Scottish encounter

WHEN the Muggeridge bugle sounds the call to arms even the solid ramparts of the Permissive City begin to look a little less formidable. His latest attack on pill and dope, culminating in his resignation from the Rectorship of Edinburgh University, can, therefore, do nothing but good. There has already been a rallying behind the Permissive and non-Permissive flags, and the resulting battle lines will show where real allegiance lies.
There are those who claim that Malcolm Muggeridge has, as usual, overstated his case. Of course he has, but this does not invalidate the main points of the argument. One might just as well expect Niagara Falls to flow less fiercely because some poor wretch is shooting them in a barrel as to expect Malcolm Muggeridge to say his piece without splendid rhetoric and derision.
Muggeridge, of course, is fortunate in being a professional communicator, When he speaks the national Press gives him full coverage. But 'how many people knew that in the previous week Bishop Holland of Salford had been quoted on practically the same subject in the religious Press?
Bishop Holland had this to say on the question of local authorities issuing contraceptives to unmarried people to curb illegitimacy: "In conscience therefore I deplore the agency set up in the name of young people, which, whatever the views of its supporters, gives the public the impression that purity and chastity do not count in unmarried boys and girls, Or are beyond their powers.
"I shall be told that we live in a society which is no longer agreed on Christian morality, and that one must recognise the facts and by any means possible reduce the number of illegitimate births.
"My reply—good ends do not make bad means good. Christianity is not alone in cherishing chastity in the unmarried.
"The answer to illegitimacy is to restore respect for purity and chastity. By doing this we shall be giving the right answer to what young people instinctively want and need."
Anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes in Malcolm Muggeridge's company knows the sincerity and passion of his feeling about drugs and free sex for all. It is not of course enough, we are told, merely to be sincere. It is also necessary to be right.
In the present dust-up with the students of Edinburgh University, Muggeridge has both sincerity and right on his side. Let us hope that all the Churches will give him the backing he deserves in the fight for the right to be different from the majority in an age of laissez-faire morals.
Next week in the CATHOLIC HERALD Malcolm Muggericlge will be stating his case against the Permissive Society. You have been warned.