Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-06-30
RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH: SUNDAY, JUNE 80 1918

OF any othc: nation, nor tho dcstruc.
ton and humiliation OF any people"
We have sinncd. and as the jus:
punishment OF God, we have suffered.
Let us not. therefore. seek to break
down. destroy or humiliatc the instru-
pents OF Gods revenge.
Now. here is the authentic voice OF
the shallowcst and most mischicvous
"pacifsm" that masqueradcs under the
sun. If | bcltev- that the Wesleyans
tuly realized the whole dangerous
and damnable disloyalty OF 1t. l should
say thouSh some OF them are among
my lifelong friends) that their proper
place, in this hour OF the worlds ira
vail and agony. is not the Central Hall.
but the inside OF an internmcnt camp.
l cannot believe they do.
NO SANE MAN WANTS
TO DESTROY Hun NATION
The surface meaning OF the words
or this second prayer is almost en-
tlrcly without value. No sane man. as
MIR. Balfour said. desires to break up
and destroy the German nation. no
rational being expects that. whatever
victory comes to us. we shall be able
to carry on the world in future as /.
lOo.oO0.000 of our fellow creatures did
not exist in it. or existed only under
our feet and so far we are all paciiists
as the Founder of our Faith was d
pacifist
But what we do desire ana expect is
TO destroy the evil system which
threatens 10 destroy humanity. civili-
zation. liberty, morality. religion. and
everything We hold dear. That evil
thing is gathered up and embodied in
the German military system which
Gas the greatest of Germans Goethe.
shows) takes good man and turns
him into Il brute, which inCases So
cicty in a coarse shell. which trans
loo tf,t.N 4, IL
cruelty. which enthroncs bra&cn nee
essity as the only goddess TO hc wor-
SHIPPED, which sets force above faith,
and Corsica above Calvary. which
hlunts the impulse of mercy. and re-
duccs the conception of humanity TO
ruin.
Against this evil thing the free ma
items of the world are waginE war.
and tcruelly hard as it is To say) they
cannot cease until il is broken down
and destroyed. 1t must die IL we are
TO live. There can be no quarter shown
TO it.
For no lower end can we justify to
our bruised and bleeding souls all the
sacrifices we are making OF our bravcst
and best. To say that our young men
must die at the hands of the Germans
to appeaSe Gods wrath against our
traditional drunkenness and pride is
blasphcmy. To say we must not pray
! Tor n peace that will break the idol
of our enemy is treason.
Which of us who is unable by reason
OF age or weakness to take an active
part in the war will dare TO 20 TO the
feet OF God with that prayer on his
lips? But that the youth and hope of
the human family. as God gives them
| strength. should lay down their lives
in an effort TO Stay the enemy OF man
kind. and that we who are old. should
stand by with aching hearts and see
1t done, that is right, and as God Him
self could will il.
Let us. then. in our days of inter
ccssion, put aside these "defeatist" doc
| trines, which tend to sap away the
national spirit, and thereby to lose. not
win, the war. We have had too many
of them in too many OF the churches
They are unworthy of great religious
denomination which for more than n
century has been eminent in piety and
| illustrious in loyalty. Wesley himself
would have had nothing to say for
them