NEEDED TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 84, 6 October 1941, Page 6

NEEDED TODAY

THE INDIVIDUALIST

HIS PLACE IN PROGRESS

HISTORY'S LESSONS

"That terrible fellow—the rugged individualist" was the subject of a sermon by the Ven. Archdeacon Bullock at St. Peter's Church last evening. There was nothing New Zealand needed more today than the development of individuality, he said. They were not intended to be like sheep drafted into pens of opinion either by the whims of lordship or the whips of party bosses. Yet there was a real danger lest they waited for their opinions to be made by wisps of gossip or mutterihgs behind closed doors. The life of the .people demanded the development of the individual who was. not afraid to live his own life, possess his own soul, think his own thoughts, and, when need arose, 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 be, 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 all 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 he 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 individualist we also condemn individuality. LANDSCAPE OF HISTORY. "Let us take a few of these rugged individualists. It will not be difficult to see them, for- they have a way of towering 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 tb 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 this1 rugged individualist persisted and did more than all towards Christianising Europe.-' Other Individualists mentioned by the Archdeacon were Luther, "who gave to the people for the first time a common hope"; Cromwell, "who was rugged enough in all respects, yet under him England was known for the first time as a Commonwealth"; and Abraham Lincoln, under, whom America became the land of the -free. NAPOLEONS AND HITLERS. "Lastly," said the Archdeacon, "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 has guarded moi*e carefully the constitutional rights of the people, and when he speaks it is the voice of the British people." "Of course, you may say there are Napoleons and Hitlers also. There are. But because some bananas are below standard, you do not throw all the rest into the dustbin. Even in our House of Representatives there are some rugged individualists —on. both sides of the House. And what the parties would do without them I do not know. "I have said these things not to support a political creed, but to avert a confusion of thought. There is nothing New Zealand needs more today than the development of individuality. And we are liable to think that when the individualist is derided it means that individuality ,is of no moment."