| News and Views | December 1943 |
This Upside Down World
“So, you’re from Hungary?”
“No, from the Kingdom of Hungary.
“Oh, so you have a king?”
“No, we have an admiral; Admiral Horthy.”
“So you have a navy?”
“No, we have no navy.”
“Are you a neutral?”
“No, we fight against Russia.”
“Why?”
“Because we want Transylvania.”
“So Russia has Transylvania?”
“No, Rumania has it.”
“So you’re fighting Rumania, too?”
“No, Rumania is our glorious ally!”—Arthur Szyk, in PM.
In this cunning satire on the confused war aims of the Hungarians, we have presented to us a vivid picture of conflicting hopes and fears which is as true all over the earth today as it is in Hungary. Whether we study the picture from the national, political, or religious viewpoints, we find the same evidence of chaos in ideas that are being voiced by all the outstanding leaders of world opinion in their various fields. No one knows exactly where he is going, or how he will get there. About the only thing everybody is agreed upon is that they don’t want to stay where they are. Everybody wants a new order of some kind.
And there will be a new order! For a short while, probably, human wisdom will be permitted to try out some sort of a cooperative plan among the nations in order that it might be further demonstrated that selfishness will disrupt the efforts and plunge mankind into even greater depth of misery. But out of this pit of human failure divine agencies will finally point the way to the new order God has prepared for the people, which will be His long-promised Kingdom of righteousness. Then the nations and peoples of the earth will say,
“Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord, … and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”—Isaiah 2:3,4
National
Although a majority of all the nations of earth are now united in an effort to defeat the minority Axis group and establish peace upon the basis of equality for all, yet there is very little oneness of purpose among these nations except on the momentarily pressing necessity of winning the var. The avowed purpose of the present struggle is to establish the four freedoms upon the basis of the Atlantic Charter, yet, already many of the less powerful nations co-operating to this end are wondering to what degree the benefits of the Atlantic Charter will actually be guaranteed to theirs when the time comes for gathering at the peace table.
Mr. Churchill has made it plain that he is not Prime Minister of Great Britain for the purpose of presiding over the demise of the British Empire. At the same time, many of the nations now engaged in the struggle for freedom are wondering how the terms of the Atlantic Chanter will apply to them if the British Empire is to remain intact. Take China, for instance, that nation which, for so many years, has heroically fought against being absorbed by Japan’s expanding new order for Asia, who now wonders about territory properly hers, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which, before the war, were a part of the British Empire. Lin Yutang, a noted Chinese writer, has recently written a book entitled, “Between Tears and Laughter,” from which we quote the following excerpts:
“It is my belief that, even if we wanted a modified survival of the 19th century fabric in the form of a fairly white domination of the world, it is now a little too late.
“Asia is too aroused to submit, and too big to spank. The West must either plan for co-operation with Asia or plan without it—and make ready for a bigger and better war.
“As a matter of fact, China and Britain are already heading for conflict. … Chiang Kai-shek has made it equally definite and clear that China does not covet others’ territory, but wants all her own territory back.”
“All Hottentots will have a quart of milk a day. … The Hindus are to put on collar and tie, Madagascans are to go to church, and the world is to be happy for it. … The white man is saying to all other races of the world:
“‘I am trying to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, but all you natives need to do is to be perfect life me and get into my way of thinking, and I am sure our Father in Heaven will be quite pleased with you. He wouldn’t mind if you had a little heavier pigment. Now toddle along.’”
Yutang goes on to explain that if this attitude of the powerful white-man nations is not modified, irrespective of their charitable attitude toward the Asiatic races, he can see “nothing but starvation and chaos and bloodshed in Asia.” Among the conflicting nationalistic ambitions of the world, we have mentioned China merely as an outstanding example of the fact that while there is a temporary unity in war, there is almost certain to be hopeless conflict in the making of peace.
Political
In no field of world opinion is there a greater chaos of ideas than in the political. The uncontrollable fortunes of war have made allies of nations whose political ideologies are as different as day is from night. As this article is being written, the Foreign Secretaries of the United States and Great Britain are in conference with the Foreign Secretary of Communist. Russia—not in London, where the British and Americans wanted the conference held, but in Moscow, where Josef Stalin insisted it had to be held. Even those with a short memory will have no difficulty in recalling the British affront to Communist Russia in not permitting Russian representatives to participate in the negotiations incidental to the Munich crisis in the Fall of 1938.
As Christians—and it is from the standpoint of Biblical prophecy that this article is written—we are condemning neither the British nor the Russians, and certainly not this Government, for yielding to the inevitable. We cite these strange circumstances merely in illustration of the prophetic viewpoint, namely, that man’s wisdom, in the face of human selfishness, is unable to solve the problems of a world that is becoming more and more, enlightened by the foretold increase of knowledge which was to presage the establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom.
For many years prior to the outbreak of the present war, conservative capitalism in Great Britain and elsewhere assisted Germany in her re-armament program, with the thought in mind that a powerfully armed nation near the Western borders of Communist Russia would be a safeguard against the spread of Communism in Europe and to the Western hemisphere. These same elements of conservative capitalism are just as opposed to Russian ideology today as they were then, but now both the United States and Great Britain are helping Russia to smash that wall that stood between them and what was considered the Red terror of the Kremlin.
What then will happen at the peace table? Will some new form of competitive capitalism be imposed upon the nations? Will Russia’s military successes clothe Mr. Stalin’s ideology with such glory and prestige that it will greatly influence the peace? Or, just what will happen? These are the questions all the politicians of the world would like to have answered, but worldly wisdom has no answer. The social earth is being turned upside down, and its ideas, customs, practices and governments are falling helter-skelter in all directions.
Religious
Equally vague and indefinite is the outlook for religion following the war. Sweeping promises have been made which, taken at their face value, would mean that there is to be a veritable field-day for all sorts of religious activities, that all nations must be made to grant full religious liberty to every individual and all groups. We take it, at least, that this is what is meant by the “freedom of religion” tenet of the Atlantic Charter. Certainly freedom for only one kind of religion would not be freedom in the true sense.
But already millions of people are wondering just how much freedom for religion there will be in the post-war new order. At present the United Nations are rapidly gaining control of a country which, while extremely religious in its own way, has not known freedom of religion for many long centuries; namely, Italy. When the United Nations gain full control of this home-base of Catholicism, will Protestant groups be permitted to proclaim their respective views to the Italian public? We wonder.
On the other side of the religious picture is the new attitude of the Russian government toward religion. Probably Russian propagandists would have us believe that the official recognition of the Greek Catholic Church in Russia, to the extent that its clergy are officially permitted to conduct religious services without hindrance from the government, does not represent a new policy; but actually, of course, it does.
Prior to changed policies forced by the war, it would have been strange news indeed to read that the Archbishop of York, representative of the Church of England, visited Moscow for a series of conferences with the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. But this actually occurred in September, yet being but one detail in a picture of worldwide chaos, it received little attention.
In America, a great deal is transpiring outwardly to indicate a growing unity among all religious groups. Many noted leaders of religious thought are hoping for and advocating a worldwide union of all religions. However, there is evidence that in many ways the unity now being promoted is like the coming together of thorns.
For some time past, the Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches have been endeavoring to amalgamate. One of the most formidable objects in the way of unity between these two groups is the alleged apostolic authority to which Episcopalians claim divine right. Committees working on the problem finally found what was thought would be a workable solution, and perhaps will be; but Bishop Manning, one of the most influential church clerics of the Episcopal Church in America, doesn’t agree. The bishop has asserted that if the supposed basic principles for unity were adopted, the Episcopal Church would lose its historic identity, and be transformed into a Presbyterian Church. He has asserted publicly that the clergy and people of the Episcopal Church cannot and will not accept these principles, for, he declares, “they still believe the teaching of the prayer book is true, and that the historic episcopate—the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons—comes to us from Christ and His apostles.”
Bishop Manning sees what is professedly a unity movement as calculated to bring about a further disunity in the church, and is therefore warning his people against it. From a report of a lecture by the bishop, published in The New York Times, we quote:
“In the midst of the present world crisis, when the whole strength of the church ought to be centered upon its spiritual work, an issue is being forced upon us which is creating division and disunity in the church, and is bringing distress, apprehension and dismay to great numbers of our faithful clergy and people.”
The bishop further explained that while to Episcopalians it might seem that the proposed basic principles of union with the Presbyterians did not represent the forfeiting of Episcopalian traditions, especially its claimed apostolic succession for its clergy, yet, in reality, instead of the unity granting apostolic succession to the Presbyterians, it would mean the abandonment doctrine. He explains this point of this tenet of Episcopalian as follows:
“The episcopate is no longer to exist as an order of the ministry distinct from the presbyterate, but is to be equated with and merged into the presbyterate. The local presbytery is to exercise exactly the same spiritual duties and powers that the bishop exercises, including the power to ordain ministers and to confirm. Can any one say, with truth, that this is ‘the historic episcopate’? This is not accepting the historic episcopate; this is abandoning it. In the official covering letter sent out from the office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to the constituent presbyteries with these ‘Basic Principles’ it was stated truly, and quite honestly, that ‘the office of bishop herein set forth is Presbyterian in its conception.’”
And so the close of 1943 finds the world nationally, politically and religiously hoping for unity and peace, and striving for it, but underneath, the cross-currents of selfish human passions and conflicting religious dogmas continue to keep the elements of society in a continuous state of turmoil. Such are the tottering foundations upon which the post-war new order, of whatever shape it may be, is to be built.
But how glad every believer of the Bible should be that God has promised to take over at the point where man’s efforts—no matter how well intentioned—utterly fail. And think of what a wonderful—because truly Christian—civilization there will be upon this earth when all of God’s bounteous gifts to man are properly used for the goon of each other, and for the glory of the Creator.
Think of the powers now wasted, of the infinite fields of knowledge yet to be explored, of the possibilities of which the wondrous inventions of the last century give us but a hint. There is no real need for want in an earth capable of producing abundantly for all. Millions are starving today, not because God has failed to provide, but because human selfishness is misusing God’s gifts.
Under the administration of Christ’s Kingdom, when the principles of love and justice will be instilled in the hearts o, men through a program of divine instruction in righteousness, and when those who adhere to these principles are protected and blessed, and those who do not are punished, who can visualize the changes that will be wrought!
Words fail the thought!
With want destroyed; with greed changed to noble passions; with the fraternity that is born of love taking the place of the jealousy and fear that now array men against each other; with conditions that give to all an assurance of comfort and peace, and health, and life, it will be indeed the golden age of which poets have sung, and the fulfillment of the glorious vision which has inspired idealists among men with gleams of future splendor. It will be the culmination of Christianity—the city of God on earth. It will be the reign of the Prince of Peace, symbolically described as the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.—II Peter 3:13
Then will go forth the joyous proclamation:
“Say among the nations that the Lord reigneth; the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.”—Psalm 96:10-13