Moral Re-Armament MASSIVE MARCH OF AN IDEA

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29240, 25 June 1960, Page 7

Moral Re-Armament MASSIVE MARCH OF AN IDEA

[A reply, specially written for "The Press" by L. ARMSTRONG, to critics oj the Moral Re-Armament Manifesto!

“The democracies are on the defensive because of the lack of a moral ideology superior to communism. In the ideological war there is no neutrality or coexistence. The leaders of the free nations must pay serious attention to the work of Moral ReArmament throughout the world if we are to win the decisive struggle for the future of mankind.”

Today, it is more vital than ever in this spiritual struggle against materialism and comrtiunism that all the forces of the free world should work together and be focused in the defence of freedom and human dignity. Moral Re-Armament has made a mighty contribution in this struggle.”

These two statements were made last October in messages to D - Buchman at the Moral Re-Armament Assembly at Mackinac Island, Michigan. The “ rs t. wa « made by Mr Nobusuke lushi. Prime Minister of Japan, and the second by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, of West Germany.

About 12 months before this rk. a^i^ r '.® ans Koch, who was Chancellor Adenauer’s adviser on Soviet affairs, said: “What Stalin feared most was the ideology which could unite countries so S£i S i? art 88 JaPim an d Germany; which could unite all other nations with these two; which could unite free East and West and black and white in an ideomgical answer to communism. Moral Re-Armament is preparing the way for the next great phase in history. It provides the platform where East and West, Germany and France, the AngloSaxons and the coloured races unite.”

The constant and incessant attacks on Mr Kishi and Dr. Adenauer and the obvious strategy to divide Japan and Germany from -the Western nations are a c ‘ ea T confirmation of the truth Koch’s assessment. We in the West need to waken up. We are so blind to what is going on round us—right under our noses. As Dr. Adenauer said in an exclusive article for the “New York Journal-American,” printed on January 31 this year, and titled Adenauer Calls M.R.A. World Hope, ’ “A nation with an ideology is always on the offensive. A nation without an ideology is self-satisfied and dead.” That is why during the last few weeks a group of New Zealand patriots have made it possible for New Zealand to make the choice —Moral Re-Armament or communism. The distribution of the manifesto, “Ideology and Coexistence,” to the 620.000 homes of New Zealand was paid for by ordinary men and women in every walk of life. A Maori veteran of two world wars gave his accumulated pension. A school teacher sold her car and gave the proceeds. A superannuitant gave the money she was saving for her burial. A church minister gave half his capital. Farmers, housewives, children, businessmen, and public servants have contributed every penny of the cost at considerable personal sacrifice. When “Ideology and Coexistence” was distributed to every home in Switzerland last November it carried a foreword by General Henri Guisan, wartime Commander-in-Chief of the Swiss Army, the man whose courageous leadership • saved freedom for Switzerland during World War 11. His ifiessage to his people was: ‘ldeological neutrality ,can be dangerous, for refusal to fight for what is right plays the enemy’s game. I long that our whole people should face realistically the forces which confront us today, that we draw from our traditions a relentless

determination to safeguard at all costs the freedoms we inherit.” Every true patriot will respond to' this conception. Future of America and Africa In December, 1959, an event took place in Little Rock which arrested the attention of the world. It was the symbol of modem revolution at the heart of America. Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas, and Mrs Daisy Bates, nationally-knowi. Negro leader and symbol of the hopes and longings of her people, met after years of bitterest division and shook hands.

“When I met the Governor,” Mrs Bates later reported, “I said, ‘I am npt interested in fighting the civil war. I am interested in where we are going from this hour. I-am interested in tomorrow and the future of America.’ Without Moral Re-Armament I could not have done that. Moral Re-Armament is what I want for the children of the South and for America.”

The Columbia Broadcasting System, in its review of 1959, described this handshake as a most significant event of the year, and stated: "It may well mark the end of the hundred years’ civil war in the States.”

President Tubman, speaking in the Executive Mansion to the leaders of Liberia, said: “All over the continent and across the world an ideology- is rapidly fostering the secret of God-centred unity, creating _ incorruptible leadership and giving direction to nations that have missed their way. I invited the leaders and people of Africa to join in this supreme task and to give priority to the moral re-armament of our nations. Moral Re-Armament is the ideology of freedom. It is the ideology which Africa needs today.” At the height of the racial violence in South Africa, black and white leaders urged Dr. Buchman: “You must come. Come now. Next year will be too late.” Invitations have also been received from national leaders in Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Uganda, and every part of Africa. Earlier this month the Congo delegates to a round table conference in Brussels visited the Moral Re-Armament Assembly at Caux, Switzerland, and invited a Moral Re-Armament force to their country. News has just been received that the Governor-General, in response to urgent requests by political leaders, made a Government plane- available -to the Moral Re-Armament force who are now touring the provincial capitals of the Congo in an all-out bid to bring a uniting idea to the country before independence. This force, and the all-African film, "Freedom.” which they present, have been universally acclaimed by Congolese leaders as the immediate answer to the strife and division which threaten the formation of a stable government in the country. The Moral ReArmament force includes former hard-core Mau Mau leaders from Kenya and a white settler who fought them in the forests, black and white from bitterly opposed sections in South Africa, and a nationalist leader from Nigeria. Moral Re-Armament is a global ideology with a global strategy. It is out to put right what is wrong in the world It Is The Answer The “Gazette de Lausanne,” of August 6, 1959, said this: “A handful of men inspired by the ideology of Moral Re-Armament ended the' bloody tragedy of Cyprus. Decisive battles are now going on to preserve the miracle of unity in the face of incessant attacks from those who wish to destroy it at any price.” Archbishop Makarios, Presi-dent-elect of Cyprus, said in April this year: “The wortd needs the hope you are bringing. You bring the ideology of unity.” Dr. Kutchuk, Vice - President - elect, said at the same time, “Moral Re-Armament is what Cyprus needs at this very crucial hour in her history. I remind all that this ideology has played an important part in the Cyprus solution.”

In an age of seemingly insoluble problems and divisions Moral Re-Armament answers them with men and women who have dealt with fear, hate, greed, and dirt in their own lives and who are free to bring an inspired answer. This is what communism does not and cannot do. This is why communism is already out of date. It is outlived and outmatched by men who voluntarily choose to live absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, and to fight to restore God to leadership in the world. Bishop Bengt Jonzen, formerly Bishop of Lulea, Sweden, said last August: “Anyone who says we have Christianity and therefore we do not need Moral Re-Arma-ment does not know either Christianity or Moral Re-Armament. Christianity without Christ's absolute moral standards is unable to see the issues of this age and is unable to draw the right battleline through the nations. Christianity lived will lead men and nations and the world to freedom under God.” Moral Re-Armament offers every man the chance to take part—to take part in the greatest revolution of all time whereby the Cross of Christ will transform the world. It is an all-out struggle. As Dr. F. N. D. Buchman, the initiator of Moral ReArmament, has said: “Today nations are in convulsion. The answer lies in radical and drastic dealing with the motives of men and nations. This is the normal work for true patriots in every country throughout the world. Without this essential patriotism civilisation must end in chaos. With the acceptance of this challenge every man can be a force to bring the avalanche of an answer to his nation. Moral Re-Armament stands as a dynamic alternative for mankind. It is the way up and the way out for all humanity. We will win the world in time.”