CHRISTIAN PACIFISM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 7

CHRISTIAN PACIFISM

"During the recent crisis the reactions of the - average man were more sound than‘those of the average intellectual or left-wing political- - enthusiast,” said Dr Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham, in a 'recent address. “ There is no doubt the mass of our people desired above all to avoid war. An imaginative, understanding of what war would mean has penetrated into practically every home. War is almost universally regarded as the supreme evil menacing our civilisation. It looks as though detestation of War is likely to prove stronger among the mass of men than national hatred artificially fostered. In this possibility lies our hopes of the future. A resolve to avoid war based on simple humanity may prove so compelling as to become an over-riding factor in international disputes. It ifiay be said that the common man’s recoil from .the possibility of war is a primitive instinct dictated by fear, I. believe it to be a far higher emotion. Though, speaking generally. Christian dogma has not gained strength during the last 20 . years, the pacifism which is rooted s and grounded in the Christian view of life has spread widely. This pacifism does not spring from cowardice, but from a sense ,of the brotherhood of man. It is strengthened by an understanding of the senseless waste of the best young lives in every community to which wat leads. In brief, war means destruction.”