Religious Activity

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 121, 15 February 1941, Page 16

Religious Activity

"It is not that only 10 per cent, of the population attend a place of worship. bn; that an .appreciable number of those who do attend cannot tie said to practise religion seriously," writes the Iter. J. C. Hardwick in the "Itibiierr -Journal." •They practise religion in church n<> more titan they practise lite drama when they attend a theatre or cinema. They tire spectators and listeners only. -One does not practise religion in order to become moral, tiny more limn one paints pictures either for th" sake of exercising one’s hand, or for the sake of stimulating the market lor pigments. •’The cases of religion ami art are exactly parallel, though they are rareIv represented as being so. Xo one would ever suggest Hial Hie practice of art consisted in being good, or io holding certain theories about sensation or colour, or in haunting picture galleries or watching other people paint Ar' consists in artistic activity, the active pursuit of one of the arts. "Simi’.arlv with religion: it consists of rcligimis ni t'vi'v. nml ’ho a"in this sphere, resulting tas nrn.v be

hoped) in enlisbtcntnent. purification, and a now quality of life and es]>erienee. • As a matter of fact, the aim in nil religions activity is I lie same ultimately as the aim in all scientific and artistic activity, that is to say knowledge of reality. And all knowledge of reality enables its possessor to utilize reality and exploit it: he thus attains fresh powers. ’To him that hath shall ■'And as science and art employ their special techniques for aft,•linin'-’ their object, so it is with religion. These techniques strengthen ami etilnrge lh<facullies of the individual who uses them: lie becomes courageous, self-re-liant. resolute, and aide to resist all hostile pressures brought to bear upon him."