MORE INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 9, 6 October 1941, Page 8

MORE INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT

Requirement Of Dominion ARCHDEACON’S ADDRESS There was nothing New Zealand needed more today than the development of individuality, said the Yen. Archdeacon Bullock, preaching at St. Peter’s Church, Wellington, last night. People were liable to think that when the individualist was derided it meant that individuality was of no moment. “We are not intended to be like sheep drafted into pens of opinion either by the whims of lordship or the whips of party bosses,” he said. “Yet there is a real danger lest we wait, for our opinions to be made by wisps of gossip or mutterings behind closed doors. The life of our people demands the development’of the individual whois not afraid to live his own life, possess his own soul, think his own thoughts, and, when need arises, to speak them.” Referring to the frequent use by politicians of the term “that rugged individualist,” Archdeacon Bullock said that words and slogans used often enough had the power of shaping people’s thoughts. “What is, wrong with this rugged individualist?” he asked. “Is it his ruggedness or his individualism that is at fault? If it is ruggedness I should be much more afraid of a smooth individualist like Uriah Heap. It may ffie, of course, that those who use this American term are thinking of the social philosophy called individualism, or of the Manchester school of unlimited competition and the creed of ‘everyone for himself and the devil for the hindmost.’ But I question whether ail rugged individualists come within that category. There is the type of rugged individualist who believes in living his own life, possessing his own soul, thinking his own thoughts, and,, if need, be, speaking them. Yet be is. not an unsocial creature, unaware of his debt to the community and his duties and obligations for the common good. He is simply a strong character. Let us be careful, therefore, lest when we condemn the individual- ■ Ist, we ’do not condemn also individuality. j “Let us take a few of these rugged individualists. It will not be difficult to see them, for they have a way of tower- ’ ing above the landscapes of history. First then, St. Paul. Here was a man with individuality enough. The authorities of the Church were proving very ‘sticky’ about some important questions affecting the progress of the Christian Church. St. Paul journeyed to Jerusalem and. met them. He plainly told them his mind. He withstood them to the face and carried the day. And what was it all about? It was concerned with the question of whether the Christian Church should remain confined to a select few of one race, or should accept foreigners and outsiders on reasonable terms to the privileges of the Gospel and membership of the . Body. And this rugged individualist persisted and did more than all toward Christianizing Europe.” Archdeacon Bullock gave other examples of rugged individualists, mentioning Luther, Cromwell and Lincoln. “Lastly, let us look at Mr. Winston Churchill, the most rugged individual of his time, who was so keen on ploughing his own furrow that it was openly said for years he could never be Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was too independent in his thinking. But when the hour of crisis struck, he was called, and his record speaks for itself. It is sufficient to say that no man hasguarded more carefully the constitutional rights of the people, and when he speaks, it is the voice of the Britts J people.”