Conformity ‘tragic’ part of New Zealand life

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33068, 8 November 1972, Page 18

Conformity ‘tragic’ part of New Zealand life

Conformity, not cowardice, is the tragic but true opposite to courage in the present New Zealand way of life, and physical response is a non-answer to the human, spiritual, and social problems of this age. This was part of a message given to pupils of Riccarton High School last evening by the director of radio and television for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch (Father J. Coleman) at the school’s prize-giving. Fr Coleman told the pupils that understanding, knowledge, and a truthful analysis of life were not sufficient in themselves. What was neded was to reach the core of being within each person. “Don’t try to escape life. Understand it, appreciate it, embrace it, and live it to the full,” he said. “But life will never be easy, because the world you enter is a programmed world —through study, work, marriage, economic commitments —but it must not kill your spirit nor dampen your ardour for life itself,” Fr Coleman said.

Most people lived in "a rat race or rut race” and destroyed their spirit of freedom and joy of living through “a cancerous and competitive approach to life”—pride, power, and possessions. “In our affluent New Zealand society, this is a constant danger. You fill in the

right forms and say the right things—you are even graded for your righteousness. But you will never know the excitement and challenge of life—a security that comes from courage and constant endeavour.” •