New Britain herald., 1918-01-14

it cannot be denied that some of them are sincere and among our best citi- zens-those who have served their comm unity and country unselt1shly
 and well, whose judgment we have
 hitherto regarded as sound and clear Such would be said of Jane Addams
 or of David Starr Jordan or Charles
 Jefferson. I think it may be said upon good authority that before this war; the leaders of the church in this
 country and in England, as we'll as many educators and statesmen, such as William H. Taft, were pacifists in
 the then accepted sense of the term. Tn fact this country was a pacitiSt country, as was illustrated in the utter lack of preparation in which we found ourselves at the outbreak of the war, and allowed to continue al-
 most until our entrance. This is one reason why our people are slow to respond or be aroused to the cOndi- tions and needs of the times. You cannot SOW habits of peace for sea- son after season and reap a military | harvest.
 'Lamentable as it is that we were not better prepared and that our country, like England, has been so 1 hard to fully arouse, there is one sense in which this is a splendid tes- timony to the ideals and teachings and practices of a peace loving people. Now the purpose of this sermon
 is to endeavor to show the real place of Force as a means for settling dis pute-to show it's value and it's limi- tations, and therefore to show the ne cessity of war under certain circum- 1 stances, but the absolute futility of war and physical force as a final means of bringing men into that har- mony of social and political relation ship which we choose, to call world 1 democracy and brotherhood.
 Blessed Are The Peace-Mal1ers'' Let us take a text. And let us 1 avoid either one extreme or the other, ] the turning of the cheek, or the whip 1 of cords. Let us take a beatitude ] upon which we will no doubt all
 agree: Matt. 5:9. Blessed are the l peace makers for they shall be l called the children of God This 1 word does not set forth any method
 for the accomplishment of peace. It | simply declares that the makers of 1 peace shall be called the children of | God. Accordingly then, we can say that, not only the people who love 1 peace and declare for it or who 1 preach about it and pray for it, but l the people who produce it, are the children of God The method of pro- l curing it depends upon the necessities
 in the case. There is not sufficient l teaching in the Scriptures to warrant 1 anyone in believing that Jesus would l have taken an ultra pacifist position in this war. l cannot think of Jesus
 as standing quietly by and seeing 1 Belgian women and children crushed ! and betrOdden. It was not like Him. l who endured all abuse of His own | person, but who boldly defended the widow and child. On the other hand 1 it is perfectly clear that Jesus spoke 1 against forceful means as the ulti- 1 mate Christian method of regulating 1 society. There may be war which is l the expression of Christian thought
 and principle, bat war itself is un- ! christian, if you can accept the para ! dOX. Any war which has not as it's 1 motive the destructon of all wars is
 wrong, and only war which wars 1 against those forces which make for ! war, is right.
 "1.-Let us then consider first the 1 value of force.
 | mere are certain conditions under
 which force is necessary duty. If a 1 man intent on murder, either be- l cause of depravity or insanity should 1 attempt the life of a member Of vour l family or your neighbors, would you i not feel justified in preventing him 1 even by taking his life? You would | be justified under the law of self
 defense, and I firmly beliefe under l the law of God. If that mans inten- ] ton was worse than murder-if it l was cruelty and assault. Gan attempt
 at that more sacred than life) then
 you would be doubly justified. Life is
 a gift of God. We are stewards of | life, both our own and those in our
 care. We shall have to give an
 account some day of our trust. ] We feel that if we allow our own ] life or others to be ruined by sin,