Norwich bulletin., 1915-11-26
.WAR. AND cIvlLIzATloN
Made Sermon Topic for pr. Howe at
 Park Church Service.

1nSIG were dDOuL lUU III rIlenudnC0 at the Thanksgiving service held on Thursday morning at Park Congrega- tional church. Special music appro-
 priate to the day was well chosen and contributed toward the beauty
 and dignity of the service.
 The offertory solo was given by Miss
 Mae D. Torrance, who sang for Mrs
 Story, and the offering was taken for
 the United Workers, as usual, and
 amounted to $24.93.
 Rev. Dr. Howe presented thought
 full sermon upon the relations of war
 from Ecclesiastes 1:3, 2:11 and Al.
 What profit hath man of all his la
 Dor which he taketh under the sun
 Then I looked on all the works my
 hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had lahored to do; and there was no profit under the sun.
 "So I returned and considered all
 the expressions that are done under
 the sun: and on the side of the op-
 pressors there was power. These
 are the words of king of ancient
 times and his description of the civ
 ilization of that time. There are
 many definitions of civilization due
 to different ways of looking at it. It
 has been treated in it's social and insti- tutional aspect by some, and in it's in diyidual aspect by others. Mills de- fines it as whatever gives us escape
 
 towards culture, self control self-de- velopment, refinement, and makes for progress. It is the sum of the fruits of human progress. Some writers treat only the material progress, and think of man only as healthy animal The ideal of one country is wealth means of life. That of another is militarisrn, while to still another it may be the humanization of man. This dazzling idea of civilization as promise of pleasure, comfort, refine ment. social glitter and intellectual adornment has been over done and has not proved an escape from barbarism Barbarism may withdraw from the outer life. while the savage still turks in the inner man in both mansion and hovel. Versuvius still rages be- meath the vineyards and orchards on its slopes. The finest civilization you know has pandemonium at it's
 heart if Christ is not its handspring, says the writer.
 Another says that civilization has twp parts-the spirit of gentleman and the spirit of religion. So the re-
 iation of civilization to war depends upon the kind of civilization. The civ
 ilizattons of the past were mainly ma teriaEman's creations. The Assyrian and the Chaldean aimed to become concentrations of sheer force-"the
 hammers of the earth" The Greeks sought to be- intellectual and artistic g. leaders but their civilization was honey combed with social vice. There was no ministry to mans deepest wants in either. And the civilization of modern Europe is not much better. It has not proved redemption.
 On the other hand. war may often be in defence of civilization. Many times it has been defence from barbarian invasion or a de1iverance from tyrany. Such wars can by no means be called immoral. They are Gods method of cleaning the earth of rotten races. We owe & large debt to the heroes of many batt1ef1elds. We have no ad- coward.
 But an aggressive war dfsregards civiliza ton. Temples, cities, the richest art, the greatest monuments have been and are being overthrown. Events of today prove that no civili- zation is safe in the presence of war. We shall have to try Christianity now. foundations of Christian brotherhood But today we have reason for national Thanksgiving that we have thus far been preserved from the horrors and atrocities and fearful spoliation o1 countries across the sea. We need to be prepared for emergencies and for possibilities. When one is dealing with brute forces. 1t is not wise to disarTn until the brute force is gone We must defend our own civilization that we may be spared to serve hu- manity. We have had no occasion to mingfe in the wild melee of savag- cry that is letting the blood of the na- tions of European cfviltzation-a con any worthy end. After 1t is over they will need our protests and our help.