COMMUNISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22492, 29 August 1938, Page 12

COMMUNISM AND CHRISTIANITY

AN ANSWER TO THE IDEAL OF BROTHERHOOD ?

SERMON DY REV. W. E. D.

DAVIES

“To say that the Russian experiment is the answer to the brotherhood of man is to say that the perfect form of government has been evolved,” said the Rev. W. E. D. Davies, when preaching at St. Matthew’s Church last evening on the subject: “Lenin, Stalin, Russian Communism; an Answer to. the Brotherhood of Man?" Mr Davies discussed the features of the present form of social organisation in Russia and the relation between the Communistic and the Christian ideal. After characterising the form of brotherhood which might be said to exist in Germany and Italy as merely national brotherhoods excluding the rest of the world, Mr Davies said that Europe, the Christian continent, had 5,700,000 troops on "peace establishment,” could call 40,000,000 men to arms, and provide 200,000 machine guns to mow them down. Italy and Germany were perhaps making political capital by claiming to have armed to save themselves from Communism, and Russia claimed to have armed because of Italy and Germany. . What was Communism? The man in the street who had “gone Communist” claimed that Communism was the only Christian experiment and had its roots in early Christian practice. There was a difference, however, for the Communism of the early Christians was voluntary and was based on the as-; sumption that Christ was soon to return to earth. , Communism had been defined by Dr. J. D. Salmond, of Dunedin, as “State ownership and control of all means of production, distribution, and exchange under the dictators’ ip of the people.” It presupposed a classless society and that private ownership and enterprise spelled class war and exploitation. It held that Communism could come only through world revolution. In pre-revolutionary Russia, said Mr Davies, the Church was with the privileged few against the majority of the people. He had no hesitation in saying that the Church was rotten and had been a contributory factor in the revolution. Soviet Conditions To-day, 21 years after the revolution, Russia had not collapsed, although its collapse had been prophesied. It was now a totalitarian state, using the same kind of propaganda as other states of this kind. The attitude to Lenin was one of worship, and the figure of Stalin overshadowed Russia. In spite of national shortcomings, such as lack of food and clothes, housing and transport deficiencies, the people were, on the whole, content; They had faith in the future, and the problems of employment and education had been vigorously grappled with. It was largely a classless community, although there were differences in wages. Gold reserves now amounted to £1,500,000,000, literature and drama were advancing. More recently it was to be seen that there was a return to the family system. The gain under this system was the advance of brotherhood within the Russian frontiers, but the development of a superiority complex to the rest of the world was, to say the least, unfortunate. Religion was returning; churches were functioning, although they were not supported by the State. “Is Russian Communism an answer to the brotherhood of man?” he asked. “To say that it is the answer is to say that the perfect form of government has been evolved. Brotherhood is an ideal, perhaps never to be quite attained. Civilisation is still in its infancy, but it is by this strivng that it is dragged upward.”