New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1918-01-23


whole life Of Great Britain and Ireland.
/ am aware, Of course, that such state
ments have frequently been made be-.
fore, but it is only in time Of crisis that
one understands the truth of some
familiar statement.
One detects in the conversation Of
the rank file curious strain of
disappointment when they talk, as they
sometimes do. of religion. Here is
something, they seem to say, which
ought to have made the war impossible,
but has not done so; and in that dis
appointment, l find strong strain OF
contempt, or, failing that, indifference.
It is not my business to discuss
here the rightness or the Wrongness
of that view: it is my business mere
| ly to record it. Certainly, the failure
of Christianity to influence the lives OF
these men does not appear to be
datable from August, 1914: the beginning
of the decline was longer ago than that.
The curious fippancy with which the
men speak Of the: Deity was not ac-
quired in couple Of years, nor is the
blasphemy, sometimes perfectly OUT
rageous, which I frequently hear in the
barracks, a thing OF recent origin. .
should say that church parade is the
most unpopular feature of army life.
Men actually prefer to perform fatiguing
work rather than go to church. It is a
little difficult to understand this objec-
ton to church parade particularly when
one discovers that some OF the most
emphatic of the DIRECTORS go to church
of their own accord in the evening.
I imagine that good deal of the OBJ
lection lies in the fact that church
parade is obligatory, and that it is ac-
companied by a great deal OF Form
fours'' and Form two-deep," and
marching at attention One gets
the sensation at church parade Of
worshipping God by numbers AT the
same time, it must be remembered that
some of the men go to church in the even
ing, not because of religious motives,
but because it is dull to walk about in
dark streets and cheerier to sit in a lit
interior, where one may sing and listen
to the music Of an organ, Moreover,
there is a certain amount of amorous
intention in evening church-going. Girls
are to be met at church sometimes,
indeed, .'the girl insists on visit to
church.
Whether there would be more or less
church-going by soldiers if church parade
were abolished am unable to say.
Some men certainly would never go to
church, and their number would not be
negligible; a fairly large number would
irregularly, some for devotional reasons,
others for purely social reasons; and a
smaller number would go almost every
Sunday, mainly because OF a religious
intention. But I feel certain that if
church parade were abolished there
would be far more religious feeling in
the church-going soldiers than there is
now. l have difficulty in understanding
the religious purpose Of a function such
as church parade which causes men to
let loose great deal Of bad language,
nor can / see how it is possible to get
into devotional frame of mind on
entering church Immediately after
you have been told by a sergeant to
form two deep, for Christ's sake!"
as I heard sergeant say to a soldier
one Sunday morning, as we were entering
church. The plain truth about church
parade is that it has become as much a
piece of military drill as any other
parade, and the Chaplain General might
seriously consider whether it is worth
while sacrificing religion in this fashion.
But all these questions of the influence
of Christianity on tie soldier and tie
utility of church parade do not settle
the question of how far the soldier feels
the influence of religion, using the word
religion in an unden ominati onal sense.
What does the soldier feel about life
after death? Does he, while Indifferent
to or contemptuous Of the tenets Of Chris
tianity, show signs Of being Influenced by
some other form Of religion? / think
can say, so far as my own regiment is
concerned, that most soldiers believe in
Ethe existence Of God, but think it is
true also that they are puzzled about
God They are not men who have ex-
plored the region Of theology very
extensively or at all; at all events that
/ was their position prior to August, 1914
but since the outbreak Of the war, these
men, rather crudely perhaps, but never
Z|the.ess very earnestly, have been asking
4 questions Of themselves and Of eacI
! others concerning God and Gods nature
. I have heard men.in my billet talking
about religion in that questioning fashion
and, on each occasion, the discussion
. ended vaguely clusiyely. TIE mel
~ II