THE KING’S BUSINESS In the early months of the war certain superficial thinkers, including some ministers who ought to have known better, said that Christianity had broken down, and some df them even went so far as to say that "the
944
Civilization, Not Religion, at Fault.
church should close its doors jand take down its sign, since it had failed in the supreme hour of its test.” Almost all fair-minded men now recognize the folly of this judgment and see that the war is not a manifestation of the failure of Christianity, but of the failure of modern civilization, science and philosophy, as was said in an editorial in this magazine some months ago. A very interesting editorial along this line, written by Lewis A. Brown, has appeared in the Methodist Recorder, of London, England. It follows: W e a re told in G enesis th a t T u b al-C ain w as “th e fo rg er of every c u ttin g - in stru m e n t of b ra ss an d iro n .” W hen th is ingenious an d d u tifu l son placed th e first “c u ttin g -in s tru m e n t” in h is delighted fa th e r’s han d , L am ech san g : T his o u tb u rst of p rim itiv e p o etry am o u n ted to an u ltim atum ; L am ech, by th e u tte ra n c e of th e se tru c u le n t w ords, flings defiance a t h is foes.' P arap h ra sed ; th e challenge ru n s, “If an y o n e strik e s m e I slay h im .” L am ech, h an d lin g th e n ew -w ro u g h t w eapon, g lo ats to th in k of th e ascen d an cy h is so n ’s inv en tio n w ill enable him to estab lish over h is fellowm en. “A h!” he exultingly cries, w h a t tim e he lovingly fingers th e edge of th is cru d e k n ife or jav elin , “L e t m en bew are! H ere is th a t w hich ra ise s m e above th e re s t of m an k in d .” A nyone w ho a tta c k s L am ech h en cefo rth w ill g e t m ore th a n h e b arg ain ed for. T h e fo rfeit of such tem erity shall be th e a s sa ila n t’s life. F o r p u g n acity th is p u ts th e m o tto of th e O rder of th e T h istle, “N em o m § im pune lacessit,” in th e shade. N or is th e case of L am ech isolated. Jab in , K in g of C anaan, “h a d nine h u n dred ch ario ts of iron, an d tw en ty y ears h e .m ightily o p p rest th e children of I s ra e l.” T he tw o fa c ts a re probably related as cau se an d effect. Jab in , finding h im self su p erio r to an y of h is co n tem p o raries in th is p a rtic u la r b ran ch of w ar m unitions, desired, n a tu ra lly enough, to p u t his ch ario ts to th e proof. B u t th e iron of th o se n ine h u n d red ch ario ts h ad so en tered in to th e soul of neighboring kin g s th a t none of th em w ould risk a q u arre l or challenge C a n aan ’s suprem acy. T h is disap p o in ted Ja b in , w ho couldn’t b ear to see h is ch ario ts lying idle. So it cam e to p ass th a t fo r w a n t of an a s sa ila n t h e w as led on to becom e a bully. H e b egan to terro rize th e n eighboring n atio n s, an d Israel, am ong o th ers, fell p rey to h is m arau d in g onslau g h ts. T h u s Ja b in goes one b e tte r th a n L am ech in his rin g in g challenge-“to th e w orld. F o r L am ech only th re a te n s to kill th o se w ho a tte m p t to m olest him , w h ereas, Ja b in doesn’t w a it to be attack ed , b u t assum es th e offensive.^ I t is exceedingly difficult to d raw th e line of d istin ctio n w ith o u t overstepping it. T he L am ech a ttitu d e so soon p asses over in to th e Ja b in a ttitu d e . T he p o s session of m ark ed su p erio rity often c o n stitu te s a tem p tatio n , fo r as tim e goes on th e position am o u n ts to th is: “W h a t’s th e good of a scientific inv en tio n re n d e r in g us su p rem e u n less w e proceed to prove o u r su p rem acy .” I t m ay be th a t th e h o rro rs of th e In q u isitio n w ere, in p a rt a t an y ra te , due to th e invention of th e ra c k arid th e th um b -screw . “H ere a re som e n e a t co n triv an ces fo r to rtu rin g people; it w ould be a p ity n o t to use th em !” . . . . T h e G re e k ' a ttrib u te d scientific in v en tio n s to th e ir gods. N ot T ubal-C ain, a m o rtal, b u t H ep h ae stu s (V ulcan), a n im m ortal, w as th e ir prim e fo rg er of cu ttin g -in stru m e n ts. T oday som e of u s incline to th e H ebrew ra th e r th a n to th e G reek view , and. w e should p ro b ab ly 'g o on to say th a t civilization is d ep reciated by m a n ’s m an y in v en tio n s in th e m ilita ry realm . Now if; a s w e all th in k , G er m an y h as been p rep arin g fo r th is w ar fo r y ears, is it n o t significant th a t she should be th e n atio n w hich occupies th e v an ' of science. H er m en of genius h av e co n cen trated th e ir th o u g h t upon th e production of first th is, th en th a t, co n triv an ce fo r secu rin g m ilita ry ascendancy. A t first, it m ay be, th e idea un d erly in g all th is m en tal activ ity w as th e L am ech id ea of self-defense. “ B ut, as tim e w en t on a n d th e n um b er of w ar-c o n triv an ces m ultiplied an d th e ir in g en u ity increased, th e id ea of ag g ressio n o u sted th e id ea of retaliatio n . G erm any, like Jab in , b egan to sigh an d c a s t ab o u t fo r an o p p o rtu n ity of p u ttin g th o se piled-up in v en tio n s to th e test. “W h ere th e re ’s a w ill th e re ’s a w ay ,” an d if o p p o rtu n ity refu ses to p re se n t itself, a d eterm in ed m an or people can m ak e one. . . . I t looks as if w e shall h av e to in d o rse th e H ebrew conception an d a ttrib u te , civilization (and its failu re) to m an, n o t God, to m a n ’s p erv erte d ingenuity, to h u m an w its sh arp en ed in to diabolical cunning. I t is civilization, n o t religion, w hich h a s failed A nd unless th e m en ace of m ilitarism be effectually rem oved, a fte r th is w ar th e bad, bad b usiness w ill begin again. A s m en stu d y th e ; sto ry of th is w ar th e y w ill read of th is d isa ste r an d th e oth er. T hey w ill th en se t to w o rk to in v en t one co n triv an ce m ore to re n d er arm ies im m une from such d isa ste r n e x t tim e. Y et by th a t v ery a c t th ey w ill b rin g “n e x t tim e” n earer. T he In q u isito rs to rtu re d th e ir v ictim s “to th e glory of th e L o rd ,” an d th e m ad n ess of w ar-in v e n tio n ta k e s its rise in th e ju s t notion of ad eq u ate self-defense. “R eeking tu b e an d iron sh a rd ” a re only th e logical issu e of th e in san ity . “I w ill slay a m an fo r w ounding m e A nd a y oung m an fo r b ru isin g m e.”
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker