THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS NEWS-BULLETIN VOL. XVII. LAWRENCE, KANSAS, JANUARY 15, 1917. NO. 10. HATTIE ELIZABETH LEWIS MEMORIAL ESSAYS IN APPLIED CHRISTIANITY HOW CHRIST WOULD ORGANIZE THE WORLD BY RALPH W, NELSON Entered October 17, 1904, at Lawrence, Kansas, as second class matter, under act of Congress, July 16, 1894. ihlD HATTIE ELIZABETH LEWIS MEMORIAL ESSAYS IN APPLIED CHRISTIANITY HOW CHRIST WOULD ORGANIZE THE WORLD By RALPH W. NELSON, of Lawrence Kama. First Prise, 1916 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOW CHRIST WOULD ORGANIZE THE WORLD BT Ralph W. Nelson CONTENTS I. Introduction : 1. World organization an important part of social prob lem 9 2. Nations merely groups of men 9 a. Philosophy of "power" a negative doctrine.. 9 b. National sovereignty cannot be greater than people who create it 10 II. Christ's Emphasis of Humanity. 1. Individual 10 2. Social 11 a. His recognition of sqpial groups, from fam ily to nation 11 b. Men have one Divine Father, and are there fore brothers 11 3. Jesus not a revolutionist 12 4. A new ideal based on rights of man 12 III. Democracy, Christ's Ideal of Social Organization. 1. Its gradual development 13 2. Not a static, but an evolutionary ideal 13 3. A practical demonstration of its relative success 14 a. Germany, most successful of bureaucracies.. 14 b. Her ambitious national philosophy 14 c. Unequaled efficiency 14 d. Herfailure 15 4. Democracy the leading principle in modern govern ment 16 5. Aggressive militarism inconsistent with character of democracy 16 IV. " The Field is the World. " 1 . Democracy hasbynomeansyet reached its goal 17 2. Eminently consistent with world organization 17 3. The European war and the responsibihty of autocrats 17 4. European war not a clash of merely national ideals... 18 5. Fundamental ideals at issue, democracy and bu reaucracy 18 V. Democracy, an Influential Factor in World Politics. 1. Democratic nations as peaceful neighbors 19 2. Nations have grown larger, but autocrats less success ful 19 3. Revolutions in New and Old Worlds 20 4. Democracy, the strength of the British Empire 20 5. Self-governing dominions of the British Empire a beginning of world organization 20 6. Nothing but harmony anticipated among democratic nations 20 7. Autocracies always pointed out as possible foes of United States 21 8. Growth of sentiment against war 21 9. Broadening of patriotism 22 10. Autocracy, the basic cause of war, should be elimi nated 22 11. Democracy must eliminate autocrats by methods consistent with its character 22 VI. Education, the Means. 1. Education the only agency for permanent social uplift 23 2. Jesus the greatest Teacher 23 a . The educational preparation of the Jews 23 b. Jesus sought to save men merely by teaching them 24 3. A psychological prerequisite of all social organization 24 4. The civilized world one great community 24 5. Men have learned to think in world terms 25 a. Especially in democratic nations 25 b. No hatred between plain people of European nations 25 6. World organization merely an educational problem.. 25 7. Co-operation in world education, the only consistent plan of defensive preparedness for democratic nations 26 8. Culmination of European crisis an unequaled oppor tunity for United States to take initiative in forma tion of League of Nations to Enforce Peace 27 9. "America first in world service!" 28 10. The beginning of ultimate world democracy 28 HOW CHRIST WOULD ORGANIZE THE WORLD I. World organization is simply a problem of humanity. It is part only, but an important part, of the social problem, which a recent writer1 has said to be "the problem of the relations of men to one another". To urge the necessity of an orderly method of adjust ing international differences and regulating international relation ships is not to deny the existence of such questions as "the distri bution of wealth", "labor", or "control of heredity", which are only a few of the perplexing problems that constitute various phases of the all-inclusive problem of human relations. It is of the utmost importance in the discussion of any part of the social problem, to keep in view the relation of that part to all other parts; no part or phase, however much of a problem it may be in itself, is self-sufficient or an end in itself. World organization, then, is not to be considered as a question of government or politics alone; it is that and more. Tt is a problem of humanity and human relationships. He who would organize the world and bring the dealings of nations with one another under rational control, must bear in mind from the outset that nations are merely groups of men. Nations may be considered as artificial persons or personified entities in no way subject to the ethical or religious principles of individuals2 — an idea which the philosophies of Machiavelli and Hegel have firmly established in European thought— if the goal to be attained is national greatness and world dominion. But it is palpably evident to thinkers who have once recognized the need of world organi zation that the philosophy of power as the greatest good attainable by a state has served its purpose in uniting quarrelsome commu nities, and that in a cosmopolitan age it is a perniciously negative doctrine.3 Ultra-nationalism negates internationalism just as ultra-individuahsm precludes the possibihty of mutually helpful social intercourse. If a nation or national sovereignty is not to be thought of as an 1 Ellwood: The Social Problem, p. 3. Santayana: German Freedom, in 13. The New Republic, August 28, 2. Bernhardi: Germany and the Next 1915. War, p. 29. 10 Essays in Applied Christianity end in itself, it follows that even national sovereignty is a respon sible entity. The blind patriotism expressed in the fine phrase, "our country, right or wrong",4 is only a euphemistic way of making nationality superhuman and irresponsible, all of which leads to the irrational conclusion that men are the unquestioning puppets and slaves to an artificial system of their own creation. National sovereignty has been called the final authority, the thing greater than the law, that indeed protects the law.6 This is so patent an error in the light of recent world history, so destructive of all that men have striven for centuries to gain, that it would seem unnecessary to refute it. Suffice it to say that national sovereignty is not the final authority, for, though it be behind the law and the protector of the law, still, behind national sovereign ty is its creator, humanity, and reason cannot countenance a philosophy that enthrones the thing created and makes the crea tor its slave. Nations and national sovereignty are only means to an end. The end is humanity. Throughout the wiles of in ternational diplomacy men are toying with men; in international wars men are killing men; in all international relations men are dealing with men. When we have grasped the fact that the problem of world organ ization is a problem of human relations not different in kind, but only greater in extent than other problems of social regulation that we have, comparatively speaking, succeeded in solving, we are in a position to make practical application of the teachings of Jesus. II. Christ emphasized humanity individually and collectively. It was the individual who was to receive his teaching and bear the fruits of that teaching.6 It was the individual who was to receive the reward of obedience.7 It was the individual who was to be held responsible for disobedience.8 From the emphasis placed upon this message to individuals as such, by an essentially scholas tic theology, there has arisen a general understanding that Christ 4. Stephen Decatur: Mackenzie's 6. Matthew XIII, 23. Life of Stephen Decatur, ch. XIV. 7. John VI, 37. 5. Kingsley: The World's Fundamen- 8- Matthew VII, 23. lal Error, in The Independent, Jan uary 31, 1916. How Christ Would Organize the World 11 preached an "individual gospel"; but this belief is evidence of a failure to understand the second half of his teaching, without which the first half will be of no avail. The individual is responsible for receiving individually, and utilizing socially, a teaching that is social from beginning to end. That teaching is intended to train him for social service, for hfe as a man among men. He is responsible if he does not obey, but of what does obedience consist? The conception that to obey is merely to repent and "be saved" is a half truth that amounts to a complete misconstruction of Christ's teaching. Jesus insists that men shall come to him, and he makes it plain that this coming is to be a whole-hearted acceptance of his teaching and of himself as Teacher, Savior, Ideal. Men are asked to enroll in his school and learn of him.9 " If any man would g ome after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me";10 but following Christ cannot mean mere salvation in an individual and selfish sense, for "Whosoever would save his life shall lose it",11 and taking up the cross of Christ can have no significance other than going about doing good, loving one's neighbor as one's self, and humbling one's self just as Jesus did. In fact, Christ's teaching is intrinsically social to the extent that man is to "lay down his life for his friends",12 and where circumstances require it, he is to leave home, family,13 and occupation14 in order to minister to the very least of earth's needy ones. The social psychology of Jesus is an inseparable part of his gospel. He recognized the family as the primary social institu tion15 about which the group consciousness of man is fundamentally centered. He describes his ministry as primarily to the Jews,16 a nation of patriarchal origin, thus affirming the legitimate growth of group consciousness from family to clan and from clan to tribe and nation. He even accepted one state as the over-lord of an other and advised the Jews to pay Rome the homage that was due.17 But on the basis of man's social consciousness, he revealed God as the Father in heaven, an interested and loving Father of all. Having one Father, all men are therefore brothers; and herein is 9. Matthew XI, 29. 14. Mark X, 21. 10. Matthew XVI, 25. IS. Matthew XIX, 5-6. 11. Matthew XVI, 26. 16. Mark VII, 27. 12. John XV, 13. 17. Matthew XXII, 21. 13. Luke XIV, 26. 12 Essays in Applied Christianity the key to the world organization of Jesus, a higher social order than any men had previously conceived. Christ took for granted the existence of human governmental institutions, and with all their imperfections18 he recognized the need for them and the possibility of instilling into those very in stitutions the principles that would ultimately make them con structive factors in a universal brotherhood of man. He was not in any sense a revolutionist. His disciples were taught to be law- abiding citizens; and his apostles urged servants to be obedient to their masters.19 Yet he laid emphasis upon the infinite worth of individual man20 and the importance of social service and all righteousness, whether individual,21 social,22 or civil,23 as to work in nineteen hundred years, with the thoroughness of the leaven in the meal,24 a complete revolution in human conceptions of social institutions and government. Human slavery was an accepted institution of the highest civilization in the time of Christ, just as the most absolute despotism was a common and legitimate form of government; but the civilization that has grown up out of the humanitarian principles of Jesus has completely destroyed slavery and has already greatly modified and restricted the prerogatives of despots. In Christian civilization a new ideal of government has gradually gained headway until now it is stronger than the armies and navies of autocrats. In the time of Jesus men had not learned to express their patriotism or group consciousness adequately except when the group was personified in a king or an assemblage of aristocrats. After Christ had expounded the all-embracing individual and social significance of his doctrine of humanity, men began to learn the lesson of being patriotic on behalf of the people of their group without the necessity of an actual or fictitious governmental head as the object of their loyalty. It was then that democracy threw off the stigma of its classification by Greek philosophers with ochlocracy or mob rule,25 and became a legitimate form of govern ment. The apostles of Jesus recommended its principles for the organization of the church,26 and from the very beginning of the church, the spirit of democracy went everywhere the Christians 18. Matthew XXII, 21. 23. Matthew XVIII, 24-27. 19. Ephesians VI, 5; I Peter II, 18. 24. Matthew XIII, 33. 20. Luke XV, 7. 25. Aristotle: Politics, Book III, 21. Mark XVI, 16. Chapter 7. 22. Luke XIX, 8-9; Matthew X, 42. 26. Acts VI, 3. How Christ Would Organize the World 13 were scattered by the persecutions that followed them until even the Roman Senate passed away and the emperor was surrounded instead by a cabine^ of Christian pastors27 whose only qualification for their office was the humanitarianism they had learned from their Master. III. It is historically evident — and for psychological and educational reasons to be developed in succeeding pages — M that Jesus did not give democracy to men as a finished product, but only in the form of a practical and realizable ideal with all the principles and in structions necessary for the ultimate establishment of that ideal. He did not overthrow a single natiqp or directly condemn any despotic ruler as such, but it is certainly true that he drew up the fundamental democratic constitution. He came to bring a sword29 and to cause divisions and strife among men30 because he knew that sinning and selfish humanity would not accept his altruistic teachings without stubborn resistance and that kings would not respect the rights of the poor and down-trodden until they were forced to do so. Not depriving despots of their most powerful weapons, he yet placed in the hands of the unlearned and lowly31 the power of a Name32 and the potency of a teaching that would insure the gradual rise of the masses and the ultimate overthrow of all the varied conceptions of the "divine right of kings'*. The term "democracy" is generally taken to mean a form of government similar to that of the United States or Canada; but according to Jesus, democracy cannot be defined merely as a sys tem of government nor can it be adequately illustrated by taking the most advanced government of the twentieth century for an example. The democracy of Jesus is an ideal toward which human ity is to grow, and the states that have adopted democratic forms of government are striving toward that ideal but may as yet be far from reaching it. This does not mean that these states are not democracies, but that they are such only in a growing and ever developing sense and not in an ultimate sense at all. This ideal of democracy is in no way an unrealizable abstraction; with Jesus it 27. Fairbairn: The Philosophy of the 30. Mattliew X, 35-36. Christian Religion, p. 321. 31. Acts IV, 13. 28. See VI, below. 32. John XIV, 13; Acts IV, 12. 29. Matthew X, 34. 14 Essays in Applied Christianity was a simple brotherhood of men which he made eminently con crete in his own life33 and which the comparatively successful attempts of modern nations have proved to be practical through out. To demonstrate the practical success of democracy, let the most successful of undemocratic nations be considered for the purpose of comparison: Modern Germany is the result of unique historical conditions. These conditions have been the occasion out of which have grown a national philosophy and ideals of state radically different from those of her democratic neighbors. While democratic nations have been stumbling along, however lamely, in the paths of the universal humanitarianism of Jesus, the teachings of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel have engendered within the German people an intense patriotism that in effect deifies the state and conceives for Ger many a peculiar mission and destiny among the nations of the world. It was Fichte who declared patriotism to be the will that the end of cosmopolitanism be first realized by the German nation and should then spread to the rest of the world.34 The inculcation of these ideas has been promoted and made permanent by a gov ernment that entrenches itself behind the most powerful military machine the world has ever known,35 and at the same time provides for the welfare of the German people by the administration of justice and the organization of social life according to the most scientific ideals of an enlightened age. Government supervision of schools36 and the suppression of certain classes of anti-militar istic literature,37 combined with an undoubted efficiency of educa tional, industrial and administrative methods, has served to enmesh the German people in a united conception of their own excellence and the supreme duty of imposing that excellence upon the world.38 It is claimed for Germany that this admitted proficiency in governmental, industrial and social methods proves her to be the most successful of modern nations. Without attempting to take account of how much she may have lost or may yet lose by barter ing individual initiative for machine-like precision, we must note 33. John XIII, 14. 36. Ibid., pp. 241-259. 34. Dewey: German Philosophy and 37. Ward: Applied Sociology, p. 78. Politics, p. 99. 38. Bernhardt: Germany and the Next 35. Bernhardt: Germany and the Next War, pp. 72-84. War, pp. 183-205. How Christ Would Organize the World 15 that there are other considerations bearing so directly upon the question of her success or failure that they cannot be overlooked. As a standard by which the success of nations may be judged, it is sufficient for the present discussion to refer to the outline of essential functions set forth by Woodrow Wilson in his treatise on "The State".39 Without enumerating these essentials, or consid ering the detrimental phases of universal military service, that deprives every able-bodied man in the German Empire of several of his most productive years and taxes the entire population to support the horde of professional non-producers of the military aristocracy, let it be admitted that the martial exactness of German life makes for success and that modern Germany has been the most successful of nations. Even then it does not follow that Germany is successful in any permanent sense. It is common for men to be misled by conditions that break down under a crisis. To grant the success of Germany prior to the present Euproean war, is not to conclude that she has maintained that state of national fortune. The newspapers are full of the success of German arms, but military success is only one of Dr. Wilson's eight essential functions of a state. The protection of citizens from personal violence is another essential function, and in this it cannot be said that the German people consider their government successful. They know only what the government has told them about the causes of the war, but they know that two millions of their finest men were sacrificed in the first sixteen months of conflict. ^It matters little what the final result of the war may be, or what terms of peace may be agreed on; the most sweeping victory for German arms can never compensate the German people for even the present situation. However efficiently Germany may in the past have been executing for her people the essential functions of a state, she has failed in the end to protect their lives and their homes. Whatever may have been said a few years ago in favor of the German system, it is now patent to the whole world that its success was only temporary, and that Ger many stands today, a most dismal failure among the civilized nations of the world. If Germany, unquestionably the most powerful, efficient and civiUzed of bureaucracies, cannot be classed as one of the truly 30. Wilson: The State, p. 639. 16 Essays in Applied Christianity and permanently successful nations of the world, it is a conclusion that, for the purpose of this discussion, needs no further demon stration, that democracy is the prevailing form of government among the nations that are successful. This conclusion need not imply that all governments in any way autocratic or bureaucratic are total failures, or that democracy has yet reached its ideal; it may recognize several legitimate forms of government, as Aristotle did;40 but it does mean that among these successful forms, democ racy stands, without possibility of impeachment by a modern world, at the head of the list. In the evolutionary conception of Jesus, national government is as essential to a democracy as to a monarchy, but in principle and practice it is so organized and subject to the will of the people that it cannot easily come to be looked upon as an end but only as a means. Democratic governments at their present state of devel opment are the results of the efforts of human intelligence to apply the principles and the sentiments of social consciousness directly to man as their ultimate object and end. In order to carry out this ideal of patriotism on behalf of man, democratic nations have developed institutions and practices varying according to different conceptions of democracy, yet characteristic in their emphasis of fundamental principles.41 These principles are founded on the central theme of individual liberty combined with social and civil justice. By the principles of Jesus it is certainly justifiable for a democ racy to protect its citizens from foreign oppression,42 but it cannot, in consistency with its character, require them to pay for that protection the price of oppression at home. For when a democratic state, even to protect herself against the aggressive ambitions of a military neighbor, saddles upon her people a system that deprives them of their freedom to live and love all men as neighbors and brothers, she has sacrificed the very principles that make her a democracy. IV. If, from Christ's justification of national defense and from the relative national liberty of Americans and Canadians, it would 40. Aristotle: Politics, Book III, 41. Croly: The Promise of American Chapter 7. Life, pp. 1-7. 42. Luke XXII, 36. How Christ Would Organize the World 17 seem to a casual observer that the democratic conception of Jesus was nearing realization at least in the two great sister states of North America, it is necessary to call attention to the fact that with Christ "the field is the world".43 No human organization, however high and irreproachable may be its motives and ideals, can be truly said to be an actualized counterpart of the teachings of Jesus until its beneficent influence is extended to the ends of the earth.44 The problem of human governmental organization is one of the establishment of justice and the promotion of the gen eral welfare throughout the world. This cannot be accomplished by a world sovereignty similar to that of Rome or by any world empire, whatever its government, that relies on the philosophy of power to extend its dominion. It is. not inconceivable that a nation might become sufficiently strong to conquer a twentieth century world, but it is entirely beyond the conception of reason that this nation could long retain its rule over the world it had subjugated. But if the possibility of permanent world organization on the basis of power were granted, it would not be the organization of Jesus. In his teachings arbitrary might has no standing what ever;45 the only aristocracy shall be one of service and the first in society shall be the most humble servant of all. The world organ ization of Jesus must be based on the principles of social service and worked out by a system of government that will overlook the rights of none and jealously guard the welfare of all. It must be remembered that what men have called democracy may become so perverted as to be democracy no more; nevertheless the democ racy of Jesus, a government of men organized and administered by men and for men, has grown steadily in importance and power ever since Christianity threw off the fetters of the Dark Ages, until now, with all its variations and in spite of its difficulties and occasional retrogressions, it is the form of government that has shown itself most ready to adopt measures for the restriction of national armaments and for international conciliation. The responsibility for the present European war rests primarily upon the governments that, in holding to mediaeval ideas of militarism, have failed to keep abreast of the growth of the world 43. Matthew XIII, 38. 45. Mark IX, 35. 44. Acts I, 8. 18 Essays in Applied Christianity toward democracy. The effort of Lord Roberts to establish uni versal military service in England failed because democratic ideals had become uppermost in the minds of the people of the United Kingdom. Churchill's proposal of a "naval holiday" was scorned by the German government because in Germany there were no untrammeled democratic ideals that could lead the people to veto the vaulting ambitions of autocracy. Europe armed herself because neighboring military autocrats forced defensive measures upon each other and upon democracies; in such a situation it required but a spark of autocratic arrogance to enkindle popular dread, and the war came. It is evident that the European war is not a clash of merely national ideals; no Englishman seriously objects to the collectivistic social habits of his Teuton neighbors, and few citizens of Berlin would do more than satirize the individualism of the people of the island democracy. The only really vital point in the radical differ ence between German and English popular ideals, is the fact that the German ideals have permitted a bureaucracy to exploit the wealth and the people of the nation, to the end of its own military aggrandizement . But the European war is a clash of ideals. The ideals at issue are evident only when the various ideas of government held by the nations involved are analyzed in connection with the general trend of history. This analysis brings to light two inherently antagonistic factors: on the one hand, democracy, desiring and even proposing limitation of armament, and on the other, autoc racy, preparing for war. The fact that autocratic Russia is fighting against Germany, is a seeming, but not a real complication in the problem, for autocrats have always feared each other no less than their aggressive ambitions have been feared by democracies. The ideal of democracy is the one most at odds with the ideal of the absolute value of the state, and the issues are joined when we take cognizance of the fact that armies and navies, the bond-servants of autocrats, are struggling against the aggressive militarism of other autocrats and the defensive preparations of democracy. This does not mean necessarily that the Entente Allies are con sciously fighting for the rights of the common people of Germany or even of England, for in the British Empire with all her self- governing dominions, there are influential reactionaries, bureau- How Christ Would Organize the World 19 crats at heart, who are contending for the perpetuation of the monarchical elements in their own system, elements that furnish opportunities for the continued subjugation of the masses. But it does mean that if the war shall cease with autocrats still en throned under the principles of supreme national sovereignty, it will be but a matter of time until their selfishness will again drive men at the throats of their fellows; while if the predominant factor in regenerated Europe is humanity organized nationally upon the basis of the democracy of Jesus, there will be every incentive and opportunity for world organization that will make international wars an impossibility. In seeking to ascertain the responsibility for international wars, it is singularly striking and revelant to note that while democracies have not succeeded in avoiding war with autocratic neighbors, it is possible for them to keep peace among themselves. This is no longer a matter of speculation; it is an established fact. Common democratic ideals have enabled the United States and Canada to live side by side for a hundred years with an undefended border line four thousand miles long and with not a single war. No one who has faithfully sought to interpret history would think of con sidering such lack of preparedness and its consequent peace in the slightest degree possible, if either the United States or Canada had been an autocracy in practice. The leading nations of South America are fast attaining to this state of mutual trust. The time has assuredly come when it is reasonable for humanity to plan con structively for a similar mutual confidence and understanding to prevail among nations throughout the world; and to attain this, it is eminently fitting that democracy, the ideal that has brought peace to nations and states that formerly fought with each other, should be applied to the whole world. Even a casual glance at the last two thousand years of the world's history shows the inevitable tendency of nations to grow larger and larger. The motive behind this general evolution has been in some nations the power and ambitions of a ruling class or family, while others have grown because the democratic principles of their governments proved attractive to men who flocked from 20 Essays in Applied Christianity all parts of the earth to cast their lot with the growing democracy. Rome, a typical example of the former class, extended her bound aries until she became the undisputed ruler of the world; then her power passed more quickly than it had come. Her efforts and methods have been reproduced in all essential details by Charle magne, Napoleon, and Wilham II, each with less show of success than his predecessor. On the other hand, the humanitarianism of Jesus has constantly led to an increased recognition of the rights of man and the formu lation of principles of government to enforce those rights. Demo cratic ideals led the American people to throw off the autocratic yoke of George III, and inspired the French to endure the horrors of their own revolution to the end of an established republic. The very same principles of humanity deprived Spain of all her Amer ican colonies and created the great self-governing dominions of the British Empire. German bureaucrats have contended that the British Empire would fall to pieces in the event of a foreign war;46 but the part that Australia and Canada have played on the battle-fields of Europe shows conclusively that the bond of human freedom is stronger than the iron rule of autocrats. The common democratic ties of the far-extended British Empire is a beginning of world organization that the militarism of German bureaucracy has completely failed to shake. Is it contended that British democracy has not been left to cope single-handed with German militarism? Granted. The call that brought England and France to each other's aid when German absolutism was advancing on Paris, was the common danger to the democracy of both peoples. The objection that the entrance of England into the war was favored by her upper classes, is little more than a quibble, for no one believes that Australians, Canadians, and the working classes of England would have fought on the side of bureaucracy merely to please London aristocrats. The very same reason accounts for the sympathies of practically all the people of the United States who are not directly or indirectly hyphenated with the Central Powers. No one would think of the possibility of war between Australia or New Zealand and Canada. Since the overthrow of the Napo leons there has not been a hint of possible war between the United 46. Usher: Pan-Germanism, pp. 37-47. How Christ Would Organize the World 21 States and France. American militarists never talk about a com ing conflict with Great Britain; they say our common interests are too great. And it must be noted also that no one has deemed it worth while to mention the likelihood of war between the United States and Argentina, Brazil, or Chile. Why all this past and anticipated future harmony among demo cratic nations, and why do American preparedness advocates always point out Germany or Japan as the possible enemies of the United States? The reason is obvious: democracy does not care to destroy; it is capable of defensive military preparation, and it will fight a defensive war, but history proves that democracy is not, like autocracy or bureaucracy, inherently inclined toward aggressive military conquest. Give universal manhood a right to rule and it will be seen that civilized cien are not man-killers at heart and they do not desire to live by pillage and exploitation of their fellows. Herein is evident the extent to which the leaven of Christ's teaching has already leavened the whole lump of human society. In spite of the continued eulogies of ultra-militarists upon the glories and spiritual benefits of war, the popular conception of that time-honored method of settling international disputes is rapidly undergoing a change. Throughout all human history par ents have trained their sons for battle and on countless occasions the sons have gloried in the priceless privilege of giving their hves for their countries. Over and over again multitudes of people have experienced and rejoiced in the emotional exaltation that has taken possession of their souls when a common danger has welded their bonds of mutual fellowship and made them grandly conscious of their kind. In these hours of self-forgetfulness and unrestrained devotion to their fellows, men have achieved their loftiest heights of self-realization and have testified that then only have they truly lived.47 No one conversant with social psychology will doubt the sincerity of their testimony or the value of their experiences; still, throughout the world, and especially among democratic peoples, there is an irresistible growth of sentiment that war with all its glories, is yet a relic of barbarism and an unmitigated evil; — and militarists are answering with the cry of race degeneration. 47. Mead: The Psychological Bases of Internationalism, in The Survey, March 6, 1915. 22 Essays in Applied Christianity This is not the first time that the short-sightedness of man has read as social degeneracy the signs that have really portended social growth. The decline of the ancient war spirit does not indicate that man has forgotten his fellow citizens, but that he has remembered his fellowship with humanity as a whole. Patriotism is not dying out; it is pressing forward to keep abreast of the devel opment of the group consciousness of man. When, through Twentieth Century intercommunication, men have learned to recognize their fellowship with men of other nations, it is psycho logically inevitable that their sentiments should follow their knowledge; and it must be remembered that patriotism, in its real and highest sense, is an exalted consciousness of group, and not a mere passion of mutual admiration among those who domicile within the political limits of nations. A casual observer in the habit of marking a river by its banks, might conclude, when a flood had obliterated the banks, that the river itself had disappear ed; thus have militarists drawn superficial conclusions in deciding that patriotism is lost because it is no longer hemmed in by national boundaries. All of the truly organic groups of every nation, such as labor, science, religion, finance, and capital — when not engaged in the manufacture of munitions of war — are unanimous in their desire for world peace. The rank and file of humanity throughout the civilized world is agreed as to the futility as well as the pernicious character of war as a means of settling international disputes. Mankind agrees that war should be abolished; only a method is lacking. The method should be the elimination of the cause. It is true that the causes of the various wars of history have been as numberless as the sands of the sea, but it is not necessary to prove to men of a cosmopolitan age that nations no longer go to war on grounds that were once considered adequate. It is con ceded that the factors involved in occasioning the present European war are intricate beyond all hope of accurate classification, but it is not illogical to look beneath the tangled maze of causes for the fundamental cause without which the others could reasonably be expected to have come to naught. We have attempted to show that the European war is primarily a clash between democratic and autocratic ideals, and that it would not and could not have How Christ Would Organize the World 23 assumed more than comparatively insignificant proportions but for the military preparations and ambitions of autocrats who rule under systems of government that do not hold them directly responsible and subject to the will of their people. If autocracy has been shown, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, to be the pri mary cause of modern warfare, it is legitimate to propose a plan for its ultimate elimination and the substitution of democracy. No one would deem it within the bounds of reason for the dem ocratic nations, in urging democracy as a plan for world organiza tion, to overthrow autocrats by force and compel their subjects to undertake the problems of self-government. Democracy is an ideal that must develop and exist in the hearts of a people before it can become an established principle in their government. Dem ocratic states must proceed by methods consistent with their char acter if they would hope to lead a war-impoverished world into the fields of industry and prosperity that they are developing for themselves. Democratic methods are primarily methods of edu cation, and it is now the problem and duty of all men who cherish democratic ideals to teach those ideals to their fellows throughout the world. VI. This brings us to a fuller consideration of the methods Christ has recommended, and through his apostles actually established, for the ultimate accomplishment of world organization. It is one thing to point out Christ's ideal of human brotherhood, and it is quite another to state in practical terms a feasible means of attain ing that ideal. Men have conceived and have earnestly sought to utilize many agencies for social uplift, none of which have been more than partially successful. The futility of power as a means of human regeneration has grown increasingly apparent. History proves that a people cannot be driven into anything better than a temporary and artificial civilization, the final break-down of which will be appalling and destructive in direct proportion to the length of time the inherent strength of the system has enabled it to stand. Men have found no other means of lifting the fellow who is down than by teaching him. It is not surprising, then, to find Jesus pre-eminently a teacher; 24 Essays in Applied Christianity his disciples48 and his enemies49 alike regarded him as such, and after nineteen centuries he is still recognized as the greatest Teacher of men. He has provided no other way for the social regeneration of humanity than that men shall learn of him and test his teachings in the laboratory of life. He is the consistent fulfill ment of the Old Testament record of the educational preparation of the Jewish people for his coming. Israel was a preparatory school for enrollment under the Teacher who was to universalize the fundamentals of social and individual righteousness. The development of social institutions has always been subject to the educational progress of mankind. It was a psychological prerequisite to the estabhshment of a nation that the tribes com posing that nation should learn to think in national terms. Exper ience had taught them the futility and suicidal character of inter tribal wars, and they had come to see how their common interests could be conserved and promoted by a more comprehensive organ ization along lines of federation and national unity. Had it not been for the continued advance of learning, a world system based on separate national governments might have pre sented no insuperable difficulties. But hand in hand, or as a precursor to governmental evolution, science and invention has been shortening the distance and increasing the intercourse between nations, until now commercial and racial ties bind the whole world into one vast community. As a result of the wide dissemination of knowledge made possible by the development of printing, men of all nations have come to think the same thoughts and to be guided by kindred motives. Twentieth century cosmopolitanism renders it impossible for any nation to preserve its institutions uninfluenced by those of neighboring states. The time has come when no nation is a Selkirk on an island by itself. A despot can not rise and trample upon the rights of the most obscure people in all the world without menacing the free institutions of all peo ples who hold those rights sacred. If the present state of civilization and national organization is an achievement of education along the lines of practical social psychology, and the enlarged groups are the result of a growth of social consciousness, it follows that world organization is but an- 48. Luke XI, 1. 49. Matthew IX, 11. How Christ Would Organize the World 25 other step in the progress of mankind. For the psychological reasons just stated, it would be useless for constructive pacifists to plan for a time when international wars shall cease, if it were not true that men are learning and have learned to think in world terms. The international character of trade and commerce is unquestioned. The problem of the cost of living is faced by the Hindoo with his seven cents a day no less than by the skilled work man of America. Only in the rarest cases, among peoples who do not figure in the councils of civilized nations, do national boun daries have any relation to religious questions or race problems. The labor question is not confined to any nation; neither is the question of capital. The intellectual interchange in the fields of science, literature, and social uplift, is not limited by the frontiers of any nation. * These and many other concerns now uppermost in men's minds are undoubtedly world interests. The problem for statesmen and philosophers is not so much a question of teaching men to think, as it is one of being able to recognize the fact that they do actually think in world terms. The universal humanitarianism of Jesus has already permeated society to this extent. It is a result of these common fields of thought that, between the plain people of the different world powers, there is an almost universal feeling of friendship. With the exception of the race hatred between the Serbs and the Hungarians, there was nothing in the former atti tudes of European peoples toward each other to explain the present war. Englishmen and Frenchmen did not feel personal hatred for Germans, and German citizens had no private animosity toward the people of the nations now opposing the Fatherland. Prior to the war they had been university classmates, and side by side they had traded in the markets of the world; social contact had engen dered mutual respect, and they asked no higher privilege than to go on in unmolested intercourse and friendly competition. The problem of world organization on the basis of Christ's teaching, is merely an educational problem. Jesus would obliterate class distinction by educating all men to a realization of their duty to participate in a world society where the leaders will be those who excel in social service.50 While such democratic principles of necessity leave no room for autocrats, and even ignore national 50. Matthew XVIII, 4. 26 Essays in Applied Christianity boundaries in the commonly accepted sense, they make more important than ever the hierarchy of social groups, each perform ing its particular function in human service, from family and village on up to nation and world. Having learned to think in world terms in the fields of science, religion, and many others of practical every-day interest, the next rational step in human progress is for men to realize the world-wide character of all that is worthy in their national ideals. Democratic ideals have elimi nated autocrats from the national affairs of democracies, and the citizens have learned that their government is merely a co-opera tive agency, created by themselves, for their individual and col lective welfare. Democratic ideals applied to the world will lead men to see that in international relations men are dealing with men, and that the artificial conception of the state as a personified, irresponsible entity is as out-worn and mediaeval as the autocrat who persists in teaching such doctrines to his people in order to retain his throne. It is the problem of democracies to teach uni versal humanity the basic conception of Jesus in the field of poli tics, that nations exist for men and not men for nations. In this program of world teaching is to be found the only con- " sistent plan of defensive preparedness for democratic nations; just as in the ever growing principles of progressive democracy, lies the only hope of civilization. It has come to be a compara tively simple matter for one citizen of a democracy to teach dem ocratic principles to his fellow citizens. It is not a simple matter for democratic nations to teach the ideals of democracy to other peoples whose very minds are fettered by the methods of ruling autocrats. Even if it were possible for democratic propagandists to scatter their literature broadcast among autocratic peoples, their efforts would be interpreted as insincere and would be largely fruitless as long as their own democratic governments were build ing warships in "preparing to vindicate their rights to independent and unmolested action".51 A democratic state that arms herself beyond what is necessary to maintain internal order and to resist invasion, is testifying to the world that she has lost faith in her democracy; but a nation so favored geographically that she can safely refrain from endangering her democratic institutions by 51. President Wilson: Speech at Man hattan Club, New York City, November 4, 1915. How Christ Would Organize the World 27 excessive armament, even amid the violence of a war-crazed world, is endowed with an unequaled opportunity to teach that world the ideals that must ultimately emancipate all men from the fetters of autocracy. Excessive military preparation for the United States can never do more than neutralize the competitive preparations of other nations; but an ardently cultivated spirit of friendship and social intercommunication between our people and the people of all nations by means of commerce and the interchange of thought in the fields of education, science, and religion — if the friendship should not be rendered suspicious by accompanying militarism — would not only protect our country from foreign invasion, but would lead other peoples to follow our example even to the ultimate extent of tearing down their false, autocratic foundations and building a superstructure of the common aspirations of humanity on the fundamental principles of democracy. There will never be a better opportunity for the United States to inaugurate such a constructive plan of international friendship and world organization than the inevitable hour when European militarism has become exhausted by its own destructive efforts. If, at that time, our army and navy should still be small enough to keep other nations from suspecting our motives, the United States will be in a position to lead at least the democratic nations in the formation of a league of nations to enforce peace throughout the world. As Jesus seized upon the actual conditions of his time as a basis for his teaching, so should the American people take advantage of the opportunities the present crisis in world politics has placed before them. As a preliminary step toward the organ ization of an international league, is it reasonable to suggest that the United States seriously consider joining England and France in a guarantee of Belgian neutrality and asking in return a pledge by those powers for the safety of Pan- America?52 A definite con tract of mutual protection entered into by the five self-governing States, and possibly several of the stronger South American Re publics, would be a step toward world organization that no auto crat or combination of autocrats could afford to ignore. When the world is fast approaching a longed-for opportunity 52. The New Republic, March 11. 1916: Editorial: Belgium and the Western World. 28 Essays in Applied Christianity to take a decisive, forward step in the cause of humanity, it is not the time for America to become self-centered or ultra-nationalistic. With all confidence in the good intentions of the patriots who have voiced the cry, "America first!" we must yet call attention to the fact that they are but echoing the spirit that led European nations in the military rivalry that has culminated in the present mutual ly-suicidal conflict — and that Jesus would cry rather, "America first in world service!" Just as the thirteen colonies developed by means of a preliminary federation to a peaceful, democratic union, it is possible, and eminently reasonable and practical, for the nations of the world to evolve through a federation of nations, whose chief purpose is to enforce peace, to an ultimate world state where the principles of democracy will be world-wide in their application, insuring to all men the right of local self-government and providing a means of peaceful, judicial adjustment of all inter-group differences, regardless of the size or national character of the groups. 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