BACK TO BARBARITY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4568, 12 November 1937, Page 3

BACK TO BARBARITY

RECRUDESCENT CRUELTY. A MAJOR WORLD PROBLEM. There can be no doubt that there has been a marked recrudescence of cruelty in recent years. This is especially tragic, as cruelty was one of the vices of which humanity appeared to be in the process of getting rid. A few years ago if anyone had asked what guarantee there was that the human race was progressing, not only in attainment, but in character, the natural answer would have been to point to the growth of kindness and sympathy towards both men and animals. But recent happenings have made that reply well-nigh impossible. We have had abundant evidence of grave cruelties in Germany, Italy, Russia, China and Japan, to mention only a few of the most striking examples. In some of these countries it is there that there has been a long tradition of cruelty.

It is not clear, for instance, that the new Russia is very different from the old, and in the Far East it might be said that the age of barbarism had not entirely passed. But in spite of this qualification there has been too rapid a growth of acts of barbarism to permit us to refrain from enquiring into its cause. I have little doubt myself that that cause is to be found in the four dreadful years of the World War. War is a horrible thing, from which in spite of Hague Conventions and every other means of mitigating horrors it is impossible entirely to eliminate cruelty. And as the object of war is the defeat of the enemy it is not likely that nations in extremity will long abstain from the use of any means to accomplish their end. One of the greatest evils of a prolonged war is that it gradually brutalises those v/ho take part in it. If there is already any pronounced streak of cruelty in their nature it would be extremely difficult for them to fall back into normal habits when the war is over.

I believe this to have happened in the World War. The acts of cruelty committed by Nazis and Fascists are a repetition of the methods of procedure that were already cultivated in the examination of spies and suspect--ed persons during the war.

May Become an Actual Lust

It is to be feared that with the growing ruthlessness of warfare, cruelty will become a more and more common feature of society unless mankind pulls itself together and tries to understand its own disease. Moralists have long recognised that this vice may spring from one of two characteristics. It may be due either to callousness or to vindictiveness. The callous person is not necessarily moved by any desire to hurt. He may simply suffer from a lack of imagination and be quite incapable of realising the suffering he inflicts upon others. On the other hand, cruelty may arise from vindictiveness. In that case the person has a definite desire to hurt, and so far from suffering from a lack of imagination he may be yielding to the impulse of a overheated imagination.

Lecky, in his "History of European Morals," maintains that callousness was the reason for cruelty in the old Roman Empire; whereas vindictiveness is the reason for cruelty among the Italians —the Romans' modern descendants. Whether the latter is true or not I do not knoAv; but it would at least appear that something more than a desire to avenge family honour is required to explain the blood feuds that certain Italian families have carried on for many generations.

In any case it is quite possible for a cruelty which begins in callousness to be continued from a motive of vindictiveness. Cruelty grows by feeding upon itself and may become an actual lust.

In addition to these two long recognised sources of cruelty callousness and vindictiveness —there has recently been brought to-light a third, which in the view of Freud and his followers among the psychologists, is the root cause of cruelty. This is a perverted sex instinct, which leads sometimes to the infliction of cruelty upon oneself, but more commonly upon others. Massochism and Sadism are now well established forms of this sexual cruelty. Whether or not the lust for cruelty originally springs from this instinct, there is no doubt that it is strongly affected by it as a secondary cause.

There is a novel of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's in which he describes an overseer in the Belgian Congo, who kept a native executioner to minister to his insatiable lust for cruelty. Anyone who reads the description of this man's emotions, as he watches his bully whip a native woman to death, will feel that he can hardly be explained except on the. grounds of sexual perversion. It must be admitted that religion has not always played the part that it should in the effort to get rid of this particular depravity. There have been religions, especially those of an agricultural type, which have found

too large a space for it in their rites and ceremonies. It is sometimes said that we cannot acquit the Bible itself of complicity in this general corruption. Certainly we should have to admit that to be true if we regarded the Bible as representing in every part the final revelation of God. Actually, however, the Bible manifests to us the slow history of revelation, and shows us the means by which God has gradually educated His people. In this respect the code of Deuteronomy occupies an honourable place in the developing lap of Israel, for kindness is there inculcated not only towards the stranger within the gates but also to the animals. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," is a conspicuous example of this consideration for animals. The dove that returned to the Ark and the ravens that fed Elijah also witnessed to the understanding that should exist between man and the dumb creation. Finally, when Jesus himself wishes to emphasise the fatherly care of God, He can do so in no better way than by saying that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice.

The Early Church's Difficult Task.

Christians indeed have followed the correct psychological method in dealing with this evil. They have not aimed at it expressly over and over again, riveting attention upon it and so magnifying it; but they have endeavoured to build up the whole of human nature on the foundation of kindness and charity. When those virtues have been established the opposite vice will of necessity be eliminated.

It is not always realised how difficult a task the Early Church had to perform in this respect. The Roman Empire in which it began to spread was, as we have already seen, remarkable for its callousness towards suffering. Crucifixion was a regular method of putting non-Romans to death. Gladitorial shows, in which men sometimes fought with each other and some times with wild beasts were the holiday spectacle of Roman citizens. The dreadful practice of the exposure of children was the most popular method of limiting the family. Against all this the Early Christians set their faces. No one of them was allowed to have anything to do with the gladiator's profession. The exposure of children was not merely forbidden, but never conceived as possible among Christians. It is interesting to notice how these Christian ideals affected the legislation of Constantine the Great, generally recognised as the first Christian Emperor. The crucifixion of slaves was abolished, and the families of slaves were not to be dispersed when their ownership changed hands. Children began to enjoy some measure of protection. They could still be sold at birth, and it was still found impossible to-forbid their exposure; but the practice was relieved of some of its horror by the declared willingness of the State to rear foundlings.

The punishment of criminals was made a little more merciful, and a stop was put to the branding on the face and scourging of debtors. Even the animals were better used. One must acknowledge that this progress towards more humane dealing with men and animals suffered a setback in the Middle Ages., Fanatic religious zeal was partly responsible. It seemed so necessary to save men's souls that it was worth torturing men's bodies in order to ensure their everlasting salvation. Even the Reformation did not put an immediate stop to this kind of thing. Cruelty was still too deeply ingrained in human nature to be easily eradicated. It is to the lasting honour of the philosophers that the Age of Reason hastened the progress that had been delayed in the Age of Faith. The period of the enlightenment in the 18th century saw a growing emphasis upon the virtue of humanity. Against wanton cruelty the philosopher appealed both to the higher instincts of men, and also to their utilitarian aims.

How Can Ideal Be Restored?

And so in the pre-war period we had attained to the position almost universally recognised that one of the highest aims of human endeavour was to mitigate pain, and as far as possible to eliminate it from the whole creation. It would be almost incredible, if recent events had not shown it true, that so large a proportion of the race should have proved false to that position. The question now arises how can we help in the restoration of this ideal. First, surely we ought to remember the dignity of our own manhood. Personality is the highest thing we know, and the citadel of personality is the human body. It is therefore our bounden duty to do everything we can to preserve its dignity. Only so may be hope for any true and lasting progress. All our inventions and discoveries are of little worth if they do not help us in this respect. The Christian, of course, has a further incentive. He is bound to remember that this mortal flesh was once worn by the Son of God, and therefore he cannot deface it or mutilate it for the purpose of inflicting suffering.

Then secondly we must surely do all we possibly can to prevent this passion for cruelty fixing its hold upon children. It is sometimes said that children have a natural streak of cruelty in them. That almost always arises out of a lack of understanding. They know so little of suffering that they cannot imagine how other children or animals suffer from their actions.

Consequently if we do not guard our children against cruelty while they are young, the habit of inflicting pain will develop into a callousness and perhaps a vindictiveness that will bring untold suffering in their train.