SEX AND THE CHURCH

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 284, 30 November 1944, Page 4

SEX AND THE CHURCH

While there is some truth in the assertions made by Dr. Norman Haire that the Church surrounded sex matters with an atmosphere of shame, and endeavoured to keep its flock unenlightened, that is too wide a generalisation to be accepted as the whole truth. There are many church leaders who have been advocates of movements whose aims were a sane, honest approach to sex. To quote only a few:—A sermon preached in Westminster Abbey, by Dr. Percy Dearmer, Canon of Westminster, in January, 1932, and published in the Church of England Newspaper, was printed in leaflet form and used extensively for propaganda purposes by the society now known as the Family Planning Association in Great Britain. Rev. Dr. Herbert Gray is well known for his excellent publications on sex, while Dr. Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham, is associated with progressive thought on sex matters. The pronouncements of the Lambeth Conference on the need for birth control knowledge were made before clinics for that purpose were as generally accepted as they now are in England. In America the Family Planning Association has had the full approval and co-operation of all the leading Protestant churches for many years, whilte in New Zealand much excellent work is being done at present by the churches to educate youth in sex matters. MARIE GRIFFIN.