Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-08-27
FOR ALL THE EARTH
Christianity and Patriotism Are
One and the Same, Accord
ina to the Bible.

World events have brought before
us at this time most forcibly the
questions of nationality and patriot
ism, and ! have seen the statement
made repeatedly that Christianity is
inimical to both Christianity, we
are told, is not national, but cosmo-
politan It's tendency is to obliterate
boundaries and distinctions between
race and race.
This coSmopolitanism of Christian
ity, people say, is absolutely fatal to
patriotism. That was, for instance,
one of the criticisms which the Japa-
nese passed upon Christianity. Pa
triotism amongst the Japanese has be-
come exalted almost into religion.
Devotion to their land and to their
emperor seems to be their ruling pas
sion, and one of their objections to
Christianity is its universalism,
which, they say, is fatal to patriotism,
and that it would inevitably sap the |
devotion to their country, which has
been the Jap's boast and pride.
Let us look at this criticism for a
moment and see how much truth
there is in it. If it could be shown
that Christianity is antipatriotic it
would lack a certain element which
appeals to the American just as sure
ly as it does to the Jap; for love for
ones land is not passion which ap-
peals only to the dwellers in that
eastern empire, but a passion which
should burn with an undying fame in
the heart Of every true American.
That Christianity is cosmopolitan in
its spirit cannot be disputed. 1t is
the gospel for the world. 1t addresses
itself to man as man, and not to man
as member of any particular ma
ton. Other religions are for the most
part tribal or national. But the God
and Father Of our Lord Jesus Christ
is the God of all the earth, and the
father of all who dwell upon it. This
Gospel of ours ignores all national
distinctions. Men come to the cross
from the East and from the West,
from the North and from the South;
1t is just as much for the black man
as for the white. 1t reveals a love
that lavishes itself upon all without
respect to differences Of race or color
or tongue, 1t breaches universal
fatherhood, and consequently a uni
versal brotherhood Of men. The Cos
pei not only ignores natural and racial
differences, but it looks forward to a
time when these racial and national
differences shall cease to sunder and
divide men as they do today. I do
not say that the Gospel looks forward
to time when differences shall cease
to exist. Difference in itself is not
an evil, for I believe that each ma
tionality has its important contribu-
ton to make the civilization of man
kind as a whole. But these differ
ences shall cease to be sources of jeal-
ousy and strife. The prophets of old
were given the vision of a united
world Enmities were to be abol-
ished. The lion is to lie down with
the lamb, the calf the young lion
and the failing together. Racial jeal-
ousies are to disappear; war and
bloodshed are to cease; men are to
beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks,
and to learn war no more. There is
no doubt about it that the Gospel is
cosmopolitan in its message and in
its spirit.
To Human Brotherhood.
Now I believe that every earnest
man who thinks seriously is a cosmo-
politan in the Gospel sense of the
word. No matter what causes may
be assigned for the great war which
is ravaging the world today, it is evil
dent to every thinking man that the
ultimate cause of the war is national
! iealousies and rivalries. That is what
lays the great burden of armament
upon the nations today; the burden
which has been growing greater and
heavier every year. In spite of 1,9OO
years of Christianity the spirit Of
war still RACES among mankind, and
God has permitted this great war to
scourge us as the inevitable outcome
of the jealousy and hatred and rival
ries among the nations. Perhaps we
can now see that only in the brother
hood Of nations can there be happi-
ness and well-being. That does not
mean the death of patriotism, 1t
means no surrender of the love which
we have for our own land. Tennyson
was a strong and vehement patriot,
and yet he thought Of the golden age
as a time when
The war-drum throbbed no longer, and
the battle-fags were furled.
In the parliament of man, the federation
of the world.
1t is an error of judgment to think
that this sort of cosmopolitanism-the
kind which the Gospel teaches-is de-
structive of patriotism. The error is
due to a false conception of what pa
triotism is. What is patriotism? My
dictionary defines it as love Of coun-
try; devotion to the welfare of ones
country; the passion which inspires
one to serve ones country" | am
content with the definition. Patriot
ism, you will notice, is a positive
thing. 1t is love of ones country. 1t
is not hatred of other countries-it is