The World of Religion

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23157, 1 October 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

The World of Religion

By PHILEMON

AMONG modern institutions and f\ forms of government none is <*•«*- being more severely tested in our times than the democratic state. A generation ago democracy seemod to be the last word in civilised government, though even then a few keen observers detected the early signs of a reaction which has proceeded with accelerated pace since the Great War. The view'that democracy, as we know it, is radically ineffective has swept whole nations into bondage to the autocrat, and even among peoples to whose genius the totalitarian state is utterly foreign many arc preparing themselves for profound cationsWe need have no fear as to what the end will bo among Knglish-speaking pooplos. The csentia) principles, upon which the form of democracy which we have evolved through the centuries is based, have proved themselves amid many, and ofton fiery, tests, and as the history of our political institutions show? have embodied themselves in progressive modifications to meet the demands of changing times. For democracy is not a rigid form; it is a method, a spirit, an active, self-shap-ing principle, and like all living things it has an inherent power of adaptation, But the security of democracy depends not merely upon its value as an ideal for the State. In tho last word it is found to depend upon tho character of the men and women whom it produces and upon tho wisdom of those whom they select to rule. Influence of Church The freedom we cherish makes demands upon us which servitude can never do. ]t calls for higher qualities of intellect and heart and will than where minds are. drilled in regimented squads. The future of the democratic state i,s secure only where the citizens cultivate jcharactor and individuality, deepen their sympathies toward their follow citizens, accept and fit themselves for responsibility in tho pursuit of their ideals, and share freely with others tlio activities which maintain and develop the ordered life of tho people. And it is to the influence of the Christian Church, in its principles tho most democratic institution tho world has known, that tho community has a right to look, not for tho enunciation of particular policies, but for tho production of men and women moved by tho loftier ideals nncl stirred by tho deeper motives which exalt national life and give it a security based upon foundations that cannot bo shakenWe are thus brought face 1o face with the place of religion in tho life of a people. It is tho potont force which creates the good citizen. "Wo politicians are children playing with toys in comparison to that great work of and for humanity which has to bo dono . . . in restoring beliof," wrote Gladstone to tho Duke of Argyll. No nation can live by its wits and its expedients. Tricks out of tho political box cannot save the world. Sooner or later wo must fall back upon qualities which it is the supremo function of religion to foster. In All Our Activities

There is deep-seated prejudice in some circles against what is callod "bringing religion into politics," but it cannot be kept out if it is really religion at all. The Christian spirit is meant to permeate all human activities, both in the daily tasks and private interests of the individual and in the larger affairs pf state and of the world. "Religion is not an affair of Christians in churches," said Earl Baldwin ft while ago; "it is an affair of Chyipt-r ians in politics, in diplomacy, in trade, in industry, in school, in sport." Ho who doubts it must reckon with Moses, with Isaiah i with our Lord Himself,

The business of the State becomies increasingly concerned with questions that have a moral complexion and are solvable only in what we call ft spiritual atmosphere. The problems of intemperance and the undisciplined life, of a proper education for our youth, of employment and inequality of privilege, of poverty and distress, of peace and the way to international all these there is a Christian solution, and there-is no other. Thus it is from religious faith, in tho broadest sense of the word, that either diroctly or at second-hand, men draw tho enthusiasms which carry tho policies of state to their most just and benevolent achievements. Let men think themselves but striving, selfpeeking animals of a higher sort, and we shall be back in the jungle in a generation or two,

Leading the Way The very last charge thai can be laid against the Christian faith is that it begets other worldly theorists and dreamers, The Christian of all men will strive to get things done and in his own circle of influence will lead the way. Ideals havo 110 value for him save an they are possible of embodiment in human lives and in the conditions amid which these have to be lived. And in the pursuit of such practical ends ho will join with those who wage ceaseless war with the primitive jealousies that divide nation from nation and with the rivalry and self-peeking that prosper with their own interests over the advantage of the less for* tunate. The driving power of religion has in the post brought many unhopeful causes to victory and, in spite of all contrary seeming, it will do so again. It is indeed to*day nerving men for supreme and costly devotion to principle and truth, And it lifts them above all inferior loyalties. "The cause of my party is the cause of God's Kingdom,'' said Savonarola with flashing eyes to Romola, seeking to compel her action. "1 do not believe it," flung back the girl; "God's Kingdom is something widor--el.se let mo stand outside it with the beings that I love." The standard of citizenship has never been higher among us than it is today. Men and women of goodwill and capacity, who seek the public welfare, are found in every city and country, in churoh courts and civil councils,' and in >nany influential societies at work in various fields for the common good, The very challenge of the times produces them. And .vet there are many who take with a freo hand the bener fits of our ordered life and make but an indifferent return. Let them hear tho words of Sir Henry Jones, prominent among tho economists of his day, spoken to his uni\ vcrsity class .at Glasgow—"Put down al) the services that you have rendered to your country and put n good price upon them. Then put down on the other side all the services which your country has rendered to you, and east up tho account," Ho who has tho courage) to do so will soon divscovor a large and indisputable debt. And the Christian man will make haste to discharge it.