DANGER OF PAGANISM

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 167, 8 April 1908, Page 7

DANGER OF PAGANISM

BISHOP NEMAN'S REMARKS. CORROBORATIVE FACTS AND OPINIONS. RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK IN THE BAG! i BLOCKS. . (BT. TEtEGEAPII.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) • Auckland,. April 7. .The remarks of tho Anglican Bishop o: 'Auckland (Dr. Neligan), regarding tho dan ger of heathenism in the back blocks, hav< drawn. strongly corroborative statement! : from various quarters. The Rev. W. Graj Dixon,- of St./ David's Presbyterian Church Bays:— • ."Bishop Neligan is a man of strong convictions and ardent; enterprise, and it goes without saying that occasionally his, views may conflict somowhat .'with tho cherished , beliefs of many in the community. ,I. have myself , been ,'domanded of conscience' tc • 'cross -swords .with him,;'but ; thts fait . ought 1 to • predispose'. ono to; support' him all the ■. more readily when ono can do so conscientiously.' In' this case- anyone i who is at all v well informed as to tho religiouscondition blocks, must know that tho Bis : ; hop. is absolutely'correct, in his statement.' A few months ago,- when addressing' the ■ general a assembly of, the church/in Edin- - burgh, I : used almost the same words. Of ; course, that was not all I said. Speaking °f o,lr city life, and life in tho more settled . country, districts, I emphasised .the thoroughnoss.andattractiveness of our church orgahisationsj, venturing even .to dcclare .that [' in some ' respects' they compared; more than favourably , with tho best' at Home; but .in ; - order to: give> anything liko a well-balanced picture of. puri.religious; situation afc a whole, I had, on the other , hand/' to call attention to -the difficulty. tlid Church experienced in tho way. of . meoting'/the- spiritual needs of <. psoplo- scattered ; through' the remoter • bush, and to the. danger confronting theso peoplo of a lapse into positive paganism. THREE ILLUSTRATIONS. *• "I- gavo tw o -illustrations.-'"' y or on 6 - 0 f these I was indebted to a retired' officer ;of the'lmperial army; living in a remote-.town-' shiprof. tho-Auckland -peninsula. This officer vWas," distressed at .the neglected condition of ■ n the children.of the neighbourhood;in. respect to' so .'ho'gatheVed ten of them in a .class.- * He. began by .asking them if' they , knew-;whht 'it was "to pray.' Eight of tho tonr hadHhot. ,the. : , slightest idea. Only one was..in tno'-habit of .praying..:. : . :"/Tho other illustration' was given mo by : the Hobe' missionary, of -our.'-'chUrch in'thd - district referred to; Within twelvo miles of the corridor express passing on :its,;way .to .. Rotorua' a lady formed a; Sunday school of ■' SO children. ' She' found' that' r only two- ; out of the;3o had:ever heard-the name of Jesus \ ■■■.•-• •_/;'V'-";A'-''j^i^;'ill!B^atira\cMne r't»'-:myv-faqw-ledgd'only .this 'week. The- minister' of one • , of|'6hr>parishes;-iri-' the.'-htirtli recently went ;. on'.', a V preaching : excursion into the: - back . blocks. ; ;Mwting: a , smart-looking, boy on ;.the road ,ho, asked him in tho 'course, of conversation' r ifh'6' knew about' Jesus. . [.'No, 'who ' H e .-^' ; : the : boy ; answerikl, .' antV then' the" minister began .to tbll'hinv something of ■ the . 'wonderful life.. He a loud, rude laugh. ' You don't cxpcct me to be-"' liove: a yarn liko "that?' cried ; the boy. Now; is;,paganism;too.:strong aVword for':this . sort of think ? Personally I- feel inclined to ; . apologisij; to' many a pagan for. applying his ■' designation: to peoplo in such . a condition.' ■r ' 'The other day a pagan, Count Okuma, of ..- Japan, . in addressing ;the Chinese students i>. in- Tokio, said that, the .only :possible- and efficacious means of. harmonising . the 'East and tho West is found in love as taught by ' Confucius;: 541t ,'.seems-V hirdly ■ conceivable f; uthat .thej,e; sb,o.uldvjbQ/ajChine.sp./boy i'n'ho has. , neveriheard-. of Confucius, 1 boy, jvho has nefer heard of. Buddha ; and'vet hero ■''are 'heirs .of-the.:British Christian civilisation' .w ho have never theard Of-Jesus Christ.One: , positively,-,^envies. the , children, that go up, the hill to;.the ,Buddhist or Confucian temple ' i;in contrast to the'children 'of 'our own - kith '■• andVkin- v wh6.se; mirids ■ '• aro ; religiously •' such ■' an appalling blank. - ■;'A - ; AN ARCHDEACON'S VIEWS. " The Archdeacon of Waikato, ono of the 1 besMoved irfiriisters of tho 'diocese, and 'who . grey in Church service; in country districts.; of.."Auckland, .remarks, that; .'there- :. has-been no.gross exaggeration, as alleged by the newspapers. Ho goes on to say the ' ' Bishop/has ' simply been telling an - -truth j'. which we - do' not like to hear. . A whole generation has grown .up practically . without the Bible.-; years ago , the '.Government of .'this rcountry stopped< Bible 'teaching.' 7; They; refused allow tho ■ Bible to be .longer taught ih the schools; and : ;made no other' provision' to;supp]y tho Biblo's 'place, and -no other provision can bp -made* '■ 'to ,take."the, place of'.the' daily .school. The "'■'' Sunday sch'ool ;: might 'be valuable;' to ' focus : the . iossons of the weak, but it! is.-only a little better -.'than : when- it '-stands : alono. ' "What ;'grounding can possibly ,be . given' in; any: subject in -a" half-hour lesson . once a week? ; :But tho greater number of children go. to no Sunday school whatever. Some (have, no school to attend, others -would not attend .if-they'had; a school; Schools. • which have been established frequently have ■ to bo given up because not used. ; " . Again, there i 3 110 Biblo teaching given in : - most New Zealand' homes; ' Indeed, . v the l ma-' jority of parents' are not: competent to give it satisfactorily, for they have been, brought . up without the-Bible'themselves. The Bishop gives an instance of, ignorance of Ford's • ■' Prayer.]'-' I ■ wish I . could ■' believe that: this ' was only an exceptional-., case, 7 and not - J typical of the conditions of the .peoplo gene-' rally. A BISHOP'S WARNING. "The controversy, reminds mo .of the words ; of. a. former .Bishop of Melbourne. (Bishop ' ; -Moorehouse): ' Unless the colony. speedily ; restores the Bible to the schools the clergy in the'next;generation;.will find their occupation gone. They will be no longer pastors of-parishes; ; but,missionaries to the heathen.' Bishop: Moorehouse thus prophesieel j what : Bishop -Neligan begins to realise. Bishop - Moorehouse said heathenism was' comin". ~Bishop,'Neligan says .it lias begun to .come. iWhen Bishop Moorehouse went Home lie gave appalling statistics of Victorian crime. He showed; that crime had increased in ten years-by, 50 and 70 and'loo per cent. lie ; attributed ' this: to .tho; absence of Bible .'; teaching frorti the schools. . Bishop Moore- ■ house, as now. Bishop, Neligan,- was accused •. . of gross'.exaggeration, and the Victorian Go- ' vermnent'set a statist to check , his figures. When the.'statist made his report lie said that; the. Bishop's' figures were more than ; .justified. . .'. . • . .- .. " Bishop' Neligan is accused of placing-a. • - .wholesale stigma upon tho'people of tho I)o- - minion. .Ho certainly has. proclaimed tho , stigma, but ho did not create it.. It is there, and deserves to be known. The Government of. tho Dominion, is immediately responsible, and oach'elector not'remotely. BANNING OF THE BIBLE. • "Whilo.upholdirig the Bishop in his charges, I can sympathise with those who aro offended. ..Peoplo. do ; not like ' to be "called heathens. - People' generally, do not realiso the extent 1 of the loss entailed through'tho virtual banning of' tho Bible. Things do not 00k as bad. as they are. There is, moreover a remnant: of noblo . men and women diligently reading, and teaching and living, by the Biblo, all over the Dominion, and leavening society, everywhere'for good; • Thcro is at 'least,: a general appearance of all being :' -well; - . There' is a veneer of- religion and Christianity-, covering society. Thero is <t' certain general, respcct for' "religipn,: tlio . Churches, and tho Bible. Tho people, moreover, do riot wish to bo heathen, but the trouble is they do not tako care to bo' otherwise;'- -, ,:i' ; , , "Instead of eomplainiiig of the accusations of Bishop Neligan, we should be l'nore hone?t in confessing judgment, and resolving to amend our ways.' Wo have been guilty as a peoplo of-a wholesalo. fall from a high .pinnacle by casting: the Biblo aside. Let'us hewaro of the Paganism which has begun to ' be the result, and ' find some; means to put ■ tho Biblo back into' tho schools of the Dominion "