No excuse for drinking

100 years ago: December 1898

Canadian Churchman reported that the explanation of the considerable vote for Prohibition in this country is given in a very amusing manner by the Spectator.

We don’t need to drink, says the writer, as people do in England, because of our climate, which operates in two ways.

First, it is “so remarkably fine and bracing,” that the excuse for drinking, which prevails in climates like that of England, “where the air is often very damp, heavy, and gloomy, does not exist.”

In Canada, on the contrary, “there is such a sense of exhilaration arising from the ordinary facts of bodily life that a stimulant to counteract depression of spirits due to physical causes is rarely called for.

” … An agitation has been on foot for some time among the students of King’s College, Halifax, for the abolition of compulsory attendance at chapel. It has made as yet no headway among the authorities and it has been severely condemned by the Bishop.

It is to be deeply regretted that several divinity students and some newly-ordained men have seen their way to abet the movement. As if there was not a strong enough tendency already towards the secularization of education.

50 years ago: December 1948

Canadian Churchman reported that at the Annual Meeting of the Church’s Council for Social Service the members were called upon to recognize the menace of racial discrimination in Canada and to seek the securing of equal opportunities in social and industrial life for all groups.

It challenged, in particular, church people to personally befriend members of all resident racial groups. The Council placed itself solidly on the side of the maintenance of human rights as emphasized at Lambeth and Amsterdam.

The Council commended federal authorities for their program for the reception of refugees and displaced persons.

25 years ago: December 1973

Canadian Churchman from a Christmas greeting from the Primate (Ted Scott): Some may resent my talking about money in a Christmas message. I do not apologize. Money is one way of giving ourselves – one, but not the only one. The highwayman used to challenge, “Your money or your life.” Our Lord goes beyond this challenge. He asks for “Your money and your life.” Let us all strive this Christmas (in spite of all the easily available excuses like inflation) to give some of both that we may more adequately reflect the giving of God revealed in the gift of His Son.