LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2406, 11 March 1915, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SHOULD THE CLERGY FICHT?

. Sir, —Your correspondent "Socratus,'.' m.uncompromisingly asserting that war itself is anti-Christian, and asserting that, even if. it is sometimes Christian, the clergy, at any rate, should not engage iii warfare, practically bases his contentions upon 1 two isolated passages of Scripture, viz., "God is love" and "Love your enemies." Permit me, sir, to make a few pertinent observations respecting the assertions and arguments of your anonymous ■correspondent. Those who do not discreetly handle Scripture passages, by citing mere phrases regardless of the context, through lack of more than a 'superficial knowledge of the Scriptures (which we are told to "search"), frequently embarrass themselves, as "Socratus" has done, by arousing a feeling of compassion in their hearts towards those with whom we are at present engaded in war. Such persons uncon. sciously take their. impressions from false ideas, and reason from wrong premises. If we are told to love our enemies, wo are not told to love the enemies of civilisation, progress, and tho laws of God'and humanity, or to love the personification of every conceivable barbarity. The Scriptures are full of records of innumerable wars waged under Divine dictates and guidance against the enemies of civilisation and progress. Let me cite a peculiarly apt illustration taken from Scripture, itself. . i Adoni-Bezek (Lord of Bezek) was a savage monarch impeding tho march of! civilisation; some fourteen and a- half centuries before the Christian era; having subdued seventy fellow-kings, lie mutilated them by cutting off their' thumbs and toes. How was he treated by the priests of the Chosen Race, by whom he himself was subdued? Judah and Simeon conquered the kingdom of Bezek in B.C. 1425, killed ten thousand! of the inhabitants, captured' AdoniBezek, and applying tholes talionis ("an eye for an oyo") , the priests (mark you) of Judah and Simeon, shocked at his cruelty, treated him exactly as he had treated his .royal prisoners, amputating his thumbs and toes and making him grovel in the dust. (Judges, i., 7.) So it has been from time immemorial. History repeats itself, and', as _ AdoniBezek of old warred against civilisation and the laws of God, so is Kaiser Willi elm now disregarding all the laws and canons of God and humanity. The laws of God are immutable.. The God of Judah and Simeon is 'the God of to-day, and His laws in the days of Adoni-Bezek are identical with His laws of to-day, and what was right then is equally right now. _ Can it be urged that Kaiser Wilhelm is one whit better than was Adoni-Bezek, and should bo treated differently? I am no advocate of barbarity, but reprisals are .permissible under international law,' and even "Socratus", cannot seriously contend that our armies and our fleets should be withdrawn, and that we Tely for victory upon prayer alone in our churches and in our private houses. Strong a believer as I am in the efficacy of devout prayer, I am quite confident that 'that method aloi'-o would mean nothing less than the dominance-of brutal barbarity; and the downfall of the Britisn Empire. The Church is a Church militant, and often fails solely by reason of its inanition. It may be said that _ I am basing my arguments upon doctrines of the Old Dispensation, and not upon- those of the Now Dispensation. Very well, I shall supplement them by a' single quotation''from our Saviour Himself, and at tho same time give the _ lie direct to "Socratus," in saying, in his letter, that "Christ oame with a. Gospel of Peace." H© did nothing of the kind, for Christ Himself said:.."Think, not that I am come to send peace on .eaiti;' I came iiot to send peace,but a sword (Matthew x., 34). —I am, etc., PERCIVAL R. WADDY. ' ' Wellington, March 10, 1915.