PACIFISTS' VIEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 151, 28 June 1945, Page 6

PACIFISTS' VIEWS

QUESTIONS BY CROWN

AUCKLAND CASES HEARD

."Many or uiese men are alike in that they take the Christian doctrine as the grounds for their objection to war, yet tney cannot clearly explain their convictions on the basis of Christ's teaching," said Mr. L. J. Greenberg, director of detention camps and representative of the Crown, at the public sitting of the No. 1 Revision Authority, Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C., in St. Andrew's Hall this morning.

The applications of three conscientious objectors, now held in detention camps, for release on parole were heard. Mr. Greenberg was speaking during the hearing of an application by John Alan Lydster, who said that he was a member of the Methodist Church and objected to war as being against Christ's teaching. He also belonged to the Christian Pacifist Society. Mr. Greenberg: Did Christ lay it down that the good things of life should not be defended and that mercy should not be given to the suffering? Applicant: I can't quote any specific passages. I take Christ's teaching as a whole. Mr. Greenberg: Did Jesus raise any objection to service in the armed forces of the Roman Empire? Did he not pay tribute to the centurion's faith? Applicant said he could not answer that; all he could say was that he firmly believed that war was evil. Mr. Greenberg asked applicant if he did not think that the nations had been faced in the last four or five years with a bestial foe, to which Lydster replied that it was difficult to read the papers and not be influenced to some extent. He was prepared to admit the danger that had faced the Allies. He further agreed that the State had an obligation to "do something about it, one way or another." Mr. Greenberg: Who would you expose to it then? Who should do the dirty work? Should it not be shared by all citizens? Applicant: Individuals must act honestly according to their beliefs, even if it means chaos.

Former Soldier's Views

The fact that he had been in the I British Army in India for a period between the last war and this was the pivot on which interest centred during the hearing of an application by Charles Collyns. He said that his experiences when he took part m frontier warfare had crystallised for him the teachings of his mother, who had been a Pacifist, and turned him against war. He based his convictions on religious grounds, he said. In India he had been impressed by Ghandi's non-violence campaign. Asked by Mr. Greenberg why he had applied for a position as a signal instructor on the permanent staff of the New Zealand Army in _ 1936, applicant said he had had no job at the time and had been persuaded by his family and friends to do so against his will. He had later dropped the idea. The incident quoted from the New Testament, in which Christ took a whip to drive out the moneylenders in the Temple, was referred to by Mr. Greenberg when questioning Richard John Underwood, whose application was also based 9n religious grounds. When asked if that was not an occasion on which Christ had showed anger and used violence, applicant replied that it was not stated that he had actually "used" the whip against the people, but might only have waved it about in order to drive them out. All applicants conducted their cases themselves and called witnesses to give evidence as to the sincerity of their views.