OUTSPOKEN SERMON

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 148, 25 June 1945, Page 6

OUTSPOKEN SERMON

DECLINE IN MORAL STANDARD

The life and work of John the Baptist were a pattern in everyday life for the education of young people, the Government of the country, and man's attitude to his fellows, said the Vicar of St. Thomas's, Newtown, the Rev. K. D. Andrews-Baxter, in a sermon last night. t Citing John's upbraiding of people in high places when he found cause, the preacher advocated a third party—the Christian Party—in Parliament, and said New Zealand must be ruled by godly men. He did not mean, he said, that the' members of Parliament were ungodly, but felt that true government could only be attained by men whose chief aim was Christian. John could not have been a bad man, said Mr. Andrews-Baxter, because the upbringing he received from his parents had been righteous. He wondered in how many instances today both parents could truly be called righteous. The child followed the example of the parents, and the proper training could only be achieved by bringing religion back to the home. "Millions have been spent in this war, and rightly so," he said, '"so why cannot two or three millions be spent in the peace.to bring about some of the reforms that are so urgently needed? A proper system of new Borstals —not the buildings but the underlying policy of the reclamation of their inmates—is urgently needed, and so is a proper provision for the old people, who were the pioneers, and who deserve well of their country- What better war memorial could there be than such an institution as an old people's village, where the members are housed in single- and double-unit houses with proper facilities?" AFRAID TO OFFEND LEADERS. John had not hesitated to speak ! against people in high places, where !it was necessary, he continued, but •how often in modern life were people afraid to offend the leaders, even in the Church? Nor did John hesitate to admit that there was a greater than he, but too often, both in Church and State, people clung .to their high positions and would hot admit the ad- j ! yancement of others or their sub- j ordination to a master. The preacher recalled John's challenge to • a king on moral grounds, but said that soldiers' wives today seemed to be fair game while their husbands were overseas ,to men who probably had not the courage to go to the war. John was great in his regard of the multitude and of those in need, so why should watersiders in New Zealand I quarrel with their butter ration, and why should miners in New Zealand ask for more butter than miners in England? In an illustration of the lack of respect for .morals in the present day, Mr. Andrews-Baxter criticised the Victoria College oapping magazine, which he said he had refused to let his son read. The magazine was wrong because of its suggestiveness, and its moral tone was.not good. Yet it had been produced by educated men and women from whom one should reasonably be able to expect a lead in culture and righteousness. At the present time people did not show a proper regard for morality, as the statistics for abortion showed. New Zealand's moral standard must be raised if the country was] to fulfil its destiny and be justly" claimed "God's own country."