PARTISAN CHRISTIANITY.

New Zealand Tablet, 25 April 1918, Page 43

PARTISAN CHRISTIANITY.

To the Editor;

Sir, There has been considerable reference lately in the press—chiefly on account of the attitude of conscientious objectors to military serviceto the teachings of Christ about war. v There are some people in the community who question the authority of the teachings of Christ in this matter, who think that what was said or written, nearly two thousand years ago can have little bearing upon what is taking place to-day. There are others, and their number is probably far greater than the former, who, following the line of least resistance, first align themselves with the powers that be, and then set about to make the teachings of Christ and the whole of their religious outlook fit in with that manoeuvre. These are the popular ■ people. There are a few, of course, in all countries —an _ infinitesimal number— follow literally the teachings of the lowly Nazarene, and who suffer for such following. These representative groups indicate much divergence of thought and sympathy among Christians, In the American War of Independence the Christians of England justified their side in the full belief of fidelity to Christian principles, as did the rebellious Christian colonials theirs. War after war could be cited, of course, where Christians have fought against Christians, and where both - have justified their fighting by an appeal to the same Christian doctrine. So to-'-"" day in Europe and America we find the same anomaly of professedly Christian nations professing a hatred of war on Christian principles, yet compelled a to take up arms for humanity’s sake. For all of them — to use a favorite illustration of our own apologiststhe house is on fire, and they cannot stop to argue or consult, to be charitable or reasonable ; the fire must be put out. Anything that gets in the way of the fire being put out must —Christianity, moral principles, or anything else. That is war as we see it in the world to-day; For the sake of appearances, Christ is usually taken along to help put out the fire—in the other party’s house. It apparently never occurs to Christians that Christ and His teachings are thus placed by them in an ignoble and ludicrous position. It would be difficult to find a more glaring instance of the religious and moral turpitude of our time, than that such a gross insult and caricature should 00 unnoticed. Would it not be more in accordance with fact, and at the same time be a respectful attitude towards Christ, if we put His name in abeyance, and said that it is no code of morals of His that we are following, but rather that through our own human error we have got into this disgraceful muddle, and that we are relying upon ’ our brute strength and nerve-power to pull us through, with the hope that in the future such methods of settling disputes will be obsolete. ' Because the teaching of Christ has again and again been verified and confirmed by human experience, because great principles have been the foundation of His message, is that any reason or excuse for local

exploitation of that world-wide message, and its reduction to a national shibboleth ? The dignity of Christ is now reduced .to the. charm of a national mascot. If we would do Him justice, we must throw off this parochial, narrow idea, and remember that His teaching is as . wide as the interests of; humanity. ‘. Christ stands for broad principles. « To imagine Him an Englishman' ° r German with n hereditary bias towards : empirebuilding, is to wrong Him shamefully. Our , international quarrels would be to Him as horrible and absurd as religious wars of the past over - some ritual' or theological quibble now appear to us. / ,There is no jingoism with Christ, as there is no partisanship and no sectarianism. The principles of ‘ Love, Goodness, and Truth for which Christ stood will ’ outlive this war. These great truths will not fit national aims; Let us have done with this talk, then, of Christ strutting about in uniform. Let us not degrade Him further.— l am, etc., R. S. Ilott. Dunedin, April 15. ,