NEW GOLDEN CALF
Has Four Wheels And Is Fed On Petrol
The drift from religion was discussed by the General Assembly of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches at Leeds.
The Rev. William Whitaker said that churches and chapels were suffering from what he called the “back draught of tradition.”
"Have we taken to heart the fact that our churches and chapels are in danger of being snuffed out?” he asked. “There is a tremendous call to-day to look to religion in a realistic spirit. Unless we do wake up to the realism of the situation the world will simply sweep us away and say, ‘We have had enough of you.’ ” Sir Sydney Jones, Liverpool, said that they must all deplore the fact that the churches and chapels of England were to-day all too big for those who worshipped in them. There was a very definite slump. One of the reasons, he thought, was that people were all immersed in the idea of speed. Young people were obsessed by it. “We are all to-day under the influence of the Diesel engine,” he said. The present age has set up a golden calf to worship and if has four wheels and is fed on petrol.” Another trouble was that there was a lack of enthusiasm for religion not only among the laity, but among some of the ministers.
“If a minister.’’ he said, “thinks he could have done better as a politician or as a film star, then he is unworthy of the position he holds, and if laymen welcome excuses to remain away from church, then they, too, are unworthy.”
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 204, 26 May 1938, Page 11
Word Count
270NEW GOLDEN CALF Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 204, 26 May 1938, Page 11
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