CHALLENGE TO MANHOOD.

Wairarapa Age, 4 May 1937, Page 5

CHALLENGE TO MANHOOD.

NEED OF FIGHTING FORCES OF EVIL BISHOP OF WELLINGTON’S APPEAL. PREVAILING MORAL STANDARDS DENOUNCED.

A ringing appeal to the manhood of the Dominion to accept the challenge of the times and fight on the side of Christianity in the battle against the growing forces of evil, was made by the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland, when he was entertained at tea last night by over 100 members of the Masterton branch of the Church of England Men’s Society. “The lists are closed, the gloves are on and we are in the fight,” declared his Lordship. In extending a warm welcome to his Lordship on behalf of the Masterton branch of the C.E.M.S., the Vicar, the Rev. E. J. Rich, who presided, paid a tribute to the loyalty, comradeship and encouragement of members of the branch. The branch, he said, was a tremendous strength in the parish and of tremendous value to him as Vicar. Observing that it was his second “show” of the day, his Lordship said he was not quite certain whether he was the tame bear in the menagerie or the star turn on the platform. It was, however, a source of great encouragement to him as Bishop of the Diocese to find such a large band of men willing to come along and listen “to any fat-headed rot he liked to talk.” He went on to refer to his experiences of the C.E.M.S. in England and to acknowledge the value and help the society had been to him. A band of men, severely critical of their Vicar, he added, were the Vicar’s greatest salvation. They stopped him from doing the silly things. He wanted to »ee the men of every parish get bn with the job and answer the tremendous call to Christianity that was being made to-day. Referring to the recall to religion recently broadcast by the Archbishop of Canterbury, his Lordship said that it had definitely captured the imagination of Christians in the Old Country and summed up the urgency of the present situation in a remarkable manner. The old disgruntled element which complained that it was up to the churches to do something- had not taken the trouble to find out that the Archbishop of Canterbury had given the lead asked for. The Archbishop’s challenge to the nation summed -up something that had been under the surface, had been brewing in the Old Country for a long time. We were living in a world of incalculable change and it had not entered into the hearts and minds of men that the future of Christianity was at stake. They all knew of the forces of evil that had gained ground at an appalling rate in recent years. The standards and traditions of the so-called Western Christianity had been sunk without leaving a trace of their former influence. The position in some European countries was exemplified in Hitler’s May Day warning to the churches: “Bow to us or be broken.” That was an absolutely ruthless attack, an expressed determination to suppress everything that elashed with the pagan ideas of dictators. FORCES OF EVIL EXPOSED.

For the true Christian this was a perfectly gorgeous age to live in, observed his Lordship when contrasting the state of affairs that existed to-day with those prevailing in the days when most people went to church “ and all we had to do was to sit back and say we must keep the old church going.” In those days there was no incentive, no driving force, nothing to stir Christians to action. Viewing world opinion as a whole, it seemed to him that we had reached a stage where the British Empire, and probably the United States of America, would be left as the solitary witnesses as far as the acknowledgment of Christianity and the claims of (Sod were concerned. The position in the world to-day was a tremendous challenge to us all. The forces of evil had exposed themselves. Christianity was the declared enemy in countries where everything was subordinated to the will erf one man, a dictator. The time had arrived when, we had to go into serious training and get ready for the fight. It was not sufficient merely to go to church and sing nice hymns. We just could not keep on as we had been going. There was a challenge to the finer manhood of the nation and also to the four-wheeler churchmen—the type that came to church in a perambulator to be christened, in a motor car to be married, and in a hearse to be buried. Every man was wanted in the front line to fight the gathering forces of evil, continued his Lordship, who added: “Let us call their bluff and fight them/' The drift from the ranks of the churches was serious. The percentage of people who shared in the life of the church was frightfully small in most countries. OYCLONIC DISTURBANCE. The Bishop said that the steep decline in the moral standards of the average life to-day was to his mind one of the most serious aspects that had to be considered and was one which forced itself more upon us. It was possible to estimate the force of religion in a country by the moral standards prevailing. When he arrived in New Zealand he had been told that there had been more or less of a cyclonic disturbance of the whole moral life of the country. A new type of morality seemed to have clawed into the fibre of the nation, forcing out the old Christian view of life and morals. They would have to fight the new menace. Referring to the recent Government report on abortion in the Dominion, his Lordship deseribdd abortion as a festering sore in the life of the nation and said that it constituted the biggest challenge to the church that they could possibly have had. The appalling revelations of, the conditions existing in *he country had to be taken notice of. had to be heeded. When he questioned what was wrong with the moral standards of the nation, he realised that there might be a lot in the stories of the moral evils of dances, of excessive drinking in cars during dances, and 'of a <reneral lack of moral ideals of sex and *of the Christian ideal of parenthood. The position was a -ringing challenge to the churches, which were the

one body that could stop the spread of the malady in the country. only cure was the religious cure. The churches should try to set and insist on a higher standard. A DIRECT CHALLENGE. “We have been given a direct challenge,” continued his Lordship, “what are we going to do ab(*it it? What good can come of holding public meetings and passing pious resolutions? We might just as well play a set of tennis or a game of bridge. It is a job for the Christian citizens of New Zealand Leave it to the parsons and I am afraid that very tittle will be done. We are too limited id our actions, our views are always suspect because it is our job. If we speak against ideas of prenuptial intercourse they say that it is just * parson clap-trap’ and that our ideas are contrary to the new ideas of the nation’s manhood. ** i FALSE PHILOSOPHIES.

His Lordship said we should try to consider how the churches as a whole could improve the standards of the country’s morals and how they could combat the increasing false philosophies of life. “It is the growing generations that I am frightened of if they are brought up on free love, ’ ’ remarked the Bishop, who added that once sex morality went, that was the end of the nation. It was the first time he had spoken on the subject as he felt he should not do so until the Government report was published. The position, however, made' him very sad and it seemed to him that the need for raising the moral standards was a challenge to us all, a challenge to all that was, finest and best in the ideals of Christianity and manhood. He appealed in all sincerity and earnestness to the men present to accept the challenge and to fight the good fight on behalf of the vital elements of the Christian faith. Great possibilities presented themselves to a body of men. It was the man outside the influence of the church they wanted and, he urged, “let’s go out and get him. You can do that if you have concern and true concern means love.” It distressed him to hear it said that the church counted for little in New Zealand. He felt sure that opinions would be altered once the challenge represented by present day conditions was accepted. The division of the churches was a cruel handicap at the present time. The possibility of a victory by one church was slight. A combination of the forces of all churches was necessary to prevent further inroads being made into the defences against evil in the country. Half measures would not do any good. They would have to be all out. “With God’s help,” concluded the Bishop, “all things are possible.” On the motion of Mr. G. Hyde his Lordship was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks by acclamation.