BY THE REV. D. M. MACDONALD.
IT is satisfactory to note that during the past year efforts have been made by legislation and otherwise to improve the morals of the people. This in itself indicates that there was need for improvement. While morals may be safeguarded by Acts of Parliament, it is evident that religion in the Gospel sense cannot be instilled into people by such Acts. It is through the outpouring of the Spirit of God alone that true religion can be established in the heart.
With regard to Sabbath observance, it would appear that strong and subtle influences are at work to secularise the Lord’s Day. The latest craze in this direction is for music in the public parks and halls of our large towns. Some of our magistrates have been weak enough to grant the request of the promoters of such sinful enterprises, but others have refused to grant such facilities. One satisfactory feature is that the sensible portion of the public have never demanded these things, and have supported efforts to safeguard the day of rest. The craze for musical entertainments spread from England to Scotland, and now in the former country sport has supplanted music and the same process is at present going on in Scotland. The plea has been advanced that to draw young people from the streets on Sabbath evenings musical entertainments should be provided, but the experience of many congregations would seem to indicate that music soon palls, and the Church, by imitating the world in this matter, has lost hold of many of the young. What is needed is a sound and faithful proclamation of the glorious Gospel of Christ in our congregations, and that in itself without any adventitious aids, such as Nebuchadnezzar-like orchestras or organs, would attract young and old. Some people seem to think that they are at liberty to do what they like on the Sabbath, but they ignore the fact that it is a divine obligation to sanctify the day of rest. To encourage secularisation of the day is not to help either religion or morals, but to harm both, and that is clearly proved by the history of some of the Continental nations, where the Sabbath has been turned into a holiday.
Trains, char-a-bancs, ‘buses, and motor-cars are being more and more used on the Sabbath for pleasure trips, and it is to be regretted that there is no sign of the evil decreasing.
The Committee would urge upon our people to keep the day in the manner indicated in the Fourth Commandment as expounded in our invaluable Shorter Catechism.
Attendance on the means of grace is generally well maintained in our congregations, but there are some who, like Bunyan’s Worldly-wise Man, think of nothing but their worldly business or pleasures, and are very irregular in their attendance at the house of God. Others again are half-day hearers. This evil habit is growing and is to be deprecated. It shows clearly that there is not a right appreciation of the services of the sanctuary. If people need so many meals per day for the upkeep of their bodies, surely it ought to be considered a duty to look after the interests of the soul, which are far more important than those of the body, by attending the various diets of worship held on the Sabbath. The Committee would impress on those who are careless in this matter to amend their ways, and to attend where possible all the services on the Sabbath.
Multitudes in our large cities never darken the door of a church. One reason for this is that the moral essay and the catchy heading as announced in the Saturday papers have ceased to attract. Pithless and pointless discourses in favour of that will-o’-the-wisp, Evolution or Higher Critical views, and wherein all are addressed as Christians, have helped to empty many pews. And it is no wonder when people look for bread and are given a stone that they should turn away from what cannot profit their souls. Much of the indifference to vital religion, and many of the wrong views that prevail regarding the doctrines of the Gospel, are due to the false teaching emanating from some of our theological colleges. This teaching percolates through the various strata of society, and in the end leads to practical atheism.
It is distressing to note that certain types of crime appear to be on the increase in Scotland, such as gambling, betting, house-breaking, and uncleanness in its worst forms. Criminal assaults on little children have aroused public opinion, with the result that demands have been that this form of crime should be drastically dealt with. The law is too lenient with such as are guilty of this offence, and the authorities
will no doubt see to it that it will be amended in such a manner as will secure the condign punishment of criminals of this type.
One cause for the increase of crime is that, as an American said of his own country, in accounting for the tremendous increase of crime in the States, “we have ceased to teach the fear of God in our homes and schools.” This is true in some measure of our country. Fortunately, there are homes and schools where sound religious instruction is given, and these have a beneficial effect on the conduct and morals of the rising generation. At the same time there are many homes where the Bible is never read, and in some it is unknown. The statistics of the National Bible Society of Scotland show that the Bible is neither purchased nor read as it used to be in many parts of Scotland, and unless a change for the better takes place, that bodes ill for the future.
With regard to Temperance, the recent Act has helped in the withdrawal of 398 licences. There are 335 dry areas in Scotland, 31 of which have been obtained under the Act, and in addition there were 28 limitation areas. Judicial statistics show that the Act was exercising a good moral influence throughout the country, especially in the districts where no licence was in operation. The following figures are not at all creditable to our country. The expenditure on liquor per head of the population in 1925 was £7 4s, and the expenditure and consumption in England and Wales (which are not separable) and Scotland were probably as under:—
| | England & Wales. | Scotland. | Great Britain. |
|—————–|——————|————-|—————-|
| Population … | 38,890,000 | 4,893,000 | 43,783,000 |
| Expenditure … | £285,000,000 | £30,000,000 | £315,000,000 |
| Per head … | £7 7s | £6 2s 6d | £7 4s |
A drink bill of £315,000,000, contrasted with, for instance, a total annual charge for social services of £307,000,000, in which public education and unemployment claim between them but £136,000,000, with smaller sums for health insurance and pensions, is so large as to challenge consideration. The burden of National Debt interest is £305,000,000; £80,000,000 is spent upon bread; and £76,000,000 upon milk; while the voluntary hospitals took only £8,243,000 in 1923. When one thinks of the huge amount spent on intoxicating drink and other luxuries, and the comparatively small sums spent on Gospel ordinances, one may be excused asking the question, Where is the practical Christianity of Britain?
The Committee deplore the recent action of Parliament in taxing betting. This has been done despite warnings and protests from various Churches and organisations, and will undoubtedly help to foster the gambling habit, which is already widespread and affects all classes. This giant vice, like the vampire bat that sucks the life-blood of its victims, dries up every humane principle and frequently leads to suicide. That our Government should seek to fill its coffers by money obtained from a vice so demoralising is an outrage on Christian sentiment. They may yet see their mistake in the poor return this tax may yield.
Among the many false adaptations of Christianity existing in our country spiritualism is one that appears to be steadily gaining ground. The absence of a pure Evangel and the craving to get into touch with the departed account in some measure for this. It is quite clear from Scripture that there can be no communication between the living and the dead. Spiritualism, not content with what is revealed, would usurp the divine prerogatives by giving an additional message as to the state of the dead. “Promising to open the door to the Beyond, it has in many cases opened the door to the asylum,” said one who has studied it carefully. It was revealed a short time ago in Court that the supposed photograph of a departed soul was the blurred photograph of a butler, and this shows the foolish credulity of spiritualists and the fraudulent practices adopted to support this lying system. Like other false religions, it dwells upon a part of the divine revelation, but is in reality a phase of materialism, for it walks by sight, not by faith. Its claims have never been proved, and its records are utterly unconvincing, dealing with petty affairs which to a person of robust understanding would appear absolutely nonsensical. The whole system seems to have a very unsettling effect on its devotees, and is fraught with grave harm.
It is a matter of general satisfaction that a Bill has passed the second reading in the House of Commons for the regulation of press reports on divorce cases, etc. The public mind has been disgusted by the prevalence in the press, in books, in pictures, and on the stage of indecent, suggestive, and unsavoury matter likely to have a deleterious effect on the morals and conduct of young and susceptible persons. The bulk of newspaper proprietors and editors maintain a fairly high moral standard in their publications, and their influence may be good, but a certain section of the press deliberately purveys salacious matter to the public, and
they are not the only offenders. The modern novel, it was stated lately in the leading article of a prominent paper, tends too often to be a tasteless excursus into the infidelities of married life or the amusements of the libèrtine, and the modern play errs more frequently in the same direction. One who has to censure stage plays called recent productions “daring.” Another individual described a play to which he had been taken as two hours of obscenity. Of a dozen plays staged in London, a father was told, when thinking of taking his daughter to the theatre, that they were all more or less impure but one. Things have come to a sad pass when such productions are tolerated in Britain. The cinema is scarcely better than the theatre. Indeed, it has a more demoralising effect on children. In a lecture some time ago it was remarked that the weekly attendances in our cinema theatres are far in excess of the whole of the attendances in the whole of our churches throughout the country. There are 4000 cinema theatres in Great Britain, and it was estimated that no fewer than 30,000,000 of our population went to the picture-houses each week. Seven hundred cinemas catered for the population of Greater London alone, and 90 per cent. of our elementary school children between the ages of eight and fourteen visited cinemas. For most part American films are shown, and the younger generation will base their lives on American ideas of morals and on American ideas of life generally. The lecturer who has given these statistics goes on to say:— “Over and over again they have seen the story of the wealthy American father, whose son spends his time in the company of ballet girls. We do not know that type of successful man and squalid son on this side of the water. Such films are alien to all ideas of life and thought in this England of ours, and many of these American films are a shocking travesty of life, and ought not to be tolerated in Great Britain.” These are weighty statements, and they reveal the debasing influences at work to corrupt the youth of our generation. The Committee would warn young people especially to shun like the plague the modern novel, theatre, and cinema.
Romanism and Ritualism are steadily gaining ground. The constant increase in the Irish population of Scotland and the decrease in the Scottish population is helping Romanism to entrench itself in Scotland. The Committee are of opinion that steps should be taken to restrict the immigration of Irish Free State people into Scotland, in view of the increasing dangers to Pro-
testantism and Scottish civilisation. It is to be regretted that the Government has not so far amended the clauses of the Munro Education Act favouring Roman Catholicism. In the Church of England determined efforts are being made by traitors within to bring it back to Rome, and in Scotland subtle and unseen influences are at work leading in the same direction. The spread of Arminian, Unitarian, and Ritualistic views are weakening our position as a Protestant country, and there is more need than ever of being watchful against such a vigilant and unscrupulous enemy as the Papacy. According to the testimony of unbiased historians, it was Calvinism that made Scotland great. It found the country in anarchy and formed it into a unity. It bred a passion for liberty; steeled and hardened the national character; became the parent of pious and orderly home life, of honest business methods and of intellectual vigour and acumen. But we are now like Esau of old, ready to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage, for what are other systems in comparison with Calvinism but a mess of pottage ?
The Committee would desire to acknowledge the Lord’s goodness and forbearance with us, notwithstanding our sins and rebellion against Him. He is still striving with us as a people, and although many evils abound, it is encouraging to know that in various places sinners have been turned from darkness unto light. God is giving us warnings as a nation by the very deliverances granted us. An outstanding instance of His favourable dealings with us in Providence is what happened during the past fortnight. He heard the prayers of His people, and as of old defeated and brought to nought the counsels of His enemies. What seemed to be a daring and diabolical plot to overthrow constitutional government by a revolution was completely frustrated. The Lord uses means to accomplish His own purposes, and no doubt the calmness of our people, the ready helpfulness of many of our young men and women; the self-possession and loyalty of our police and other forces; and the wisdom and statesmanship of our Premier, were the means on this occasion of saving Britain from irretrievable disaster. This great deliverance should have a chastening effect upon us as a people, and should arouse in us gratitude and humility.
May the Lord give us repentance unto life as a generation and faith in His dear Son, and may Sion’s children be earnest at a throne of grace, pleading with Him to turn our captivity as streams in the south !
“Look unto me, He says, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God and there is none else.”