Christianity and race relations

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32873, 23 March 1972, Page 7

Christianity and race relations

People had got the idea that they knew better than God how to solve human problems, the Rev H. Vercoe said in Christchurch

yesterday. In an address on “The future in a multiracial society,*’ given at the final day of the Interchurch School, Mr Vercoe said true equality between races could only come when Christian principles were adhered to.

“When we love and accept a person for what he is, not what we would like him to bp, true understanding results. That is a Christian principle, and race does not enter into it,*’ Mr Vercoe said. He did not feel New Zea-

land had a racial problem. “The news media, and visitors from overseas, tell us we have problems; and if we are not careful, we will end up believing them,” he said. Education, Mr Vercoe said, was not the answer to racial tensions. “Look at the wortd today. Never before have we been so highly educated, but in just about every nation there is strife of some sort. It is not caused by racial problems, but by a lack of understanding and ignorance of Christian principles.” Children had no racial animosity towards one another. If a child had a grudge against another child it was not with racial bias. “As soon as the child becomes an adult, he begins to react differently. Maybe

we should return to childhood to deal with this problem,” Mr Vercoe said. There were no “fundamental human rights,” he said. “The New Testament says that rights only follow fulfilment of duties.”

“When we talk about a multi-racial society, we are not only talking about New Zealand. We are talking about the E.E.C., the Pacific Basin, Australia, and the whole world.” The Inter-church School, an annual event organised by the women’s committee of the National Council of Churches (Christchurch branch), closed yesterday after a panel discussion between Miss Jean Morland, Mrs Shirley Mangin, and the Rev. I. Hopkins.