CHIEF CAUSE OF CHAOS

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 8

CHIEF CAUSE OF CHAOS

ETHICAL PROGRESS BACKWARD.

dazzled by discoveries.”

'-’They have forsaken Me the fountain living waters and. hewed them out dsterns, broken cisterns that can hold po water.”—Jeremiah 2-13. The main cause of the chaotic state «f the world to-day was given by the Rt, Rev. T. H. Sprott, Bishop of Wellington, preaching at Hawera on Sunas the failure of ethical development to keep pace' with scientific deBecause of that failure the i»»ientific discoveries\ of the past halfeentury had become at best an ambiguous blessing and at worst a curse. Never had there been a more moment©ns period than the past oO years, said the bishop, momentous not. for one. people only but for the whole world. It was • not an exaggeration to say that the whole world to-day was in . a state of chaos, economic, .social,, political, jtoral and religious. This chaos had not come as a bolt from the blue for there were causes lading up to it. It was not possible jo say when they had commenced to ■ operate but in the past 50 years they had become visible. As their . result civilisation was being shaken to _ its foundations.. Some thoughtful writers believed even that civilisation was doomed and that the world.to-day was watching its death throes. Many of the causes were obscure but the chief of them was that about 50 years ago the world began to get jan entirely one-sided view of what civilisation meant.’ The processes of civilisation were two-fold. In the first man sought with his reason to. control the forces -of nature. In the second he sought with his moral reason to control his own passions, anarchic impulses and selfishness. The second or ethical process was more important sinpe it sought to use the results of the. former not for exploitation or destruction but for the common good.- The tragedy was that to a large extent the second element was lacking. Man had made marvellous progress in controlling' the forces of nature. He had become so bedazzled with his splendid achievements .that he mistook them for civilisation. . There was nothing wrong with scientific discovery. .It -was part .of the World’s divine heritage, but ethical development had been more and more thrust into the background. It had not kept pace with the development 0.. man’s powers which were often used -or destructive purposes. The world" to'-day was unified. That involved new responsibilities and new duties not realised yet because ethical development had -not kept pace. The League of Nations, disarmament eonferences, convention after convention, had' been practically futile owing to the imperfect moral development of. the nations. They .were filled withe mutual distrust, suspicion and fear. What charice had these complex-problems of solution when they were not approached with clear, unprejudiced u minds; how oould they get a reasonable, wise, sane solution? ” ’ ’ , , Why had the moral development not hept pace? Man had become bedazzled with the splendour of his material conquests. Though it had- not been necessary, scientists 50 or 60 years ago had taken a: material view, holding that the only eternal thing in the universe was matter with. - behind it no mind. So arose the .-.mechanical -idea, - To-day scientists of the first rank- did-not have those ideas. .. Under the-;', influence of materialism moral law became a mere ■ human convention. So Jong as - man believed in God and moral law as the expression of God he was able to believe in the ethical fundamentals. When, he ceased to do so he lost the power of controlling his passions and impulses. Man having forsaken God, his discoveries became broken cisterns that would _ hold no water and they would perish in the wilderness. . ... What, was the duty of the Church m fJhe crisis? It should get back.-to God for without God it could attain, no ethical revival. . There was a danger of the individual being lost in the crowd but the revival eould not be in the mass; it had to be one by one. People should make a •practice of having God in their hearts; return to the' old religious life with meditation on the greatness of God; recover their lost conscience. Then the amazing achievements of science instead of being at best an ambiguous blessing »nd at worst a curse would become a \arge and rich blessing.

WEW THEATRE, OPUNAKE.

“LAUGH AND GET RICH.”

®Usugli end Get Rich,” the quick action comedy which opens a, two-night season at the’ New Theatre, Opunake, to-night, is characteristically American in its spirited merry-making. It is. essentially a story of home folk into which is woven the joys, .hopes, heartaches, desires and fun loving attributes of American people. The situations in the picture stress the human note in its comic phases, so that we can laugh at others as we have laughed at ourselves. That, with a charming love etory, makes “Laugh and Get Rich one of the finest family entertainments of the year. The picture not only sparkles with humour in situation and dialogue, but it also, contains many a delightful, surprise. Three of the screen’s outstanding comedy favourites are featured in this bright and merry story— Edna May. Oliver, Hugh Herbert and Dorothy Lee. The two former run. a boarding house in a small town, while Dorothy Lee as their daughter is in love with Larry, the • inventor of a whistling valve for flat tyres. Meanwhile the father has become interested, in a wild cat oil development and, believing that a gusher has been struck and he is wealthy, lives- up to it. It proves a fake, but the whistling valve turns up trumps; However, the only way to understand the picture’s appeal, is, to gee it, and that the public is advisea to do There is a strong supporting programme and the prices and reserves are Xs- usual.. On ' Wednesday. there ..will be a special screening in aid. of the funds of the-branch of the Returned Soldiers • Association which has recently been established at Opunake, and appropriately enough the picture is to be All Quiet on the Western Front. This will appeal' to all sections.