South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-01-18

directly from officers and rankers
Of Thoughtful type. The inquiry
was directed 20 the common sold
icr's attitude TO religion. his religious
experience and knowledge. and the
net result OF the inquiry is that
about so per cent OF the men in the
army were Indifferent 20 religion
and ignorant both OF its signiG-
canoe and content So far the find
ings coincide roughly with those OF
the Sheffield inquiry. or course any
one acquainted with religious con-
diuons IN large urban centres have
guessed with tOlerabIe accuracy be-
forehand what results this inquiry
would yield. II is. however. just
as well 20 have the facts esta blish-
cd.
The really disappointing section
Of this volume is that which deals
with the remedies. The Sheffield
volume leaves us to draw our own
Inference except i'm so FAR as it
urges that the problem is at bot
tom one OF education; and the poin.
is discussed in a brief Introductory
chapter. In The Army and Re
ligion" virtually half the book is
given over TO a discussion Of the
evidence and of remedies, But
there Is little or nothing I'm this
discussion which. long before the
War, had not been among the COM
monplaces OF religious diagnosis
and prescription current among
ova neso1foof ,,o,rIc - q. rtL1-.1 49,,
We are told that here, there, and
yet again there is a challenge to
the church: that the church ought
TO do this. that, or the other thing
all Of which is no doubt very
true. But apparently not all the
excogitatiOn Of the investigators has
availed TO discover the first thing
TO do in the direction OF recovery.
We are still where We we're: the only
difference is that the problem has
become sharper in definition; but
the solution is still up in the air.
The writer's take heart OF grace
from two circumstances. The first
is that there have been mOmentary
awakenings OF a primitive religious
sense in the tcnsest moments of the
soldiers life-just before a charge.
or lying wounded in nO-man's land,
or on post duty at night in a for
saken village The second spring
Of encouragement is the revelation
which the war has afforded of the
noble human stuff in common men.
Human nature is after all very much
like the curate's g-"excellent In
parts: and this comes out in the
Sheffield inquiry as well. There are
hardly any cases even among the
most depraved and debased indi-
viduals encountered in which there
was not found some surviving strain
OF generosity and human kindness.
But we take leave TO doubt whether
there is much room for comfort
from the religious viewpoint i'm these
circumstances For the Sheffield in
quiry shows that even among the
we'll equipped workers definite re-
ligiOus interest is comparatively
rare. while the hostility 20 organ
lied religion and the distrust OF the
church is very intense-the more
intense perhaps because the more
tAoNAAFAf II many fANtE ufh UlAOIl
10 socialism seems to have taken
the place of religion: and in in
yestigation of the religious situation
would prove far more fruitful if it
directed itself more specifically to
the causes of the alienation of the
thinking worker rather than to a
general discriminating survey of
impressions about mass OF men
who were living under abnormal
conditions Of strain and stress.
One cOnfeSses TO some occasional
irritation in reading The Army and
Religion" due TO certain complac-
ent assumption that the traditional
religious Synthesis with its dogma
tic super-structure is till valid Tt
is indeed admitted that there is
need for intelligible theological re-
statement; but this is after all TO
put the cart before the horse. The
prior question is whether the con