DEFENCE ACT.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19675, 19 July 1929, Page 10

DEFENCE ACT.

ATTITUDE OF DIVINITY STUDENTS. HON. MR THOMSON'S VIEWS. [TKM WM Special Ssrrtet.J DUNEDIN, July 18. In a letter to the Press, the Hon. Mr Thomson, M.L.C., criticises the attitude of certain theological students in Auckland towards military training, and raises the question of their fitness to undertake the work of the Church in years to come. The letter reads as follows: ; "There are a few young man in Auck- j laud who hope to qualify as clergymen j of the Presbyterian Church, but who j hold very foolish views on the question j of obeying the laws of the land. These { young men are posing as martyrs possessed of such tender consciences that they will not perform the service which ! they are called on to render the com- ■ menity, even when it has so semblance . of military doty. The civil Magistrate : can be left to deal with these ignorant j people on the legal question, hut the , question I wish to raise before the j highest Court of our Church is this:— j Arc these men with such a perverted i sense of duty fit to be clergymen and j instructors of other men! " In the i oj.inion of a large section of Presby- ; terians they most decidedly are not. ■ "If the Church gives its endorsement i to such views by licensing them to » preach the Gospelof Jesus Christ, Who taught obedience to the civil laws of His country, it would be doing harm to I the common sense of the Church and an injustice to the young men themselves. In their own interests thev i should withdraw from the ranks of those who seek to enter the Presby- I terian Church as pastors. We want all the sanity we can get among our clergv, t whose task is increasingly difficult in I these days of lax living, but we do not ) want cranks, who do more harm thsn good by driving people from the ' Church. I ask the Chureh to consider ] this question and to give a pronouncement upon it. Conscientious objection is a thing to be dealt with Underhand wisely, but the action of these young men savours largely of vanity and obduracy, and the que'stion arises: —Are they the right sort of persons > to be the instructors or vouth and j spiritual leaders of their fellow men?" i The Bev Dr. Merrington, convener of the Public Questions Committee, l stated this morning, in answer to an ' enquiry, that no action had as vet been ! in the matter.