A Contagious Faith

"The primary purpose of the United Nations," said Secretary Dulles to the U.N. General Assembly, "is . . . establishing an international order of peace and justice. Yet, for over three years, there was a war in Korea. A war in Indo-China still goes on. Nowhere is there a sense of security . . . Physical scientists have now found means which, if they are developed, can wipe life off the surface of this planet. These words that I speak are words that can be taken literally.

"There is no problem which compares with this . . . problem of saving the human race from extinction. The nations are groping for the spirit and for the institutions which will enable man to dominate matter. It has, unhappily, so far been impossible to provide either the spirit or the institutions on a universal basis . . .

"Why do we fear?" Because "since 1939, some 600 million people of some 15 nations have been brought into the Soviet camp of dictatorships, and in no case has this come about by voluntary action of the peoples and nations concerned." The Soviets talk of "peaceful coexistence," but against such a background, "mere words do not instantly or totally reassure us ... and we know that Soviet doctrine prescribes the use of such words as guile." If Communist deeds are to match words, the Communists can prove it in:

KOREA, where "one is forced to question whether the Communist side really wants to comply with the armistice and face up to the problem of withdrawing their forces . . . and creating a united and independent Korea."

INDOCHINA, where Communist military strength "comes from a steady flow of military supplies from Communist China and Soviet Russia . . ."

GERMANY, where the Russian division "cannot be perpetuated without grave risks, for no great people will calmly accept mutilation."

AUSTRIA, where the Soviet Union has stalled a treaty for 6 1/2 years.

EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE, where the people in Russian satellite nations are denied expression of their patriotism and their spiritual faith.

"It is charged," said Dulles, "that unrest only exists among [the satellites] as it is artificially stimulated from without. That is true only in the sense that faith is a contagious thing which penetrates even curtains of iron . . .

"But our creed does not call for exporting revolution and inciting others to violence. Let me make that emphatic . . . Our hope is that the Soviet Communist leaders, before it is too late, will recognize that love of God, love of country and sense of human dignity always survive. Repressive measures inevitably lead to resentment and bitterness and perhaps something more. That does not come about through artificial stimulation. It comes about because the Creator endowed all human beings with the spark of spiritual life. We can understand the particular desire of the Russian people to have close neighbors who are friendly . . . But we foresee that unless Soviet policies are changed, those policies will, in their actual operation, create precisely such surrounding animosity and hostility as Soviet policy understandably wants to avoid."

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