CHURCH AND SOCIALISM

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13650, 18 July 1908, Page 2

CHURCH AND SOCIALISM

To the Editor of the'"Ti.maru Herald." •.Sir.—l, lor one, thank the- Rev. Mr. Outlrrrie for- !«-/= generous acknowleagernent than Socialism. "was not a seilish and sound movement." ai've have been told by some of our oppouents, and that, he aCMlow.e.ig.s that "ox":, colnd.llol W.m'■icr ill.ii at me patsionate- indignation nt the Snciaiis.s' of flits Old WVi.d at the inii.uitv of it all, and their cry was in the name, of eternal, justice." 'then he quolws Frederick Harrison as saying thai, we " wore g.au 111 1-titen lo aiwoi.J who came as a ltieiid, provided his menage who iioo that whatever is', is light,;' ~ Mr. liutluie. offeis himself as such a friend and asked his heareis to do the siiue, raying, "In to iar as this movement is a gie.it burning moral protest against the inutility and misery begotten by our preSeii. industrial organisation, 1 am with ii heart- ami i-oul'.' -Again "The Church mii-st be. just, and geiieiou.-t, to men \vh-< Ueie. facing a coll'lluull loe, and lllllSt see U. it that tli.i:e men shall feel that ih« Church and the great gospel of .Jesus Christ are in (he deepest, sympathy w.h the burning moral protest that is in their hearts."' 'that is well so far a.s it gens. But then the •'Church has no industrial or political programme." In fact "the Church dare not commit itself niiriservedly to anv, indnsi'i'ial or political scheme." One wonders why'/ The Church is an'ai* of ihe iniquity of the pm;ent iridrs rial system, it knows of the terrible misery and degradation of millions of the (ltd World 'caused by that, system; hut it has no programme. We have a pngramrae. \\'e have a sysl*-m which we are aiire will stop the. misery and degradation of those, millions of the Old World, But then the Church dare not commit itself to any political scheme. We know that it is only by a political scheme that the misery can" be" stopped. Well then, we can get no help from the Church, only us great •sympathy. Jiut sympathy- doesn't till hungry children's belli.fi, and that's what, we are af.er. Christ, "steered clear of temporary .social or political schemeo, whit-, enunciating principles and creating a spirit which, when they come to potass the heart of humanity would transform, all such schemes ami ijii-iiitiitioiis." Of course .hey would. But when will they conic lo po.i.-ss the heart of humanity '! We have been patiently waiting for that: transformation for an awfully long lime but we get no "forrader," hut the contrary, so lar as the .betterment of the masses are

concerned ; and so Jong as the Churches can only give us their sympathy and moral support we shall get* no forrader if we depend on that. We have depended on that too-long and meanwhile the people liave been starving. But, fortunately, there are large, and ever increasing numbers, both of ministers and Jaymen who read the signs differently to our rev. yonng friend. In May last, the Piesbvterian Svuod at Xeweas.le had a,

report from a committee on the state of Religion and Public -Morals, and the report leefified that "a great struggle has been ; going on, involving great questions of justice between man ana man, and Ihe Churches have been largely spectators." And, in reply to the charge that "the

Churches are in alliance with wealth,

the report admits "that if there be even a modicum of truth in the assertion (and there is, then surely here is a call to the Church to a task of repentance which must be performed before we can make any real advance. Throughout the country it is believed that bishops, clergymen, anil ministets alike tend to take a. charitable view of the sins of the rich, and tire afraid to run counter to the views of those who, having money, have power. So long as there is truth in this, the Churches are to that extent unchristian ins itntions, and must go on failing until they have freed themselves from' iill liability of suspicions of that kind." The Rev. A. H. Gray, of Manchester, who presented the report, attributed the alien-

ation of the masses from the Churches to the Churches' neglect of duty. He says: ."I believe the indifferent man, as a whole, is the product of modern city conditions. He is produced by malnutrition in his infancy; bad air all through his -' early]- days; instfffieient or bad food in his boyhood. He is, in his later days, subject to the hard pressure of economic forces, and is set to tasks of labour which ought to be well within his compass, but which, a.s a matter of fact, becomes to his badly grown body an intolerable burden. He. lives in a state of insecurity owing to modern industrial conditions, and becomes inclined to reckhssnas, if not despair; knows nothing of home life: (and anti-Socialists tell us Socialism will destroy the home; millions to-day have no lioms lo destroy, Bociali.it), he, 'is, subjected to heavy labour, fierce excitement, and dull empty hours in turn. We musi work for the changing of these conditions that are now unmaking men. That is the view to which we ahull have to come as a Church if we are to look forward. The .Socialist movement) is only a symptom of the new democratic movement, and it is the most important thing in the future of the world." The Rev. J. A. Wilson, of Carhberwell, another Presbyterian, minis er said: "The pathway to spiritual life is simply blocked for "vast numbeis, not so much by their osvn moral shortcomings as by the social conditions in which they are virtually compelled to' live. It, is the imperative duty of the Church to win for our brothers* and sisters such social conditions as will, give their spiritual life a fair and reasonable chance. There are men in our pews who are implicated in conditions that are keeping tens of thousands out of the pews." Here is American testimony : The. "Literary Digest" of New York on May 9(h printed the following: "Three hundred of the clergy of this country are declared to be allied with the Socialist movement by open profession, while, many are secretly in sympathy with the cause, but hesitate for prudential reasons to make an open avowal—Not oniy do the lljiitarians smell of the malady, but Episcopalians by the score, and numerous Baptists, MBthoilists, Presbyterians, Disciples, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Uuiversa'.ists, and even Roman Cai holies have become infected with the Socialist microbe and stricken with the disease." In the same issue we are told that Dr. Long, pastor of the Park Side Presbyterian Church Brooklyn, says: "The clergymen who have affiliated with the. new organisation (the Minis.ers Socialist Conference, of New i'ork) have come to the conclusion that Christianity will net work under a competitive system, and that the inauguration of Socialism is necessary to civilised human, beings. We regard Socialism as tlie economic expression of the Christian life, and believe that it is now the duty of the Church to ttep in and advocate Christian Socialism in the United -States.• H. 11. Rogers, in a recent magazine article, said that "business is war; and if business is war and if, as another man said, war is hell, then business and the competitive system -must be hell." These men have a programme, it is the Socialist programme, and their utterances give hope to the starving, but from the Rev. Mr: Guthrie's sermon I don't see any hope for them at all. We have been so very often told tlhat God puts us into these trying positions for a special purpose, as we were told in one of our ChurclKs the other Sunday; but we have ceased to believe it. To thinking people it seems so contrary to justice, love, or mercy. Mr. "Guthrie spoke abouti ihe impossibility of buying out the. landlords because of" the cciiit ; and of the dishonesty of taking it without comjiensaticn; in ano her letter I hope to shew him that the first is not impossible and the second perhaps not so dishonest as it seems to him. But even if it were so we believe it to be a good deal more to confiscate the bodies and souls, and far more costly to sacrifice"the lives of our innocent brothers and sisters on the altar of competition for profit. To ns i|he all-imporuint- thing is to stop that awful sacrifice and confiscation. I will conclude with the words of the Bishop of Birmingham given at a i

Church 'last" vear: "There, must be support for all who cannot work, none for those who will riot; ; this is the Christian rule.-. We must, return f> ]t - " " mav he, without violence or revolution, but if not, then anyhow to return. —I "™' Cl ' : " SOCIALIST.