THE SOCIAL VOLCANO

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 2, 1915

THE SOCIAL VOLCANO

The “Explosion” of War—The Social Conditions of the Old World That Preceded It—The Unrest in This Country, and What It Portends

It has been recognized that the conditions in society have been intensifying, particularly during the last twenty or twenty-five years. This is shown by the remarkable unrest, and, in many instances, manifestations of violence. But while men have recognized these conditions of social turbulence, they have nevertheless been surprised that our European war should have broken out as it did. As suggested by the Scientific American, “It came with the suddenness of an explosion of dynamite.”

THE TRUSTED FORCES FAILED

Dr. Thomas Edward Green, a vice president of the American Peace Society, says: “We had hoped that financial necessity would prove an unsurmountable obstacle to war. Not a nation of Europe that was not already face to face with economic tragedy. . . . We had hoped that the menacing figure of famine would have prevented war. With crops ungathered, fields untilled, ports blockaded, supplies exhausted, not alone the fighting millions in the field, but the helpless millions at home, helpless in the clutch of hunger, would have cried halt to the mad war plans of jealous kings. But regardless of famine, careless of the sure and awful specter of starvation, the terrible conflict marches on. “It is pitiful satire to say that we had hoped that Christian faith and obedience, the religion whose practice and profession have been our proudest and most sacred boast, would fend the Christian nations from war. Pius X was the only consistent ruler in the world, and he died of a broken heart as he prayed for peace. “The forces we trusted, have failed us. “And for the future they give no promise. . . . Out yonder is the horrid wreck and rack of battle. Yonder are hospitals stinking of putrid blood. Yonder are sodden fields soaked with carnage, laid out with windrows of grinning, ghastly dead. “The awfulness is indescribable. We have not yet invented adjectives with which to tell of the horror of ‘civilized warfare.’”

MEETING OF THE “UNEMPLOYED,” NEW YORK CITY

The doctor furthermore suggests that since these forces that had been trusted, have all failed, the one hope left is for the women of the world to band themselves together in a league to refuse absolutely to bear any more children unless they can be assured that they will not be sacrificed to the god of war.

THE WAR SHOULD NOT HAVE SURPRISED US.

While this great war of Europe came as an awful surprise to the great mass of mankind, yet those who are following the prophecies of the Bible would have been just as greatly surprised if something of the kind had not occurred in these days in which we live, for the prophecies plainly tell us that the nations will be angry in the closing

hours of time. The furies among the nations will finally lead them as a maddened mob of nations to the great war of Armageddon so vividly set forth in the book of Revelation.

This European tornado of war was preceded by a series of years of great social unrest and upheaval. It was not such a very long time before the great war broke out that England had labor troubles that practically amounted to a civil war. Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, and even Japan had internal conditions that were on a par with those in England, although in these latter nations they had not ripened into so much violence and war-like demonstration. These conditions were so intense in most of the nations, that some of the rulers really welcomed this horrible war as a sort of relief to the social troubles they were endeavoring to cope with and seeking to overcome.

THE SOCIAL VOLCANO IN THIS COUNTRY

In this country we are trying to comfort ourselves with the idea that we are at peace, and that there is no danger of our being involved in war; but the illustration on page one, which is so representative of conditions in general, ought to disabuse our minds. Current news dispatches inform us that there are a half million men in New York alone who are out of employment, and destitute of the necessities of life, and who are consequently becoming more and more turbulent.

Their banners displayed in this picture are truly significant. They say that they want work, and an opportunity to acquire in an honest manner, by their own exertions, an honorable livelihood. One of their banners is most suggestive in saying, “We want all we earn.” This banner expresses the belief held by so many millions of our population—that the working man is not getting his share of what is earned. The theory is that the working man gets but a mere pittance, while the great lords of finance seize the lion’s share.

THE RICH TO WEEP AND WAIL

One of the most startling prophecies in the Bible forecasts these conditions, and that prophecy would seem to be on the side of the contention of these laborers; for after warning the wealthy men of the conditions that are coming, and bidding them to “weep and wail” for the miseries that are coming upon them, the prophecy lays the charge of fraud at the doors of the wealthy men. A portion of that prophecy as given in the graphic language of the Twentieth Century Version is the following: “Listen to me, you rich men, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them shall be evidence against you, and shall eat into your very flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days. I tell you, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have been fraudulently keeping back, are crying out against you, and the cries of your reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed. You have condemned, you have murdered, the Righteous One. Must not God be opposed to you?” James 5:1-6.

Of course it would be wrong to say that all men of wealth are fraudulent and dishonest, but the facts show that the majority of them are. And these facts are most strikingly in harmony with this prophecy. There is scarcely a city of any size or consequence in this country that is not battling with the problem this winter of the “army of the unemployed.” Chambers of commerce, city councils, and church federations are holding meetings to discuss ways and means by which the difficulties may be met. And in the midst of all of this social turmoil, men are trying to teach us that regardless of these conditions, we may depend upon continued peace and prosperity.

BUT ONE PROSPECT OF PEACE

We are assured by many men who try to pose as optimists that everything is coming out all right. But a true optimist is an individual who recognizes existing facts and conditions, and who draws his conclusions accordingly. There is absolutely no prospect for peace in this world until that great and glorious day of the coming of the Prince of peace Himself in the clouds of heaven. That is the one bright event before the world, and the only one. The individual is blind who cannot see that the conditions all over this world forebode increasing turbulence, violence, strife, and war. And he is doubly blind who turns away from the clear light of prophecy, and refuses its teaching; for it not only foretells the prevalence of these conditions, but also tells us what they mean.

If you have allowed the dust to accumulate on your Bible, you should brush it off, and begin to study the Book as never before. We leave it to the candid consideration of the reader if anything that may be found in current literature is so thoroughly up to date on the capital and labor problems as the prophetic utterances quoted in this article, and that were written by the apostle James nearly two thousand years ago. There is much more prophecy in the great book of God, and it is all timely and clear, and should be devoutly studied in these perilous days into which the world has come.