THE CHURCH AND WORKING MEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17879, 22 June 1926, Page 11

THE CHURCH AND WORKING MEN.

CHALLENGE THAT WAS NOT ACCEPTED. “The ordinary working man will not go t© church because he believes the « hurch is on the side of capitalism and imperialism,'’ said Mr N. M. Bell, chair- | man of the Trades Hall Propaganda C ommittee, when interviewed this morning regarding the refusal of the Council of Christian Congregations to accept an invitation from the commit- j tee for a member of the council to speak at the Trades Hail on August S on the subject of “Is the Christian i Church Anti-Labour.” If the mountain will not come to Mahomet. Mahomet must go to the ' mountain” Air Bell added. “If the ' ouncil of Christian Congregations had invited a Labour man to go to their meeting and give an address I am sure the invitation would have been accepted,* and I think the council . would have been wise to accept our invitation.” Referring to the attitude of the working men to the Church Mr Bell said that his experience was that working men, as a rule, were not antagonistic to the religion of Jesus. The ordinary working man had a great deal of time for the religion of Jesus, and, generally in assemblies of working men the name of Jesus was mentioned with great respect. What the working man was against was organised Christianity, because he felt that it was on the side of capitalism, imperialism and war. He had been turned against the • hurch on account of the attitude that it had taken up during the late war. A Christian Church in every country had urged on the people to fight instead of trying to reconcile them. This had killed his faith in organised Chris- I Canity. When the war broke out he had expected the Church to put into j practice what it had taught him as a * boy. Referring to the invitation sent to ! the Council of Christian Congregations, Mr Bell said that the subject: “Is the Christian Church Anti-Labour?” was j included on the syllabus drawn up by the Trades Hall Propaganda Commit- | tee, which was formed “with the spe- j cial purpose of under all circumstances j assuring free and unhampered expres- j si on of working class opinion and its discussions at large.’ 1 In order to get j a speaker to take the subject the council of Christian Congregations had been written to. The speaker could have dealt with the subject in any way ihe pleased and could have been either in favour of Labour or against Labour. The committee, however, wished that the speaker should deal with ihe attitude cf +h£ Church on capitalism and socialism, imperialism and internationalism and war and peace. The committee felt that the attitude of the Church, on these questions was important from the point of view of the working man. The committee did not expect to get a speaker who could give the views of the Church as a whole on these subjects. That would have been impossible, for opinions of church people differed just as the opinions of other people did. What the committee wanted was a speaker who would deal with the subjects from anv angle he might choose. The usual custom at the meetings was to give the Fpeaker of the evening forty minutes in which to deliver his address and then allow another forty minutes for questions and general discussion.

speaker made reference to a publication “The International Sunbeam” which he said contained a great deal of Christianity though it misrepresented what the Church stood for. Mr Bell handed the reporter a copy of the publication, which he said was edited by himself and Mr A. W. Page. The particular number referred to had been written specially for clergymen and a copy had been sent to every clergyman in Canterbury. Westland and Nelson. One article in the number written by Mr Bell contains a challenge to the Church. The following is an extract from the article:—“Religion is the opium of the people,” cries the social reformer. “Religion takes men’s eyes off this world and fixes them on the world to come. Religion bids the masses be content with their servile condition and be obedient to the ‘powers that be who are ordained of God.’ Religion blesses those same masses as they go forth to murder their brethren in other countries that a bigger empire may offer wider fields for private exploitation. The Church is simply an adjunct of the State giving divine sanction to its commands.” Is this true? Is it true that since the state adopted Christianity under Constantine. the State has had no more faithful ally? It is true that to-day the Church is really on the side of capitalist imperialism, high sounding names for human greed and grab? Does the church believe that a few should own what all need and that human society should consist of two classes one of which exists simply on the labour of the other? Does the Church believe that the coloured man. simply because he has shown himself inferior in skill in devising weapons of death, must consider it a privilege to exist for the glory of the more powerful white and incidentally provide him with cheap labour and lucrative jobs? Above all, does the Church believe that the mass murder of men in warfare is sanctioned by God? These are momentous question.* and demand clear answers. Merc words are useless.