PEACE AND WAR

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21355, 24 December 1934, Page 17

PEACE AND WAR

MORAL ASPECTS OF PROBLEM ADDRESS TO THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY "Is the World Ready for Peace?" was the subject of an address given to the Theosophical Society last evening by Miss N. E. Ockenden, of Auckland. There had never before been such an urgent need of peace, said Miss Ockenden, for the means of destruction were now greater than ever, and the chivalry which was once a part of warfare was now disappearing. The youth of to-day realised that there was no sense in becoming cannonfodder. A New Zealand writer had characterised war as "a relic of barbarism inconsistent with the standards of our boasted civilisation": yet again it had been maintained that increase in armaments was the only way to secure peace. One thing was certain: wholesale disarmament could only be brought about by a complete change of heart in the people of 'the world. This change was more than an ideal; it was practicable, for progress was fundamental in the human race. It did not always run in a straight line; but, though the waves fell back, the tide gradually rose higher. No War to End War There was no such thing as a war to end war. The only way was through the development of feelings of friendship. The human race always had its leaders, men who had outstripped the rank and file in such development. The present was a critical time, for fear, hatred, and might were almost equally matched against understanding and brotherhood. But it was being realised that all men were linked together and to injure a part was to injure the whole. In the past, racial differences had made for progress, for activity had been stimulated by the fear, antagonism, and pain which had led to war; and so people had evolved. But war in those days had been fought with personal valour and intelligence and with primitive weapons by less sensitive men than those of to-day. Now science was being prostituted to the service of warfare. Problems of Pacifism While it was the duty of everyone to remove hostility from his own life and to raise his voice against war, continued Miss Ockenden, a problem might arise in, for instance, the British Empire if the majority of the British people saw war as utterly revolt-

mg and renounced it. How could the Empire be defended from the attacks of a brutal nation? Yet there were spiritual laws as well as physical, and these could withhold such destruction. The great Lawgiver had a vast plan, and nations were subject to the same moral laws as individuals. When the British people were ready to take such a step they would find leaders. Nations got the leaders they had earned: America had earned Lincoln and Germany had earned Hitler. Weakly to sit down and not fight was insufficient to end wars. There must be the will for sacrifice, concluded Miss Ockenden. Life must be tilled with the power of courage and goodwill. Reference was made throughout the address to the bearing of Theosophical teachings on war and peace.