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Some Suggested Guiding Principles in Working for World Peace
| (1) | I personally, James K. Baxter, do not possess the truth. Oppressed by weakness of the power to love and darkness of the power to know, I nevertheless accept what the Church teaches and work slowly towards a fuller comprehension of the truths She proposes to me. If with many helps I move so slowly, and am so inept in seeing the practical application of general truths, then let me by all means avoid condemnation and hostility towards others whose truths are obviously truncated and incomplete. May the Holy Spirit continually move me to see other people positively, to recognise good will where it exists and postulate it where it is not clearly evident; and (since many things under Christ are unclear to me) to avoid a dogmatic spirit and be prepared to listen and learn from people of all opinions, carefully sifting the wheat from the chaff. This is a principle of intellectual tolerance.page 161 |
| (2) | I must advert frequently in my own heart to the manifest intention of the Holy See that members of the Mystical Body should work untiringly for world peace. I should not be concerned if results are meagre, or discouraged, counting the intention more important than the outcome, above all not allowing partisan attitudes to take possession of my mind, praying only that God’s will should be done in and through me. This is a principle of obedience. |
| (3) | Where the issues involve pro-Communist and anti-Communist attitudes, I must continually advert to the true situation as it has been set out in recent Encyclicals – namely, that there are two opposite economic theories, both erroneous but widely held at the present day – the theory of economic liberalism (according to which employers are free to determine the conditions and wages of the employed) and the theory of Communism. Though our own society leans to the former theory, Catholics may not allow themselves to be dragged into a crusade by the proponents of either theory against the proponents of the other; but should instead urge peaceful negotiations, modifications, adjustments. This is the principle of the via media. |
| (4) | It is well known that Communist societies tend to oppress, limit and persecute the Church, whereas in general the economic liberal societies tolerate and sometimes support her. Nevertheless I have to be prepared to grant fully that Communist opposition to the Church springs mainly from two causes, one legitimate, the other illegitimate – legitimately on account of the unfortunate though incomplete tardiness of the Church in recognising great economic and racial inequalities and supporting to the hilt those who have tried to alleviate them; illegitimately on account of the demand of Communist regimes for total authority over their citizens. Furthermore, I have to grant that the destructive official atheism of the Communist regimes is in some measure balanced, though less evidently, by an equally destructive and pervasive materialism and loss of values in the economic liberal atmosphere, with which the Church has also constantly to contend. Given these complexities, I cannot allow myself to join in any anti-Communist crusade on the simple grounds that anti-Communists are godly and Communists ungodly. This is a principle of justice. |
| (5) | I must utterly reject any arguments based, even unconsciously, on the assumption that Asian or African people are inferior morally or intellectually to people of European descent. One has to recognise that not all one’s fellow-Catholics are free of that terrible fallacy – as, for example, where they may feel free to advocate armed intervention in Asia, but would not advocate it as a way of toppling the rebellious Smith regime in Rhodesia. I do not feel that a worker for peace should advocate it in either case. Nor do I feel that it is quite sufficient to assume a lofty indifference to racial issues. In order to work successfully for peace, I must tactfully and carefully try to wipe out the bad legacy of racialism by showing real personal warmth and humility to page 162 people of races other than my own, whenever I meet them. This is a particular instance of a general principle of love. |
| (6) | Considering the growing and general atrocity of the methods of modern warfare, I should be able to express strong anti-militarist opinion on these grounds alone. No doubt the Crusaders who wiped out the towns and villages of the Albigensians felt morally justified in turning a land into a desert because their opponents were living in religious error; but the moral climate has changed since then, and one cannot imagine the Holy See ever again initiating or supporting this kind of military action. The gap between legality and morality is perhaps more marked in military action these days than in any other sphere. I am justified in making this gap clear to others. It is, I think, a principle of Christian mercy; and our fellow-Christians outside the Visible Church are sometimes more aware of it than we are. |
| (7) | I will do my best to dismiss from my mind the doubtful evidence of particular atrocities. On each side in wartime it is the habit of propagandists to emphasise the ideals of their own side and the practice of the enemy. Thus we are told that the South Vietnamese Government intend some day to establish economic equality and free speech, and also that the Viet Cong are chopping off the arms of the daughters of village headmen; and no doubt the Viet Cong are told that their leaders intend to establish eventually a peaceful paradise in which armies and officialdom will fade away, and also that the Government forces are continually torturing prisoners. I imagine that the disparity between ideals and practice is genuine on both sides. The job of a worker for peace is to point out the disparity in general terms, and to try to get rid of the condition of war which so greatly accentuates it. I see this as a principle of realism. |
| (8) | I must avoid the deceptive illusions of nationalism. It was Pope John who said that while local patriotism was a healthy condition in any community, nationalism is the greatest single cause of international discord and war – I do not quote him exactly, but I believe that was the gist of his remarks. To avoid nationalism is finally part of a principle of love. |
The principles I have sketched here have been of use to me in working for peace; I hope they may also be of use in clarifying the minds of other workers for peace, whether by agreement or by charitable disagreement.
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