I've been reading around today in the sermons of my predecessor of many decades earlier, Dr.
Edgar DeWitt Jones. Jones was pastor of
Central Woodward Christian Church from the early 20's through the early 1940's. He was a prominent Detroit area preacher and President in the mid 1930s of the Federal Council of Churches.
In a sermon published in his book Blustering into Paradise (Harper Brothers, 1932) he speaks of the moral consequences of war. In this sermon he confesses his own involvement in furthering the war effort during World War I.
He writes:
Now I shall have to confess that I am naturally a militarist. The trappings and tinsel of military life fascinate me. Long lines of marching men and martial music stir me "like the tap of a drum." Many a time my eye has danced to see the old flag in the sky. The traditions of country are precious to me beyond words. Yes, naturally I am a militarist, but intellectually and spiritually I am anti-militaristic. I know what war does to the finer instincts of humanity, the elemental passions that it fires, the poison of hate it creates and releases. I know that war is contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the Christian religion, and I hold nothing is more difficult or more desirable than to redeem patriotism from the evil of "jingoism." (pp. 19-20).
I find myself in agreement with him. Though I may be repulsed by the thought of war from a spiritual and even intellectual dimension, I too am seduced by the call to arms. He goes on to say that "when a nation goes to war it carries irresistibly the vast majority of its citizens, including the churches and the ministers" (p. 20-21).
When the nation is at war, he suggests that it is the people and not the priest that leads the way. The clergy simply follow along, for it is difficult business to try to overcome the educational work the government engages in to draw the people into the war spirit.
But even after the war ends, the spirit of the war continues to tug at the person, influencing attitudes and actions.
Every war is followed by a lowering of ethical ideals; liberalism wanes, progressive thought is halted and penalized. Out of war comes the organization of those who have participated, and inevitably, although sometimes unconsciously, such organizations perpetuate the spirit of war and make the path to peace more tortuous and difficult (p. 21).
Indeed, he writes (preaches) that 'scandals follow in the wake of war because the public conscience has been dulled, ideals lowered and compromised, standards accepted that give the lie to the principles taught and practiced by Jesus" (p. 21).
The question is: does this have to occur? Do we have enough faith to walk truly in the ways of Jesus? Indeed, that is the question.
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