Religion and the WarYale University. Divinity School
Religion
Religion and the War
Yale University. Divinity School
World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Religious aspects
We are not undertaking to punish Germany, greatly as we believe the
present government of Germany needs punishing. We remember who it was
who said, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord," and we
are content to leave the matter of penalty in his powerful hands. We
are not undertaking to dictate to the German people what sort of
government they should have. We are willing they should have any sort
of government they like, so long as they keep it for home consumption.
We believe here that all governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed. We confess to a frank preference for the
methods of democracy, and we could wish no happier lot for any land
than to live under the reign of the common people. We like to remember
that in the year of our Lord 1815, Great Britain and her Allies put a
certain island on the map--they put the island of St. Helena on the
map by banishing to that island the disturber of the peace of Europe.
And if in the year of our Lord 1919 the United States and her Allies
should in similar fashion put some other island on the map by
banishing to that island the present disturber of the peace of Europe,
nine-tenths of all the human race would rise up and thank God.
We entered upon this war because we were not willing to stand by and
allow other nations to be crippled and broken in the resistance they
were offering to lawlessness and crime, and in the defense they were
making for those principles of justice and freedom which are the glory
of our own national history. And so we have come forward to do our
part and to fill up that which is lacking in the sacrifices which
other nations have been making for the sake of principle.
As I move about among my fellow citizens, north, south, east and west,
these are the questions which I find engaging their minds: Is might to
be allowed to usurp the place of right, or are we here to see to it
that in the long run right is the only might? Is international good
faith only an empty phrase, or is it a magnificent reality in the
moral world to be upheld at any cost? Is that body of usages and
agreements slowly built up by centuries of effort, which constitutes
our international law, to be trampled under foot by any nation for the
sake of some immediate advantage, or is it meant to be obeyed? Is the
whole world to be permanently at the mercy of any military caste which
may undertake to impose its will upon the rest of mankind by the
practice of frightfulness, or is there possible some such World League
of Nations as shall have both the mind and the power to keep the peace
and good order of the world?
These are moral questions. They are religious questions, where there
is a will of God to be ascertained and realized. And because our
people have vision for the full recognition of the place spiritual
forces have in the making of history, this struggle enlists the
complete moral support of the nation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account