Evening star., 1948-08-30
Religious Pacifsts Inconsistent

Tothe Editor Of The Star:
This is to register loud "Amen" to the
fortnight statement in letter in The Star
for August by veteran on the subject OF
religious pacif1sts.
As q churchwoman and q patriotic Ameri-
can. have opposed and will continue to
oppose those within the church who seek to
drive q wedge between our country and the
church. In no country does religion enjoy
more freedom than in the United States of
America, and in no country are the leaders
thereof more sensitive to the dictates of
Christian ethics. No aspirant to public ofdce
would be so foolish as to advocate atheism, so
deeply embedded are Christian principles in
our laws and Government. One would sup
pose that all good Christians would rejoice
in the liberty our Government affords to all
religious bodies and would favor any neces-
sary steps to strengthen such Government
Therefore, am unable to follow the rea-
soning of pacifists who raise hue and cry at
every effort made to insure adequate protec-
ton for our country. We do not hear them
advocating the abolition of the police force,
yet the armed services are nothing more
than police force for the Nation as whole
They inveigh against any use of force, yet
they accept, and sometimes demand, the pro-
lection Of police, who in our society use fire
arms to keep order 50 that the private citizen
will not have to do so in self-defense.
I we'll remember the fools paradise" in
which we lived prior to World War II when
we cut our armed forces to the bone and
thereby encouraged world gangsters to start
another war. The influence of pacif1sts of
that day was one of the major causes of the
late war. Now we hear them again remark
how many comforts of life could be bought
for the price of one battleship or one bomber
as though the matter were on an "and/ /or"
basis. National unpreparedness was respon-
sible for the tragic deaths of many American
boys at Bataan and Corregidor. Must we
invite another war in which American lives
will become expendable for some people to
realize that we are not living in Utopia?
One argument offered by these idealists is
that our Lord refused to let His followers use
force of arms to save His life. But He was
dealing with individuals, not nations. When
all individuals become amenable to Christian
rules of conduct we will need no armed forces
Christs render unto Caesar" should be suff-
cient to indicate the citizens obligation toward
his government. Some clergy even 60 so far as
to state that no one in the armed services
can consider himself Christian. The seventh
chapter of ST. Luke's gospel clearly refutes
such Interpretation. In it the Lord not only
did not condemn the profession of the Roman
centurion (army officer. but remarked on the
centurion's great faith.
Missionaries of the church who refuse the
protection of their government in foreign
lands perhaps are justified in pscif1stic utter
ances, but not those who profit by the liberties
bought by the blood of patriotic Americans
past and present. The latter deserve no more
respect than those who would undermine the
defenses of our Nation for reasons other than
religion. L. K COLE
To the Editor Of The Star:
I wish to compliment Veteran for his splen-
did letter of August IS, headed 'Pacifist
Clergy and Peace" His views coincide with