkness, so the True Light "which lighteth every.man that cometh into the world", completely dispels the darkness of fc'ar and unbelief. The world is fear-ridden to-day because it is in a state of spiritual darkness. Our progress in the religious life can bo measured by the extent to which we have conquered the fear of poverty, of sickness, or of death. Each of these conditions is aggravated and encouraged by this ghastly spectre

of the imagination. "Perfect love casteth cut fear," and no evil can befall those who have-"been made perfect in love." These statements can bear the most searching analysis, and because they are true they will withstand every attack that is made upon them. Because nothing can be so evil as to be devoid of good, we .must not lose sight of man's gain from fear. It has goaded him on in the search for truth. "It has had its uses in the evolutionary process, and seems to constitute the - whole. of forethought in most animals, but that it should remain any part of the mental equipment of human civilised life is an absurdity." Although troglodytism, like war itself is largely born of fear, Mr. Nicholson observes that a new spirit is being born

in tlioso subterranean passages on the frontiers of Germany anil France. It is the "cement spirit," or "I/esprit tie beton" as the Frenchmen call it. Already, lie asserts, it lias bound two nations together. So strongly reinforced have been the old bonds of friendship by this "cement spirit" that the barriers of language and custom have been broken down, and these nations have merged into inseparability. Making allowance for considerable exaggeration on the part of this astute, but not altogether disinterested observer, we cannot avoid expressing the hope that by a mighty contagion (far surpassing that of any plague) this spirit may overflow the various frontiers throughout the world, until Nation with natinn. land with land. Unarmed shall live as comrades free; In every heart and brain shall throb The pulso of one fraternity. Troglodytism will then be found to be a phase in the struggle for the conquest of fear, and not a condition natural to our estate as it is in the case of rabbits, moles, worms and conies. L