THE SOVIET SYSTEM

Taranaki Daily News, 28 November 1934, Page 11

THE SOVIET SYSTEM

THE STATE AS A TYRANT THEORIES BREAKING DOWN. FATHER MARTINDALE'S VIEWS. The subject of Russia came up in the course of an Auckland Herald reporter’s conversation with Father, C. M. Martindale, and he immediately showed that on this, as on so many other matters, he holds considered convictions, to which he is able to give original and arresting expression. He has never been in Russia, for the simple reason that no priest of his Church is admitted,to that. country; but he has obviously maintained a keen interest in its affairs and taken full advantage of the opportunities that have come to him of drawing conclusions. “In Russia they believe in complete liberty of opinion,” he said, “unless it in any way tends against the actual regime. That, was the theory. It is breaking down, just as their economic system is breaking down. For example, to begin with, everybody was to have an equal wage. Then they imported a number of American engineers who said, ‘We certainly are riot going to have the same wage as workmen.’ They began by decrying the specialists and the students, and assuming that the labourer with his hands was the only person who did any work. That has quite broken down. . “If you are rich enough in Russia you can own • a private steam yacht. There is no Communism in Russia, no matter what anybody says. It has the class society just as much as anywhere, only different people constitute the classes. . “The Russian . in the history 'of his race has never made a personal choice. The whole of their history has been one of coercion, including their adoption of Christianity. The reason for that, which anyone who takes the trouble can see, is that their Christianity came from Byzantium, which, was always the glorification of imperial power. So that .they got their Christianity • really in terms of men who ordered them to become Christians. The great Europeanising of Russia came under Peter the Great, who was a tyrant. He transformed Russia, which was practically Asiatic, into an ostensibly European State, but it never really has been. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT MOCKED. “The modern controllers of Russia have controlled it by coercion. Anybody who reads Russian propaganda must have observed—until about two years ago at any rate—that they mock with contempt at the expression ‘freedom of thought.’ They rejoiced that there was a, period of alleged freedom of thought in Europe, because they considered it to have reduced Europe intellectually to a morass. There is no clear general system of thought in Europe. .Therefore, any clear system of thought has a chance of trampling in upon this chaos. And tire name they gave to this new system was a dogmatic atheism. ■ “This is the necessary consequence of the tyrant State. If the, State, is going to be the sole authority, obviously- it cannot admit any rival authority. But a man’s conscience would be a riyal authority, because if a man has one he can say, ‘God tells me .that- this or that is wrong, and even if the State commands it, I cannot do it.” This is the modern equivalent of Caesar versus Christ. Christ said that certain things were due to Caesar, that is, to' human authority, but that certain tilings were due to God. Tile Absolute-State'says, .‘I am the only authority. God. and- conscience cannot butt ;in .’ Nor may you believe ip immortality, because heaven professes to offer things which the State cannot. “The difference between Russia arid pagan Rome is this. The pagan Roman Empire said,- ‘Certainly, give God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar;’ ■. but then the ■ Caesar is God, so he gets the lot. The Russian says, ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and there isn’t any God,’ so again Caesar gets the lot“Idle to point opt that this destroys the family as having any authority. It destroys anything like trades unions. It destroys all education other than the State’s. But this is so anti-human, antisocial, anti-spiritual, that it cannot last; for man is essentially spiritual, social, domestic, and anyhow a man.”