June, 1940
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
203
Views and Reviews of Current News By DÂN GILBERT Washington, D. C , and San Diego, California
COMFORT FOR THESE TRYING DAYS • “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee’’ (Psa. 56:3). • “ In the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, and his children shall have a place of refuge” (Prov. 14:26). “ Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he alio is become my salvation” (Isa. 12:2). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fam ine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Bom. 8:35, 37). Blackout— and the Cross A reader of THE KING’S BUSINESS, writing from Oakland, Calif., sends this significant word: “That is indeed a dark picture which Dr. McComb presented in the May KING’S BUSINESS [ “Europe—and the Bible,” p. 167]. Any way we look at it, the picture in Europe is dark., It is a terrible blackout. VThe .following Is a part of a para graph taken from an article describing the war in England, in The New Wit ness of January 24 of this year. It seems tp me a very apt illustration: “ ‘A t night a great blackness reigns over the whole country. There is not a glimmer of light anywhere except for the traffic lights in tl^e town, and these are blackened out as well, except for two slits in the form of a cross. The cross is the only light that shows our way.’ “In spite of the darkness in Europe and in our own country, the cross is still before us, and God Tbtill holds the universe in His hand. “And, in view of all this sad condi tion, does it not behoove us to search our own hearts and find out whether we are failing Him? Do we really be lieve all the Bible ? We think we do, but do we? 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it’ . (Mai. 3:10). “If we are really doing that, why is evangelism paralyzed? Surely if only two of us do it, that is enough to claim tv,« nromise.”
WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINALS: Edwin H. Sutherland, well-known expert in criminology, recently has brought to light a mass of information that com pletely upsets the “conventional ex planations of the cause and nature of crime.” In the first place, he shows that the “crime wave” permeates all classes. Usually only lower-class criminals— thugs, hold-up men, forgers, etc.—are sent to jail. In the “upper brackets,” the stealing is customarily done “within the law.” But the crime wave has swept everywhere. Big business and large-scale politics are scenes of as widespread criminality as are the slum districts of the. large cities. Dr. Sutherland contends: “White-collar criminality in busi ness is expressed most frequently in the form of misrepresentation in financial statements of corporations, manipulation in the stock ex changes, commercial bribery, bri bery Of public officials directly or indirectly in order to secure favor able contracts and legislation, mis representation in advertising and salesmanship, embezzlement and misapplication o f f u n d s , short weights and measures and misgrad- ing of. commodities, tax frauds, mis application of funds in receiverships and bankruptcies.” Corruption in political circles is so notorious that Dr. Sutherland devotes little attention to it. In high commer cial and political circles, softer terms may be used to describe these activities, but it is undeniable tnat there is as much lying and defrauding, as on the lowest levels of economic existence. Behind the white-collar criminals are found the crooked criminal lawyers without whose counsel and ingenuity few "stealings within the law” could be successfully carried but. Thèse lawless lawyers are highly educated, nearly al ways prosperous, and brilliant to an un usual degree. Certàinly their criminality cannot be attributed to lack of brains of economic opportunity. They are not the “underprivileged,” either according to nature or to society. Dr. Sutherland holds that it can be clearly shown that “the theory that criminal behavior is due either to pov erty or to conditions associated with poverty is invalid.” Grime is not caused by poverty or by “feeble-mindedness,” as .s generally supposed.
With the old theories exploded, crim inality must remain somewhat of a mystery to the criminologists. But it is no mystery t o . those who accept the Bible as revealed Truth. The Word ,of God teaches that crime is due to a per verse will. Crime comes out of the foul ness of the heart of unregenerate man. All men—rich and poor, cultured and uncultured, intelligent and stupid—are born with a depraved nature. Education, breeding, wealth, culture will not cure the lawlessness of the will of man. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, by the miracle of regeneration, can give to men a, new heart, a new will, a new mind. “Ye must be bom again” (John 3:7). That truth applies to the rich and to the poor, to the white-collared and to the slum-dwelle.s. Unregenerate men will behave the same, whether attired in tuxedoes or in rags, whether equipped with college degrees or left in illiteracy. Criminology, like all other sciences, will never arrive at truth until it builds upon Biblical principles. EYES EAST: This commentator has previously expressed the opinion that the danger of military involvement to America lies in the Orient rather than in Europe, at the present time at least. Developments seem to confirm this position. In testifying before the Senate Naval Committee, Rear Admiral Joseph K. Taussig frankly declared: “I don’t see now we can escape being forced into an eventual war by the present trend of develop ments in the Far East.. . . It should be a naval war. We can’t invade Japan, and Japan can’t invade the United States.”- It was an indiscreet admission, and of courst, Secretary Of. the Navy Edison was prompt to point out that the Ad miral “was expressing his own views, not the views of the Navy.’ ' But the significance of the statement cannot be explained away. It represents what is on the rn.nd of certain Naval authorities at the present time. There is a disposition» to feel that, at the opportune time, Japan will strike in Asia, in unison with the German war effort in Europe. Whether or not Ger many can hold The Netherlands, Japan is counted upon eventually to try to [Continued on Page 227]
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