Evening star., 1934-04-01
Must We Despair of Man?

, plain that sensible people are always
people who prefer water to wine, cab
bages to outlets, materialism to mir
acles, and utter subjection to a CEN
tralized government of any traditions
Of human liberty.
Now against all this, as its chief
enemy, though he may not know it.,
stands the old Catholic philosophy
of man. The first and last idea of 1t
is resurrection; that is, the resurrec-
tion Of the whole Of man. 1t Is, as I
have said before, mystical refusal
to despair of the original prehistoric
monster of that name. 1t is true that
tation In the sense Of asceticism; as
in the text about cutting of the hand
to enter heaven. But the difference is
instantly made vivid by the rest of the
text, which declares that even such
amputation is better than casting the
whole body Of man into hell. But the
Shavian eyolutionist really wants to
cast the whole body of man into
| chaos. He wants to cast 1t into the
melting pot, and boil it to nothing,
that a new and superior something
may at last emerge. This is indeed
much more than amputation: 1t is an
inhalation. At least it Is so for those
Who still see sanctity in man as a
potentially complete creature.
All Is Not Wrong.
We do not believe that man Is a
mass Of mistakes that have to be
shed until he has lost everything but
shame IN the very memory of his
manhood. We think they are lower
forms and fallen applications of his
true powers and instincts, damaged
by one great mystical mistake. We do
not believe that all property is wrong;
though we agree that much money
getting and all money grabbing is
wrong, because We believe that the
primary human sense of individual
and Independent possession Is perfect
ly right. We do not admit that all
punishment is wrong, though we
warmly agree that all tyranny and
mere vindicitiveness are wrong; be-
cause these are only low and morbid
forms OF something that is right
whether it be just expiation or even
just indignation. We do not admit
that all VOWS of constancy are wrong.
though We fully admit that they may
be treated wrongly, because We think
that even the tragic tradition of them
Is the remains OF the truth concern
ing a complete and triumphant hu-
man love.
So the same clue runs through a
hundred questions. down to trivial
questions like the mere forms of fes-
tivity or the mere externals of civil
lied habit. We do not want all fer
mented liquor abolished because some
men are too drunken, any more than
we want all clothes abolished because
some women are too dressy. For We
believe that all that is historic in
humanity has its higher forms and its
lower forms; and We refuse to prohibit
the higher because We happen at
some particular place or time to suffer
from the lower. But this other school
that calls itself progressive is always
prohibitionist. Marriage must vanish
forever. The prohibitionists hoped to
produce younger generation that had
never tasted anything but water; the
nuoisS generation that had never
known embarrassment in nakedness.
For these thinkers there is never
anything between abnormalitv and
negation, between abomination and
abolition. And it is in vain that we
point out that the normal is not only
possible. but visible, and holds the
center of the stage; that in the CEN
trail civilizations Of the world the ab-
normalities and denominations have. in
TACT been largely avoided. They are
ollnd to the fact, staring them in the
lace, that the Wine-drinking coun-
tries drink very little wine: that the
beer drinking countries drink a re-
markably mild beer. For in their
hearts they do not believe it is
question OF turning human life from
abuse to use. 1t is a question of find
ing a new use for human life, or
rather making it useful to a life that
Is not human. They are not quite
such lunatics as they look, or rather
their lunacy is Of a larger and more
hopeful sort. They do not only want
to cut of a mans legs to cure him of
lameness. They believe that with the
loss OF his legs he will Immediately
grow wings-or possibly wheels. This
Is the great faith which stands facing
the ancient faith in the resurrection
of man. and this sketch is but a small
skirmish in the great campaign be-
tween those two creeds.
We hear very much in these DAYS of
the true essence of true Christianity.
But If We really wish to know about il.
there was something which is always
essential to Christianity. and for a
long time was even common to all
forms of Christianity. If We will con-
descend to cast an eve backward upon
those words. which are certainly old
and which many rather antiuuated
skeptics suppose to be antiquated-
II We will look at the actual words
redemption and resurrection and SAL
vation and the image of God. We
shall see in them quite simply, staring
us in the face. all that have said
here. It was religion that refused to
despair of man: it T. scientific prog
ress and evolution that are already
despairing of him. And It is not the
superman. but very truly and actually
hn ~ L.. l.