"THE CHURCHES AND WORLD ORDER"

Sitting sideways on a gilt chair in Columbus, Ohio's swank Deshler-Wallick Hotel last week, UNO Delegate and Presbyterian Layman John Foster Dulles twisted a lock of grey hair protruding from the crown of his head and told interviewers: "Everybody must be optimistic about peace." Then Lawyer Dulles got up and read a soberly unoptimistic 3,000-word report on "The Churches and World Order" which the Federal Council of Churches (see RELIGION) applauded and passed unanimously. U.S. Protestants, who insist on separating church and state, had once more shown that they are far from wishing to separate citizenship and religion. Proclaimed the Council:

"Our dedication . . . is to the progressive realization of the dignity and worth of man in every area of life--political, economic, social and religious; to the worldwide achievement of man's individual freedom, under God. . . ."

Armament Race. "Men are torn by alternating moods of hope and despair. They see hope in the Charter of the United Nations. . . . They are tempted to despair as they face the possibility that the misuse of atomic power will make a shambles of our civilization. Before the weapons of the war have cooled, an armament race has begun among the nations. Terms contrary to the Atlantic Charter and the declaration of the United Nations are being imposed upon defeated peoples. And the great powers, who recently were bound together by a singleness of purpose, are dangerously divided."

Like Churchill, the Council took specific stands on world problems. Unlike him, it did so within the UNO framework and without explicitly challenging Russia. It realistically put the emphasis in UNO "first and foremost" on the great powers. With equal realism--and a touch of Dulles' personal resentment--the Council also demanded that the U.S. choose "competent" delegates far enough in advance of UNO sessions to allow for their "adequate preparation."

Abolition of Conscription. The Council urged that the U.S. "immediately" press in UNO for progressive disarmament and "the universal abolition of peacetime conscription." UNO should encourage the "development of international law," with the U.S. showing its good faith by accepting "compulsory jurisdiction in the International Court of Justice." Pointedly recalling U.S. homilies to colonial powers, the Council proposed that the U.S. "conform its own conduct to what it has urged upon others" and apply "the principles of trusteeship to such areas as may be detached from Japan."

The Protestants' dicta also covered economic factors: "A coordinated world economy is needed.. .. We recognize that the proposal for an extension of credit to Great Britain, now before Congress, represents the kind of practical assistance which is imperative for world order. We also urge that permanent machinery be established under the Economic and Social Council to help meet world needs for emergency relief, when UNRRA comes to an end. . . ."

Limit on Reparations. "Reparations should be limited to productive capacity over & above that required to maintain average living standards. Reparations should not be an instrument of revenge. There should be no enslavement. . . . No lasting peace can be built upon revenge, or be founded upon oppression. The strong must adopt enlightened policies at some cost to themselves to achieve a reunited world."

The Council's conclusion: "Beyond the resources that we can grasp is the infinite providence of God. This is God's world. It is He who has 'made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.'. . . Men may fail to repent of their evil and may thus bring suffering and disaster upon themselves. Yet Christians will stand firm in the faith that God's purposes will ultimately prevail. Knowing that with God all things are possible, let us act boldly and confidently for a world order based on brotherhood, freedom and justice."

Atomic Penitence. Not adopted by the Council was a much harder-hitting report on atomic warfare by 21 leading theologians, including the Union Theological Seminary's Reinhold Niebuhr and Episcopal Bishop Angus Dun of Washington. "Deeply penitent for the irresponsible use already made of the atomic bomb [and] agreed that the surprise bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally indefensible," the 21 churchmen argued that the U.S. should:

P: Allay immediately any suspicions that it will use The Bomb.

P: Stop all manufacture of atomic bombs.

P: Affirm that "it will under no circumstances be the first to use atomic weapons in any possible future war."

The 21 declared: "We have never agreed that a policy affecting the present well-being of millions of noncombatants and the future relationships of whole peoples should be decided on military grounds."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.