FOREIGN MISSION

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11325, 1 October 1930, Page 2

FOREIGN MISSION

(To the Editor.) Sir,—l have been very interested in' the iiiaiiy paragraphs that have, appeared- feeeiitiy dealing -witli; Missions, jiart.ienla.rly those in Chula, India and Tibet. ' .It dawns 011 me after reading the narratives of these touring missionaries, tliat (lirrstianity and international goodwill might. lie. heller progressed if less Slice ring j al -the religions and peoples Uie.y | work among was:, indulged m by. the m. . . -. i For iustaneo, qiie 01.-them dealing with India, says ol Ghaikli: “l.nt wilellier lie is 0 great patriot or all agent of Moscow, who can -sayr j AVell. Sir, Ghandi has funglit for tlm Empire; lie it was who earned Lord. Roberts’ mortally wounded son out o, action at Cblehso. lit India, lie is | regarded almost as a . holy man, so ; much so that.' w ben he was sentenced to imprisonment, the inu’.gc paje | him that compliment and actually i asked the prisoner what sentence lie should give him. Then in -Saturday’s issue oi .yom . co litem [Kir ary Mf. Cunningham has much to say on Tibet. Of the priesu-, of that land, ho stales’that the Alls--sious “make absolutely ho. •success -. among them." Can', it- be that theLain as are. all so dense to their own interests, or. have they a. wider vis-, ion and can see that their own Lbtuldiftin is not the debased religion tnat Air. Cunningham says it is. IF )•- rather a pitv that- .such gross rejieetimis on a ’frieudly nation are permitted. I am sure' Unit, il a lffiuUdist priest came to. Now. Zealand ami spoke in that strain of our religion and homes, lie would soon be shown that he had outstayed his welcoino.. Further on, there is-related a-u episode of a Roman Catlipli.c priest who bad his whiskers pulled lor breaking Tibetiau law and that other AJissiqnavics invaded the country to rescue lihn. If a prohibited immigrant lands in this Dominion he is. imprisoned and punished and. if his coup-; tvvmen raided these shores and rescued him. -that would rightly be considered an -act- of war. I don t see •mv difference between the two acts, except that. Missionaries seem to .be a law unto them solves .and that tR young priest will probably be .jeai,lied in due course.. ' . Me reading, of Bhuddism does not lead me to ’ think of it-, ns either a debased or a Phallic religion. Cn the contrary,' “harmleSsne-ss is lai- • „elv taught, and that- virtue might I be studied with profit by these gentlemen.' Also, a little study oi .-> T*bailie religion, not a version of it, in igin alter then aiu-, •of a much misunderstood symbol. Now, leaving Air. Cuuningliani v.i come, in the same issue, to a ME Davies , who trounces the ConsulGeiiernl for China, in Sydney. So- > Mr Davies: “There is no countij n< the -world where the various chuvel. Missions work . so. haniioiuoush together,” Agreed, but- Mr. Davies. omits to say'that it was the demand- for managing the Atissio s and Churches m China which foiced -this wonderful .co-operation, not. Die spontaneous action ol the Missionaries. AA’hy the Chinese authorities have actually had to mterlere to stop fighting between two aifterent, orders ■-of • monks . operating • -Pekin,’ just as,on another occasion ■Mohammedan, troops had to >i|toivone.ro separate two Christian, sects fin Jerusalem. .No .doiibb. Alissionaries can do r*alliable work among, unevolved, primitive peoples as,,.say, in the Islands, but-,, among me. lug . y. evolved and cultured peonies, of Die East, they act very largely as .inter-, 'national mischief-makers. Of recent years,, thorn lias been so much talk of "the necessity of rescuuig Missionaries, who .. .have been stranded i;v isolated- districts- that I he ; general public can.hardly bo blamed if they oohclude the • Missionary 1S tile forerunner' of the -flag and commerce, and-withhold’ their sunport oi the Missions .accordingly. Aly intercourse with one'or'two Missionaries from the disturbed districts, of .China leads iuo to tli'ink that the risks of . molestation are not great, but, even ' if they .were-,--why should these martyrs shrink from their martyrdom, since they arc so sure they are right; . —I am,.yours;. etc,,.

• vAIVKX II- SCOTT. 10 Clifford Street. .