RELIGION IN POLITICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1922, Page 8

RELIGION IN POLITICS.

(To the Editor.) / Sir, —To those who regard intolerance a« an evil thing, and who desire toleration in matters of religion, the manner in which sectarianism was allowed to obscure the political issue during the last general election campaign was indeed a sad spectacle. In every electorate everything possible was done by a few misguided bigots to fan the flames of unreasonable and bitter sectarianism. The employed were most unworthy of professed Christians, and were certainly not appreciated by myself and thousands of other returned soldiers whose experience on the battlefield had shown that denominations counted for nothing, and that manliness and fair play and the sporting spirit—i.e., the golden rule —counted for everything. It mattered not over there whether a padre was a Catholic or Protestant, so long as he “did his job,” and loved the digger as a brother in Christ. During that awful time, Catholics and Protestants were brothers in a common danger and before a common foe. Theirs was the spirit of Christianity (not the work they were engaged in) and not the bitterness of sectarianism one finds in New Zealand politics today. The religion of many is not Christianity but anti-Romanism. Js there any need for all the bitterness and propaganda? Protestantism, in tui its forms, is the accepted religious view of about, three-fourths of the people of New Zealand, and cannot bo seriously regarded, except by those blended by bigotry, as endangered by the presence of Catholics in tho country. It is accordingly a matter for regret that men like Howard Elliott and other punyminded individuals are allowed to disrupt the unity which exists between Catholics and non-Catholics in this fair country. At each election tho religious issue is drawn into politics, and has a marked effect on the actions of those whose ignorance and intolerance is abysmal. There is no need for this sec- ; tarianism, which is a travesty on Chrisj tianity. It is no wonder thinking people are leaving the churches to seek a philosophy of their own. It is the duty : of all good citizens, no matter what j their religion, to live in peace and harmony with their neighbors, and not be ' Christians only with the lip. Thcfee ■ who profess Christianity, and at the same time act like pagans, should ' examine themselves to see how their conduct falls in with their professions. Under our glorious constitution, and the freedom it confers, members of all denominations have the right to live without persecution, and may the da> T be not. far distant when a young New Zealand partv will arise and put. an end to this sectarianism strife. There is no room for this imported shibboleth, or imported gutter agitators, in this enlightened country *of ours. The message of the lowly Nazarene is clear to all.—l am, etc., A NEW ZEALAND DIGGER. Opunake, November 22.