BANISHMENT OF FEAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21111, 19 February 1932, Page 11

BANISHMENT OF FEAR.

MISSION OF THE CHURCH.

CHRISTIAN GUIDANCE NEEDED.

HELP FOR' WORLD UNREST.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CIIRISTCHURCH, Thursday.

"Religion is rotten at the core when it loses its relation to daily life, and has no moral potency for the creation of a better world," declared tho Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt, tho newly-elected president of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, in the course of his inaugural address this evening at the opening session of tho Church's annual conference.

In tho very hour when tho well-being of tho world hung in tho balance, tho president continued, and statesmen, diplomatists, economists, captains of industry, and labour leaders alike were reduced to bewildered impotenco by tho situation, it was undeniable that much of the world's life was out of accord with the Christian ideal and uncontrolled by the Christian spirit. It was a situation that constituted a definite challenge to the Church of Jesus Christ, which must courageously explore tho meaning of the Gospel for modern society, providing moral leadership and initiating constructive action in the promotion of every cause of truth, right and justice. Industrial Changes. Referring to what he described as the collapse of the competitive industrial system, Mr. Pratt said the time had come to decide whether the inevitable, radical and impending changes in that system should be led and guided by Christian leaders, or otherwise. Oppressed by a sense of social mal-adjustment which, it was affirmed, denied them a fair measure of tho fruits of their labour, large masses of the people had come to regard the ideals of Jesus and the facts of life as mutually contradictory. The golden rule, they declared, was over-ridden by the rule of gold, and human personality regarded as of inferior value to riches, rank and power. In addressing itself to the social problem thus created, the Church must supply or inspir? intelligent leadership of the crusade for a new world order.

Eliminating extremists, whether of capital or labour, Mr. Pratt emphasised that there was no lack of high-minded leadership, on both sides, prepared to confer, in a spirit of conciliation and reason, with a view to achieving a solution of the industrial issues in dispute. It was nothing but fear that kept these leaders apart and blocked progress toward a better understanding—fear sitting with tho financial magnates and the company directors, with employers and labour leaders; fear dictating the policy that called for wage cuts and \ dismissal of workers; fear buttoning up the pockets of people whose income was still intact; fear arresting the circulation of money, and thus aggravating the economic position. It was time to banish these fear-inspiring ogres of the imagination, by whatever name called.

Tragedy of the Workless. "It is one of the anomalies of. the situation," the speaker continued, "that in spite of tho world surplus of money, goods and foodstuffs, millions of men should be unemployed, that thousands of our own citizens should be dependent on charity for maintenance, that decent, able-bodied men should be seen tramping our streets, sinking into despair, and becoming unemployable through loss of self-respect. A situation so disquieting surely indicates something fundamentally wrong with our social and fiscal svstem."

Stressing the human, as distinct from tho economic aspects of the problem, the president urged it was the duty of the Christian Church to help in finding such a solution of it as would safeguard moral character and preserve the human quality of national life. No Act of Parliament could make the greedy man generous, or the lazy man industrious. This was the unique province 'of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone dealt with the ultimate causes of social unrest—;sin in the individual and selfishness in SQciety.

Dealing with world peace, Mr. Pratt declared that with the growing consciousness of world solidarity, the common conscience demanded that the Christian Church lead the way in effecting race reconciliation. If the Geneva Disarmament Conference were wrecked on the rock of fear, they could look for no drastic reduction of colossal, wasteful and provocative expenditure on armaments, no real assurance of peace, no enhancement of international goodwill, and no emergence of a happier, more satisfied, and more brotherly world. The following officers were elected: — Vice-president, Mr. J. Voss ; president for 1955, the Rev. A. J. Seamer; secretary for 1933, the Rev. J. H. Haslam.