In Harper’s Weekly for May 29 is an article by Buck White. Mr. White was ordained a Congregationalist minister, but he was dismissed by his church on account of his socialistic views. He is the writer of several books as well as of magazine articles. Some of his utterances are worthy of note and comment, for the reason that they are so characteristic of much matter that is appearing in these days. Some of his most striking sentences follow:
“Wide is the war now mutilating Europe, and must be referable to some wide-flung cause. That cause is commercial competition. When business is war, war quickly gets to be a business. Captains of industry, clashing one against the other, exchange their civilian suits for the regalia of murder; metamorphose into captains of artillery and battle cruisers. Competitive trade blossoms into competitive armaments. And competitive armaments bring forth death.”
“Lust for markets is the true and infallible root of militarism. Not all the men in the world nor all the angels in heaven can prevent bloodshed, when once commercial rivalries have reached a certain point. Then get under your load of guilt. Between mammonism and militarism is a consanguinity, a family likeness.”
“Dividend maniacs are the causes of this bedlam that has been let loose.”
“Capitalism is a troubled sea, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Lust of wealth is a disrupter of the peace. But you have enthroned and glorified that lust. You have erected statues to it. You have lauded it to be the exemplar of youth. And in liturgies you have consecrated it with divine sanctions. Greed has become a swollen tumor. Each cupidity heightens the thirst, and is an inlet to more. Ever the dropsy swells into a bigger and uglier bloat. Therefore the wolf steps more and more to the front in all of the children of earth.”
“The planet is becoming smaller and the powder magazine larger. In these high-powered times, let war take another leap forward such as the last three decades have witnessed, imagination cannot paint too darkly the mad-blazing catastrophic events. In solemn earnest I tell you, civilization is hard up against the alternative, revolution or extinction.”
“We have sworn an invincible vendetta against the superstition that because hog-heartedness has always been in man, therefore it always will be. You call us fanatics, in that we propose to evangelize the world’s industrialism, O ye of little faith.”
EXPLOSION OF MINE
“I recognize that a Revolution Church presents a target very tempting to the inquest crowd. And they converge upon us their gibes and slings. But we recant no jot or syllable of our proclamation. It is a time for big issues. The most critical moment in the world’s history is upon us. That is the stark truth. And they who pooh-pooh us for saying it, betray the mentality of a fiddling Nero. In times like these, to pass one’s day in a twilight sleep, chirping merrily that all is well with the world, is a folly beyond laughter. Events are transpiring to stun the stoutest mind. We are at time’s meridian. Adequately to picture forth our day, all the heavens and hells of Dante would be requisite. Men of soberness are hollow-eyed with the thought of it; in them, a numbing presentiment of crisis. More than map-changing is the present war. For good or for ill, it will alter the social geography.”
“Many are perceiving that revolution is inevitable. If that revolution can come under churchly auspices, it is a relief to their minds, and lightens the nightmare that is sitting so heavily on their bosoms.”
“The socialists had a material program but lacked spiritual power. The churches on the other hand had the spiritual power, but lacked the material program. Each was lopsided, and each therefore impotent. Never again will it be possible to preach a purely material socialism, with much power over thinking minds; likewise, never again will it be possible to persuade thinking people that Christianity in its present form has in it the potency of world-redemption. Only in a union of the two, stands a way out of our social unblessedness . . .”
“Thus in the realm of industry and art and ethics and religion, civilization is in the melting pot. This present order draws near its end. We are approaching a great culmination. Such an era, while it is fraught with elements of terror, is in equal degree an unparalleled opportunity.”
The socialists sense and recognize the conditions that are in the world. They are awake to the situation. Many of them express the hope that the reforms called for to change “the existing order,” may be brought about through a “bloodless revolution”; others, however, think that the change will have to be made through much bloodshed and strife. But no matter what their theories may be, they are captivating the ear of the masses throughout the world.
Humanity is staggering under its burdens, and is looking for relief; and to the great multitude, the socialist seems to be pointing the way out. One significant thing in connection with their propaganda is what they term “Christian socialism,” and is expressed by Mr. White in the foregoing quotations. They expect to see the church brought into their social reforms in such a way that it may become a spiritual power.
These theories must be very fascinating to those who, as suggested by Mr. White, see events transpiring that “stun the stoutest mind.” But those who have made themselves familiar with the prophecies of the Bible can see how clearly all of these events are shaping themselves to fulfill utterly the divine predictions. All these human expectations will come to naught.
The world is indeed standing in the presence of a great crisis, but that crisis will not result in some human reformations that will uplift humanity. That crisis will be the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven.
It is indeed true that “this present order draws near its end. We are approaching a great culmination.” But as we approach that culmination, are we depending upon the sure word of the divine Father as our guide, or are we merely limping along in the light only of the speculative theories of mere men?
