The Bay of Plenty Times THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1942 SOMETHING NEW IN A NEW WORLD

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 13801, 19 November 1942, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Times THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1942 SOMETHING NEW IN A NEW WORLD

We have heard of new orders and Charters. They have been foreshadowed by many prominent men in many countries, and the mere fact that they have been foreshadowed shows the trend or thought to-day. The most important of the foreshadowed new orders, at least in New Zealand, is the new Christian order, which, it is satisfactory to know, is being energetically urged by the Churches. But what is the new Christian order? Is it really new? The laws of Christianity are God-given, and therefore unchanging and unchangeable, and therefore eternal. There can thus be no new Christian laws. What the churches are really advocating is a return to the beliefs and faiths and rules of conduct that are our heritage and which have come to us through the centuries. It is not a new order but a new spirit that would place true values on all the activities of life. Ever since the beginning of the present century men have shown a marked tendency to flout Christian laws and set up laws of their own, and it may be that the last great war which was formidable in itself, and the present war which so far has been unprecedentedly destructive in human lives, have been due td man’s departure from the Christian faith and the Divine laws. Perhaps the trials and tribulations that the nations are suffering and have suffered, will cause them to return to the fold like lost sheep. A new economic era after the war has also been foreshadowed by many, and here again it seems wrong to speak of new economics. Economics are natural laws, and they came in with the creation. Man has been placed on earth to work, and must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Man must work for the food, the clothing and the shelter that he needs. In placing man on the earth and ordaining that he should work, the Great Creator stocked the earth with an abundance of what man needs for his sustenance. If we work, as we should work, we are assured of abundance from the bountiful earth. The slogan is “work to live and live to work,” It is a noticeable fact that the pioneers who settled in New Zealand over a hundred years ago lived to great ages, at least that was the case with many of them. They had to work and work very hard, which, after all, is the very essence of life. Because we have to provide ourselves with food, clothing and shelter, we have so arranged our affairs that various sections work the earth for the supplies, which other sections prepare and distribute, and this we call our commercial or business life. The population of the world is evergrowing and yet the bulk of the people manage to find employment. This appears to be due to discoveries and inventions'. Think of the thousands that have found employment through the invention of wireless and the motor-car. In commercial life there is a code of honour, which is embalmed in the phrase, “Honesty is the best policy,” We believe that honesty is the best policy for all human activities. This is the basis of the new economics. A new Christian order and the Atlantic Charter would be

incomplete without a new political order. With the decadence of Christianity which began with the present century the decadence of the political system started, and the decadence since has been very rapid. In the politics of to-day honesty is not the best policy, but evasion, falsehoods in action, and “lying like a flat fish” are fashionable. Compulsion, control and restriction are quite new factors and State interference with man’s right to live his life according to his own lights is the curse of the nations. We must revert to the political ideals of the last century. These were started by Abraham Lincoln. Whatever the people can do for themselves as individuals, or in their corporate capacity, the State must not interfere.