THE CHURCH AND SPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 4

THE CHURCH AND SPORT.

Sir,—Perhaps the presiding deities of the racecourse will feel a little uneasy an the championship of the Rev. Jasper Calder. It really requires a very subtle and, one is inclined to add "Pagan," intellect to make an effective and convincing defence of the racecourse, -with all that it implies. To defend what is generally regarded as its most demoralising influence, namely gambling, in the nemo of Christianity is a task from which a less courageous man than ,Mr. Calder might have shrunk. If Mr. Calder may be congratulated on his boldness in rushing in where angels might have feared to tread, few people will be inclined to disagree with him in at least two of his statements. Perhaps not even a pious jockey would doubt "that clean wholesome sport was quite compatible with true Christianity" and the suggestion that racegoers may be " eternally lost" is not seriously entertained outside ecclesiastical edifices. - ..."

It would, no doubt, be unreasonable to expect from Mr. Calder any definition, of gambling or any analysis of those ethical principles on which right and Wrong aii3, in particular, the ethics of an. act of gambling are based. This guide, -philosopher' and friend tells us only that the morality depends upon the size of oar purses, and it -, is without, surprise one finds that he seeks] authority from words which are not in the; Prayer Book. . One cannot but be sorry to near of this slackness on the part of; the compilers and hope that such omissions are rare. It would be presumptuous to preach to Mr. Calder, but even profane- literature has pointed out that Christianity implies some kind of sacrifice for the weak, the struggling, the vicious. Is Mr. Calder unaware that even'if gambling may be defended in the abstract, its wrecks are continually cast up in our law" .courts and form the staple of periodic sermons from our Judges? The association of the religion which regards man as his brother's keeper with a habit ciimmouly regarded as a national vice is enough to bring a smile even to the visage of the unbeliever. The appeal to " all sports" is, if possible the most spurious part of an address, the report of which it is to be hoped Mr. Calder will be able to explain away. For his meditation, however I shall state a, proposition which I believe to be true. It is this—whenever the element of pecuniary gain becomes a factor in Bport, the sport immediately tends to become unclean. The history of boxing, cycling, football, running, will afford many illustrations. I would further suggest to Mr. Calder that as Christianity has failed to supply him with a reason for avoiding the racecourse, he will find one in the fact that racing is a sport more dependent upon money than any other: that it is more tainted with the element of pecuniary gain: and that an , investigation will show that the tendency I have remarked works out in this case faithfully and inevitably. I would even suggest that not even a connection with a church and its ministers can be expected to redeem this most "professional" of all sports from the effects of an inherently vicious tendency. Having no authority to act as another man's conscience, and attaching some weight to the view taken by Browning in "The. Statue and the Bust" I can offer no overwhelming objection to Mr. Calder practising what no preaches. If he can bet with a clean conscience let him bet. But I would beg him, in the name of Oilbertian comedy, not to suggest to the profane that the founder of Christianity might by any possibility have been found wagering on a horse. I would also beg him not to reiterate the time-honoured fallacy that business speculation" necessarily involves gambling. Unfortunately the Stock Exchange is often a home of gambling, but probably it may also be a genuine institution for social service. This question, however, involves definition of terms and it need only be added that whero gambling begins the Stock Exchange and the bettingmachine will meet with equal justification or condemnation. F. A. de la Mabe.