LIFE IS GOOD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 245, 15 October 1937, Page 6

LIFE IS GOOD

J IFE is good. This is a fundamental of Christian philosophy. It follows, then, that all which goes to promote Life has the approval of Christiandom. It is this fundamental belief in the desirability of Life which gives to Christianity its driving force. The suggestion that the creation of Life is but one huge blunder, or is a futility leading nowhere, cannot be entertained as logical with an All-wise and All-knowing God. Human life moves on from one generation to another. The vital flow cannot be denied as a whole, for mankind cannot frustrate the Eternal Purpose. It follows, then, that where there is a hindrance to the movement a void occurs, and Nature, abhorring a vacuum, soon fills it up by other means. This is another way of saying that if New Zealand’s population does not perpetuate itself, then another population will take its place, for that is the practical application of the principle.

Christianity is not a collection of taboos. It is a dynamic. It does not seek to regulate conduct in order that the individual shall conform to a humanly conceived pattern. It regrets such regulation and the demand for conformity. What it does seek, however, is to restrain conduct which shall vitiate Life itself. There is no specific law against drunkenness, nor is there one against polygamy, there is a doubt as to the wisdom of divorce for married persons, but in each of these eases Christianity moves in the same direction, namely to inculcate conduct which shall be conducive to the fulness of Life. “I came not to destroy Life, but that thou might have it more abundantly,” is the Christian viewpoint. Drunkenness destroys the enjoyment of Life for the individual and those associated with him, and therefore temperance is advocated. Polygamy makes for disharmony in the domestic field and fosters intrigue, and for that reason Christianity frowns on it. Divorce robs children of the full protection of parents and of their cultural aid, and thereforce divorce is discouraged.

It naturally follows from such an attitude that Christiandom cannot condone any action which frustrates Life itself, and the pronouncement of the Wanganui Ministers’ Association concerning certain illegal practices is one which is in keeping with the Christian position. The manifesto of the ministers rightly emphasises that Life cannot be lived in part, it must be considered as a whole, and general conduct and association must be tajeen into account when dealing with any one phase of human wellbeing. In the application of Christian principles to the specific problem to which the ministers have addressed themselves, the civil view is in accord with the religious view, for the law calls the destruction of potential life ‘‘criminal abortion,” and acts accordingly by providing a penalty for those who are found guilty of such offence against the State.

But neither Church nor State can operate effectively without the support of public opinion, and in this matter there is too obviously a deadening influence at work, and that deadening influence is the condonation of irregular conduct in the first place. It is to be hoped that the studied statement of the Ministers’ Association will be given its due regard by the public, and that its influence in the community will be equal to the responsibility of its sponsors.