October, 1940
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
363
Significance of the News By DAN GILBERT Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
population who are young is decreasing from, year to year; thus the percentage of the people Who are old becomes dis proportionate. Surveys have shown that, in most cases, the declining birth rate has been due to selfishness. Couples would prefer a new automobile or other luxuries to an addition to the family. Ease and luxury have produced the downfall of the great civilizations of the past. The spirit of true patriotism must be the spirit of sacrifice. The real strength ening of our national life and defenses requires the building of character in our people. Defense of a nation is, usually, not a military problem. It is a moral problem. We need to grow strong in our ideals, strong in our principles, strong in our loyalties. Sacrifice instead of selfishness must be the driving and dic tating force in the ordering of individ ual livgs. A militaristic nation is seldom a strong nation. Sparta was the classic example. Her collapse was almost as sensational as that of modern France. Militarism means a trust in the instru ments of force as the way to preserve and prosper a country. The spirit of militarism is always the spirit of pagan ism and of materialism. Militarism is national suicide. No one will question that America is in danger, and needs to reconstruct her defenses. But all sound observers will agree that the real defense of a nation lies in the integrity of her homes. Until the Chris tian home is strongly re-established in this land, our nation will be weak, no matter how many men we may have under arms.
SOVIET “APPEASEMENT” : • Stalin has got away with it again! His “bloodless” blitzkrieg against the Baltic states brought scarcely a ripple of resentment. Latvia, Lithuania, and Esthonia were greedily swallowed up by the Russian bear; but this did not halt the “heart-to-heart” conversations being carried on by Under-Secretary Welles and the Soviet ambassador, Con stantine Oumansky. On August 7, both of them, on behalf of their respective governments, expressed “deep gratifi cation” over the renewal of the Soviet- American trade agreement. . Official and unofficial Washington reports center around the possibility of a “Russian and United States alliance.” There are even those who talk of the United States and Russia as “natural allies.” With the British fleet incapable of acting with mueh force in the Orient, it is' maintained that the United States and Russia are “inevitable allies” in a “stop Japan” movement. Military strat egists stress the advantages of “coopera tion” with Russia in curbing Japanese aggression. From the economic standpoint, it i3 contended that, aside from South Amer ica, Russia remains our only potentially great customer. Continental Europe seems to be sealed within the confines of the “corporate system,” regardless of how long Britain may hold out against Nazi invasion. Thus, Russia—with her outlet through Siberia on the Pacific—• appears to be our only commercial con tact with the European continent. The pressure for a political alliance with Russia, therefore, seems to be de veloping on both the military and eco nomic fronts. It is, of course, held back by the knowledge that Stalin cannot be trusted. In fact, every argument against “appeasing” Hitler would hold with equal force against-the proposal for put ting reliance in Russia. GOD AND GOOD GOVERNMENT: • • It is encouraging to note the number of devout Christian believers who have come to the headship of some of our greatest- -states. Governor Luren D. Dickinson of Michigan is well known as a fundamentalist and was one of the 1principal speakers at the Chicago con vention of the World’s Christian Funda mentals Association. The new governor of Louisiana, who is charged with the task of cleansing that state of corrupt conditions built up over a period of years, is a man of prayer and Christian conviction. Gov ernor Sam Houston Jones is in no sense
“modernistic,” and he frankly says so. Political officeholders often will pay high tribute to “religious ideals,” but will carefully fail to reveal where they stand on the real fundamentals of the faith. Governor Jones, however, believes in the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints. His is no changing or evolving creed. He believes in the eter nal validity of Bible principles. Declared Governor Jones: “The Bible and its laws are just as true today as ever. The Ten Commandments are just as true' to day as they ever were. Man-made laws and rules of conduct have nev er superseded the laws handed down on graven stone to Moses on the mountain-top by the Creator of us all.” . . Governor Jones echoes the sentiment of the Founding Fathers: “God gov erns in the affairs of men.” He has said: “Nothing great was ever achieved in the history of the world without the help of God. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitu tion of the United States have been preserved because God and the thought of God dominated those who penned these two Immortal docu ments. The Treaty of Versailles, without thought or mention of God, has scrambled the nations of Eu rope and pitted man against his brother in a bitter war.” Governor Jones thinks there is need for a revival of the traditional American conception of citizenship. He said: “You can’t be Christian and not a good citizen. That great statesman, Daniel Webster, said, ‘What makes good citizens makes good Chris tians.’ And I say to you that just as truly, ‘What makes good Chris tians makes good citizens.’ “As Christian leaders you must also be defenders of the principles upon which the government is built. Godless doctrines must not be al lowed to creep into our schools or seats of governments. The hatreds of Communism, Fascism, and Naz ism are not for peace-loving, God fearing Americans.” REAL NATIONAL DEFENSE: • As the nation mobilizes for defense, the first discovery is that our “racial resources” have run down. There are 2,000,000 fewer young Americans in their teens than there were a genera tion ago. The percentage of the total
cometh from the L ord , which made heaven and earth.”,
Cartoon by E. J. Pace Courtesy, The Sunday School Tlmfs
THE UNITED STATES AT PRAYER A great national humbling before God! That is the need that prompted a call to a “Day of Prayer for Revival in America” on Thanksgiving Sunday, November 17. The call is issued by the Great Commission Prayer League, 808 N. La Salle St., Chicago, 111., which is offering posters and literature helpful to pastors.
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