The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-02-28
Confession Of a Quaker.
eeors. A. Barton, In I'll. Outlook.

In these pertlous dayv. when intrigue.
which seeks to debauch by treachery
everything that brutal armies, Zeppelins,
and piratical submarines cannot reach. 10
seeking to use the I. W. W.. pacifists and
even Quakers. for the attainment Of cer-
tain eKds. 1t appears to be the duty OF
every loyal man who can say anything
70 hearten those who are struggling for
the preservation Of our liberties and
civilization and to preserve in tho world
some sort OF ethics higher than those OF
the jungle to speak out. 1t is this sense
OF duty to the nation and to humanity
that calls forth the following confession
OF faith
The writer rs q birthright Friend, and
has been also a Friend by conviction. For
years he has been a minister in the So
c1ety. He has until recently, with the
leaders of his denomination, held the view
that all war Is unchristian. In the man
ner OF many intelligent Christians, he held
his tenet without ever having thought the
matter through in completely search
ing way.
The present war has. however caused a
re-eXamination. Evidence accumu1ates
that the war WIS started by what DR..
Van Dyke has happily called the POTS
dam gang for motives of international
robbery and murder. With unexampled
patience and Christian f7rbearance, Presi-
dent Wilson for nearly thece years sought
by moral suasion to deter this gang
from Its fell purpose without avail. They
counted on his patience as an instrument
Tor the accomplishment OF their ends and
went steadily forward enslaving small
nations, giving their women over to rape
and slaughter making war on non-com-,
batant, wantonly numbering with Zeppelin
end submarine. Systematically subyertfng
almost every detail Of the slowly evolved
code OF ethics as understood by Christian
peoples This condition compelled the
writer to ask himself the searching cues
ton whether 1t was wrong for his country
70 join the vigilance committee of the
allied nations In restraining this interna-
donal bandit In seeking the answer he
naturally went to the scriptures, to the
scientific study of which he had for many
years been devoted
The corner stone of the defense of the
Quaker testimony against war has been
the command, Thou shalt not kill" This
1s taken by them to be command Of uni
versal sWeep--a command that admits of
no exceptions 1t is part of the deca-
logue. But scholarly research makes It
clear that this decalogue was, when given,
meant for Tsraelites only. No old testa-
ment saint dreamed Of applying 1t beyond
the nation. This is the meaning in every
instance Of the thou It was addressed
to the responsible heads of families to
regulate their conduct within the nation
As the heads of families were responsible
for their women and children, the deca-
logue may nevertheless be said to have
regulated ideals of life within Isreal It
was, however, never understood to forbid
a community from removing an individual
who threatened the integrity OF its life
for the law provided that these should be
put to death by stonins--a process In
which whole community shared. What
the decalogue was understood to forbid
was killing to crafty private grudges.
Just as it did not prevent capital pun
ishment within the nation. SO no holy man
Of the old testament period thought that
1t applied to war. War was by them
cheerfully waged in the name of the very
God who had. as they believed, given
them this decalogue.
Ihis command Jesus quoted In Matthew
Y, u, not to say that it's application IS Of
universal scope. but that hatred is sin!
The taking Of life without hatred incident
to the restraining of murderer from his
criminal act or of robber nation from
subyerting the institutions and ethics of
the civilized world Jesus does not here
condemn
Later Matthew 3, 3s), Jcsus quotes the
law OF blood revenge and after the quota
tlon says: But say unto you, Resist not
MN that Is evil: but whosoever smiteth
thee on the one cheek turn to him the