The New Christianity; or, The Religion of the New AgeBland, Salem Goldworth
Religion
The New Christianity; or, The Religion of the New Age
Bland, Salem Goldworth
Christian sociology; Church and social problems
"Despite the derangements and the sorrow of the war, the Motherland has
raised large masses of her people from the edge of starvation to a
higher plane of physical well-being and, in consequence, was never so
healthy, never so brotherly, nor ever actuated by so high a purpose, or
possessed by such exaltation of spirit as to-day--and the secret is that
all are fighting or working, and all are sacrificing.
"It is not conceivable that, when Germany ceases to be a menace, these
dearly bought discoveries will be forgotten. Relapse would mean
recurrence, the renewal of the agony.
"The conclusion seems irresistible. The war is a sterner teacher than
Jesus and uses far other methods, but it teaches the same lesson. The
social development which it has so unexpectedly accelerated has the same
goal as Christianity. That common goal is a nation of comrade workers,
such as now at the trenches fights so gloriously--a nation of comrade
fighters.
"With the earthquake shocks of the war thundering so tremendous a
re-affirmation to the principles of Jesus, it would be the most
inexcusable dereliction of duty on the part of the Church not to
re-state her programme in modern terms and re-define her
divinely-appointed goal.
"The triumph of democracy, the demand of the educated workers for human
conditions of life, the deep condemnation this war has passed on the
competitive struggle, the revelation of the superior efficiency of
national organization and co-operation, combine with the unfulfilled,
the often forgotten, but the undying ethics of Jesus, to demand nothing
less than a transference of the whole economic life from a basis of
competition and profits to one of co-operation and service.
"We recognize the magnificent effort of many great employers to make
their industrial organization a means of uplift and betterment to all
who participate, but the human spirit instinctively resents even the
most benevolent forms of government while self-government is denied.
The noblest humanitarian aims of employers, too, are often thwarted by
the very conditions under which their business must be carried on.
"That another system is practicable is shown by the recent statement of
the British Prime Minister, that every industry save one in Britain has
been made to serve the national interest by the elimination of the
incentive of private profit. That the present organization, based on
production and service for profits, can be superseded by a system of
production and service for human needs, is no longer a dream.
"We, therefore, look to our national government--and the factor is a
vital one--to enlist in the service of the nation those great leaders
and corporations which have shown magnificent capacity in the organizing
of life and resources for the profit of shareholders. Surely the same
capacity can find nobler and more deeply satisfying activity in the
service of the whole people rather than in the service of any particular
group.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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