Evening star., 1948-08-28
Higher Law Of Conscience

To the Editor Of The Star:
One of the real dilemmas Of the Christian
pacihst Is the problem Of accepting the, benefits
of society which his conscience will not
'permit him to defend by the use OF force
How to explain satisfactorily such stand
to a person with an entirely different approach
from that of 4 pacifist is 4 tremendous task,
and in most cases it simply cannot be done
What is so dificult for the nonpacifst to
grasp Is the reality Of the sovereignty OF God
TO the mind of the conscientious war objector
Charles Evans Hughes once wrote: "The
essence Of religion is belief in . relation to
God involving duties superior to those arising
from any human relation" IN 30 placing moral
law over the legal, the nonpacifist scores the
pacifst for stretching his Constitutional privi-
leges pretty far Yet who has the keener
knowledge of the basic tenets Of the American
democratic tradition?
The Constitution did not give to any man
any privilege whatsoever. Each right that man
possesses is his by the fact OF his existence as
man. The Constitution is the instrument
which protects those rights from the power Of
the state.
What the nonpacihst is concerned with is
what he believes to be lack Of loyalty on
the part Of certain clergymen because OF their
good, and their nonconformity to their fellow
citizens who are willing to wear our country's
uniform" But loyalty, even to ones country,
does not require one to obey what is contrary
to his conscience
Henry Steele Commaeer Of Columbia recently
wrote that true loyalty may require, in fact,
what appears to the naive to be disloyalty
1t may require hostility to certain provisions
OF the Constitution itself, and historians have
not concluded that those who subscribe to
the higher law were lacking in patriotism"
He reminds us Of Jackson's defiance Of the
court, OF Thoreau's essay on civil disobedience,
and Of Garrison; who publicly burned the
Constitution
How, then, is the Christian who believes
deeply in = higher loyalty to act when his
nation is facing the crisis of war or possible
war? Which must he 'betray' his neigkbor or
his God?
1t does no good to accuse such men Of being
"profteers upon other mems crimes" The
follower of Christ If he is to 60 all the way
must never allow the threat Of dire conse-
quences to determine his action, whether they
be material loss, social ostracism or bodily
harm. As Z. Stanley Jones puts it: He must
refuse to fit into any circumstance which can
not be fitted into his loyalty to Christ And
he accepts the fact that he must take the
consequences Of such refusal.
Still the position Of the pacinst is not one
OF negativsm. He cannot escape being 4 part
Of society and Christian worthy Of the name
viii not allow himself to betray an Obligation
to that society.
To every Christian, war certainly Is the
supreme social evil, the natural result 0.
unchristian living on the part of nations. This
evil comes because Of an allegiance to some
thing or some one other than the redemptive
Christ
How, the paciist wants to know but through
the positive teachings Of Christ. are men to
live in peace? How can evil be wiped out
by the use of the supreme evil?
This they believe, is not idealism, but
practical sense. To believe that we have only
the choice between totalitarianism and war
is to deny the Christian alternative OF recon-
Cling love. Thus the pacinst who is striving
always to maintain the conditions OF peace is
contributing to the ultimate good If the rest
Of the world will not, or cannot follow his
practices, must he too climb aboard the band
wagon Of international chaos?
Because the true pacinst loves his country
and his fellowmen, he will stand for non
violence and the turning Of the other cheek"
which are the very core Of Jesus teaching. He
knows that if Jesus was wrong here he was
wrong m the whole Of His message. And he
does not believe Christ was wrong. 1t is by
this rule, says the pacihst. that the Christian
democratic society will continue to exist.
DAN HARLAN
Psychiatrists Complained About
To the Editor Of The Star:
Unless one iS fortunate enough to read local
and national publications which report both