• ' Vol. 62 No. 9 SEPTEMBER 1957 Sixpence Notes of the Month Custos S.P.E.S. Presents . A Babel of Humanists Barbara Smoker Ethical Sen-ices J. H. Lloyd Religion and Private Life Archibald Robertson Signs of Decadence? Percy G. Roy The Mysticism of Richard Jefferies G. I. Bennett Conway Discussion Correspondence South Place News Activities of Kindred Societies Society's Other Activities SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY CALENDAR OF EVENTS—OPENING THE 1957-58 SEASON ; ANNUAL REUNION SUNDAY ,A1 IERNOON, September 29, CONWAY HALL 3.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. Members and Friends meet informally in the Lobby 3.30 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. Meeting in Large Hall. Welcome to Guests -of Honour Mr. Donald G. Fincliam Honorary Secretary, English Positivist Committee Brief references--Centenary of the_ death of Auguste Comte, 1857 - Mr. Charles Kennedy Scott Director of Music, West London Ethical Society - Bricf references—Centenary of the birth of Stanton Coit, 1857 Chairman—Mr. J. Hutton Hynd Programme of music Ducts and songs accompanied by JOYCE LANGLEY. II is hoped that FREDERIC JACKSON will be free to attend to play some pianoforte solos. 4.45 p.m. Tea will be served Informal Social Hour All members and friends of the Society are cordially invited. A special invitation is given to members and friends of kindred groups—the Ethical Union and associated Humanist Groups, Rationalist Press Association, National Secularist Society, and the Positivists. CONWAY MEMORIAL LECTURE Thursday, October 3-7.30 p.m. in Conway Hall Mrs. Margaret Knight Department of Psychology, the University of Aberdeen: Author, Morals Without Religion "PHYSIQUE and PERSONALITY" Public Cordially Invited. Admission Free: Collection SUNDAY MORNING MEETING—October 611-11 a.m. Mr. Archibald Robertson, MA.—"The Humanist Hope" SOUTII PLACE SUNDAY CONCERTS, 67th SEASON COMMENCE ON OCTOBER 6, 1957. CONWAY DISCUSSIONS Tuesday, October 8 at 7.15 p.m. in the Library. "Second Congress—International Humanist and Ethical Union—In Retrospect" Mr. H. J. Blackham—"What was said—and done" Dr. H. D. Jennings White—"What was not said—not done!" Miss Barbara Smoker—"Personal Impressions" Public Cordially Invited. Social Interval. Light Refreshments The Monthly Record is posted free to Members and Associa'es. The Annual charge to subscribers is 8s. Matter for publication in the October issue should reach the Editor, G..C. Dowman,. Conway Hall, Red Lion-Square, W.C.1.,..by , September 5. , • The Objects of the Society are the study and dissemination.of ethical principles and- the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment. Any person in sympathy with these objects-is cordially invited to become a Member (minimum annual subscription is 12s. 6d.), or Associate (minimum annual subscription 7s. 6d.). Life membership £13 2s. 6d. Associates are not eligible to vote or hold office. Enquiries. should be made of the Registrar 'to whom subscriptions should be paid. •• . The MONTHLY RECORD Vol. 62 No. 9 SEPTEMBER 1957 Sixpence CONTENTS NOTES OF THE MONTH, Custos 3 S.PE.S. PRESENTS . 5 A BABEL OF HUMANISTS, Barbara Smoker ETHICAL SERVICES, J. Henry Lloyd .. 8 RELIGION AND PRIVATE LIFE, Archibald Robertson .. 10 SIGNS OF DECADENCE? Percy G. Roy .. 12 THE M YSTICISM OF RICHARD JEFFERIES, G. I. Bennett 14 CONWAY DISCUSSION 17 CORRESPONDENCE 17 ACTIVITIES OF K INDRED SOCIETIES 19 SOCIETY'S OTHER ACTIVITIES .. 20 The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Society Notes of the Month WHEN Mr. Dulles landed at London Airport for the disarmament dis- cussions, he was met by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said he had come to lend a touch of comedy. He spoke truer than he knew. However tragic and menacing the world situation is, the heads of the Churches— bishops, archbishops, cardinals or the Pope himself—can always be counted on to butt in with some pronouncement which is comic in its ignorance or insolence. At the World Council of Churches held in New York the Bishop of Chicester (who, compared with his brethren on the bench, stands out as an honest man) called for a bold pronouncement against nuclear tests. The Archbishop of Canterbury opposed this with the portentous declaration (we quote The Times of August 2) "that the Council must be concerned not with what some described as the urgent concerns of the common people, but with Obedience •to the will of God". 3 Theism versus Humanism If someone had wanted to caricature the Church's position, could he have done better than that? It is not Dr. Fisher's first performance either. Some time ago, speaking on this subject of nuclear warfare, he was reported as saying that the hydrogen bomb did not really matter, as the most It could do was to transfer some million people to the next world, where they would all go anyway sooner or later. Now he draws a contrast between the concerns of the common people and the will of God. We might say that he has put in a nutshell, twice over, the difference between theism and humanism, but for the fact that it would be unfair to many theists. There are Christians—there are even bishops—who can express their belief in God and a future life without making fools of themselves by suggesting that the concerns of the common people are opposed to the will of God, or that the murder of a million of them is an over-rated crime. Catholic Persecution The World Council of Churches, which is confined to Protestants, was further notable for some plain speaking on the treatment of Protestants in certain Catholic countries. A German bishop who had recently visited Colombia compared the persecution of Protestants there to the darkest side of the Middle Ages. An Argentine representative drew attention to the already notorious repression of Protestants in Spain. We regard these complaints as important not because we agree with Protestantism. but because such facts shciuld enlighten many who labour under the delusion that there is no religious persecution except behind the Iron Curtain. As a matter of fact a Protestant congregation would stand a greater chance of safety from interference in Moscow than in Madrid. Protestants Forget Protestants, in so far as they are persecuted, are unhappily their own worst enemies. They have fallen too easily for the Catholic pretence that the Church never persecutes: that the stake and faggot are old, unhappy, far-off things to be blamed on the barbarous secular rules of a barbarous age; and that ancient history in any case should be forgotten for the sake of a common Christian front against Marxist materialism. The Catholic Church is what she was. Protestants who fall for her historical lies and her common Christian front have themselves to blame if they find them- selves in Madrid or Bogata and discover that they arc treated, not as Christian brethren, but as pestilent heretics to be repressed by that "secular arm" to whose injustice the Catholic Church never objects when it is on her side. Punch and the A certain Mr. Charles Reid came to Conway Hall with the express purpose of making fun of the International Humanist and Ethical Union Congress, and the result was the appearance of an article, "All too Humanistic", in Punch. It is generally considered that the highest type of satire should be based on truth and, indeed, this is usually the case in the pages of Punch. We do not object to a little fun at our expense, but when the writer speaks of Flatearth• Fanshawe as though a belief in the Flatearth Theory was typical of Conway Hall it might evoke the rejoinder—over to you, Mr. Reid. Flatearth, says Mr. Reid, is "A great one for old times, old ways and tradition's patina". Could that be anything more unlike Conway Hall? "The delegates from places like Elmers End," also says Mr. Reid, "say 'priesterafr in a way that makes the word sound like 'defalcation' or 4 'malignant ulcer'.- Now why should he make this remark unless "priest- craft" conjured up these words in his own mind?. Is Punch written with the help of a supernatural agency, or are they themselves humanistic enough to write the very fine stuff which, so often appears therein? If - Punch is "what it used to be" then indeed Conway Hall is on the map. The Indian Rationalist The issue for May-June of- the Indian Rationalist introduces . a new editor. Mr. R. S. Yadara has succeeded Mr. S. Ramathan who was the founder of this attractive journal. He begins his duties•at a time when "the Communist Party has constitutionally come into power in the Kerala State-. Mr. Yadara claims that "he is not a Communist nor even pro-Com- munist-, yet on the whole he considers this a benevolent development. He does 'not share either the Communist phobia or the Communist mania that it has aroused in India. It is hoped that he will maintain this impartiality. The New Archbishop With the enthusiasin that greeted Dr. William Godfrey, the new Arch- bishop of Westminster, on his arrival in London on February 3, it is difficult not to associate the circumstance with the arrival of Bill Haley, the uncrowned King of Rock and Roll. The hysteria included most of the unthinking elements which are inherent in both movements. CUSTOS S.P.E.S. Presents . The 1957-58 season of South Place Ethical Society will open "officially"' on Sunday afternoon, September 29—a date which should take prominent place on our engagement calendars. Members and friends of the Society will meet at Conway Hall for the Annual Reunion. A very cordial invitation to join in the reunion is extended to members and friends of other Ethical Societies and kindred groups.