El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-10-06


, that. to any sensible mind-that no
intelligent and practical person
thinks otherwise for = mOment-and,
Of course, what is necessary must be
right, in the nature Of things-ne-
Cessity must be the final test in ev-
cry question OF right and wrong; the
German army with its German milit-
airy efficiency is the best possible
defense for the "fatherland" and is
therefore the best possible arrange
ment for Germans in the present
But YOU are not satisfied You
feel, that in spite OF your old school
masters assumption, that in order
to the defense Of the 'fatherlaud' you
must be put under an oath which
divests you Of your conscience, and
all that is best in you, makes you a
part Of a great human machine Of
destruction, and makes IL impossible
for You TO obey God, and necessary
for you 10 obey evil men-in short,
you feel that somehow the meaning
Of defense" and the meaning OF that
oath don't hang together. and that
il is not right that any man should
have the power to use you for evil
as the kaiser said he has right to-
What the Pastor Says.
You so to your pastor. What am
I 10 dog you ask him. Your Ger
man pastor, 4 kindly Christian gem
tlemen whose goodness was never
doubted by anybody, listens sym
patheticaIly TO all you say about
your inner struggle over the question
Of whether you row belong TO Christ
and his Kingdom to be used for good,
or TO the kaiser and his kingdom TO
be used for evil And when you have
told him all that Is in your heart,
this kindly. sensitive man puts his
hand on your shoulder, looks into
your eye and says this: You belong
TO both There IS really nothing IN
conflict between the two. When you
stand for Germany you stand for all
that is best in the world, and GER
tainly God is on the side OF the right
The cause Of the right must be the
cause of Christ Don't trouble your
been having. You are soldier OF
Christ when you are a soldier Of the
-fatherland," and you know" he
concludes, "a man owes himself 70
his country"
You 20 away more disturbed than
ever. 1t seems as though the very
air is full OF falsity, and as though
the soul within you was being
smothered TO death II seems as
though religion, God and country and
hOliest has suddenly been exposed as
a monstrOus Ie-it is all lie,
something says within you, 1T is Just
Ike the lie about defense
And then appears a possible way
Out-perhaps the pastor isn't OrthO-
dox-even though he is supposed to
be, and is the minister Of a large in
fluential church-and you try 10 re-
member all the things you ever heard
him say in church-when you were
awake and listening
After carefully rejecting on every
thing You can remember, this is your
impression the pastor is undoubtedly
orthodox. You recall the baptismal
covenant. and the fact that the doe
trinal statement in il is what Is
called The Apostles Greed:
7 believe in God, the Father Al
mighty, maker Of heaven and earth.
and in Jesus Christ. His only Son. our
Lord, who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost. born Of the Virgin Mary. SUI
fered under Poutius PLATE, was cruel
fled, dead and buried; he descended
into hell, the third day He rose from
The dead; he assembled into Heaven,
and stitch on the right hand Of God
- the clearest impressions you have
about the pastors preaching, in fact,
the only ones you can with any distinc-
ton recall. are those you received
from the courses Of sermons which
he preaches every year on that same
creed Every year he begins on the
day Of the Annunciation, and every
sunday, article by article, and sun
day by Sunday. through Christmas
and New Years day. and on through
day OF the Ascension. the pastor
breaches and breaches that very creed.
No, the pastor must be sound and reg
dlar in point OF doctrine You give
try to keep every thought about
whether you are doing right or wrong
In being a German soldier ont OF your
mind
The Dreaded Thing Comes to Pass
Years have passed. The very thing
you instinctively feared and dreaded
has come 10 pass. and has been in
progress now going on four years. Z
You are soldier in Won Hindenburg's ]
army.
You have seen many things. and I
done many things. since that day you
took the oath-Ihings far worse than
you then even dreamed OF seeing, /
or imagined you ever would be re-