THE PACIFISTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22564, 31 October 1936, Page 10

THE PACIFISTS

ARCHDEACON'S EEPLI

EFFECT OF PROPAGANDA ENCOURAGING AGGRESSORS Archdeacon Mac Murray writes:—l Lave received many letters dealing with my views as expressed from time to time/in the Herald. Some of them have directly accused me as a man who is seeking war. Nothing could be more removed from the truth —my every effort has been to avert war — and I have continually pointed out that, in the present condition of the world, to depend for security on an ineffective League of Nations, and make it an excuse for neglecting preparation of defence, has seemed to mo to be inviting war, and, through it, our national overthrow. That 1 was hot wrong in this opinion receives strong confirmation from the report in Thursday's Hkrald of the views of Sir James Parr, who has been for 10 years our representative at the League of Nations* He claims now to be a disillusioned man —the last "meeting of the Assembly made it only too plain that the covenant was a dead letter . . . . "The League will be no use until it is really universal as its founders first conceived it. While America, Japan and Germany remain out, its sanctions can never be put into force effectively, as Abyssinia discovered to her cost. No country inside the British Empire or outside it can rely on anybody. .Each country must be prepared to defend itself." This is the dictum of the man who ought to know the truth. Acts of Parliament, or resolutions of synods, will avail nothing when the peril comes, as it assuredly will come, if it is believed that Britons will no longer fight for their homes or country—a belief which pacifist teaching is doing much to create. The Creator's Plan and Purpose

With reference to Dr. North's letter to the Herald of October 23, 1 may s&y that originally I introduced Dr. North's name, simply because had I not done so I might have been accused of stealing his statement of facts, without acknowledgment. However, I cannot allow his statement "that I made the German mistake of justifying war by an appeal to the struggle for existence in the animal world" to pass without protest. , Dr. North quite misunderstands my position. I have learned from nature, from history and from the New Testament that there is a unity of plan and purpose of the Creator in his dealing with the world—that through struggling with difficulties man derives the capacity for higher service. That was, I believe, the simple but wonderful plan of the Creator; and to effect it in the sphere of human nature He bestowed the gift of a free will upon man —a gift which has been sadly misused, and by its misuse the world's troubles have "been created by man. But I am confident that in the darkest ages of the world's history God never threw awav the reins of government —but has "ever been over-ruling and ordering the world's course, in all the events recorded in history. Dr. North quotes Huxley as his teacher —but Huxley did not believe in a Creator who was also the Governor of the world. " A Sock on the Jaw " I must also notice the letter of niy friend the Rev. W. Averill. He quotes with approval Mr. Beverly Nichols' answer to the stock questions: "What would you do if you found a great hulking German attacking your sister?" "I should behave exactly in the same, way as if I found a. great hulking Briton attacking my sister, i.e., I should give him a sock on the jaw." Here is a simple pacifist reply to aggression—"A sock on the jaw" is the simplest expression of physical force — and the pacifist must know there is no other answer possible. But if the brother can only deliver a verv weak sock on the jaw, the hulking German or Briton would soon be completely master of both brother and sister, with disastrous results. A sock on the jaw is no good unless it is effective in the direction of knocking out the aggressor. I accept this pacifist principle as applicable to the world of to-day—with great aggressive nations waiting for an opportunity to deal with other nations as Italy has dealt with Abyssinia. If we are to resist aggressors we must be so strong in defence preparations that no nation will act in such a way as to invite a sock on the jaw. While a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. The whole British Empire if properly equipped for defence would , almost certainly save the world from war — ail d the dearest desire of my heart for the world is that it may bo saved from the horrors which mankind, not the Creator, has prepared for the peoples who desire to maintain their liberty. ■ ,