Evening star., 1947-12-05
Prerequisite to Peace

mediate steps are taken to put the secular
superstructure back onto religious foundations"
demonstrates how completely our once Chris
tian society" has become secularized.
1t was unquestionably for the purpose Of
arousing public opinion to this all-important
fact and the present dangers threatening the
continuity Of Christian civilization that
President Truman and Pope Plus XII ex-
changed letters some weeks ago. However,
many otherwise intelligent people, whose think
ing seems to be nodded in purely political and
economic terms, see in the Presidents ex-
pressed desire Ito support and contribute to
q concert Of all the forces striving for moral
world" nothing but aid and comfort to "cleri-
calisn," and other sinister implications. Some
of the more violent critics of this historic ex-
change are reported in foreign journals to be
interpreting the Presidents phrase free CO.
operation and freedom of association as q
subtle reference to free-enterprise economics.
Aware Of the fact that all who still adhere to
the Christian tradition rightly regard the
question posed by Pope Plus and President Tru-
man as transcending all other, more expedi-
ent, considerations these critics are Of course
bent on resurrecting dormant prejudices among
religious groups.
Something to Conserve.
has no difficulty In recognizing that western
civilization, Of which, there is now so much
loose talk, rests primarily upon christianity,
the flower Of judaism" then 1t does seem that
others, too, should be able to grasp what 1t
has meant and still means for "the world Of
mind and Of poesy and for the human essence
itself and Its bold expansion and liberation
:" Lord Randolph Churchill, the distin-
guished father of Britains great wartime Prime
Minister, once aptly remarked that in order to
justify democracy you must give 1t some
thing to conserve" It was therefore the high
est act Of craftsmanship when President Tru-
man reminded us, in the tradition Of similar
noble utterances by Washington, Lincoln and
Woodrow Wilson, that the United States "is a
Christian Nation" Indeed, we cannot be re-
minded too often, and even jolted, about this.
It is essential that we be thus compelled at
long last to ask ourselves, as the great histo-
rian, Arthur j. Toynbee, suggests, whether,
when our modern western secular civilization
broke out Of its medieval Christian chrysalis,
this may have been, not the triumphant
achievement which modern man has assumed
it to be, but an unfortunate, and even disas-
trous, alteration"
Speaking openly Of these things Is not mix
ing religion with politics in order to under
mine our time-honored democratic ideas OF
freedom It should be obvious to any one that
the ultimate purpose is to alert people every
where to the warning uttered by Jacques Mari
tain, one OF the greatest living philosophers
that g. If civilization is to be saved the new
age must be an age Of theocentric hunanism"
And lest some people jump to the wrong con-
clusion, 1t should at once be added, in the words
of the celebrated English poet and scholar, T.
s. Eliot, that this does not mean a theocracy
but a community that is Christian ". IN
the sense that its aims will be directed by
Christian philosophy of life"
No one can deny that the western world
has become so liberal that people have prac-
tically ceased thinking In the "Judeo-Chr1s-
tian" terms and categories which once repre-
sented It's greatness. It Is historically true that
reliable behavior cannot be expected OF people
in . world constantly subjected to ever-chang-
ing and disrupting political, economic and So
cial situations unless their mode Of daily living
Is anchored in what is now called a way or a
philosophy Of life.
Nature Of Civilization.
What is this civilization which is said to
have developed It's democratic ideas throughout
tho past 10 centuries within the Christian
framework and which President Truman Win
ston Churchill and other statesmen, as well
as poets, novelists, philosophers. historians
and religious leaders implore us to save? Ac-
cording to Maritain, its ideal has been, and
still is, this:
ITO keep faith In the forward march Of hu-
manity despite all the temptations to despair
of man that are furnished by history, and
particularly contemporary history; to have
faith in the dignity Of the person and Of COM
mon humanity, in human rights and IN justice
that is, in essentially spiritual values; to
have, not in formulas but in reality, the sense
of and respect for the dignity OF the people,
which is spiritual dignity and is revealed to
whoever knows how to love it; to sustain and
revive the sense Of equality without sinking
into leveling equalitarianism; to respect au-
thority, knowing that its wielders are only men
like those they rule, and derive their trust from
the consent or the will of the people whose
Wears or representatives they are; to believe
in the sanctity of law and in the ef1cacious
virtue-efhcacious at long range-of political
Justice in face of the scandalous triumphs OF
falsehood and violence; to have faith In liberty
and in fraternity -"
We are witnessing on every hand the diff
culties daily encountered by statesmen as well
as theologians in their attempts to have these
principles accepted as the only sound founda-
ton for the settlement Of world problems.
There is, however, limit beyond which Chris
tians cannot extend their practical working
compromises in order to solve the present world
situation AS Christians, we have been taught
that Illustration is no excuse for chaos. Hence,
1t must be recognized that religious unity Is
an essential prerequisite to civic order and
lasting peace. Luckily, history furnishes many
heroic instances to reassure us that our ira
ditional western civilization still has the vital
tty necessary to overcome the forces OF decay
and destruction. After due reflection, religious
groups everywhere can and will flnd that de-
spite sacramental and liturgical differences
there IL sufficient common ground upon which
they can unitedly and valiantly stand tosetner
for God and eountry-and for civilizationi
xQaKpH CONRAD KEF4R.