The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, February 09, 1967, Image 10
Page 10—The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thursday, February 9, 1967
CHRISTIANITY AND WAR
What causes war? And,
once a war has begun, may a ■
Christian morally fight in it?
The solutions to these com
plicated questions vary—de
pending upon who is endeavor
ing to give the anspers. In the
current debate over the Viet
namese struggle, Christians
are on both sides of the ar
gumentative fence.
On one side are the Liberal
churchmen. The World Council
of Churches—purporting to
speak for millions millions of
individuals the world over—
gives this simplified explana
tion for the existence of war:
“War between states results
from the present disorganized
and unjust political and eco
nomic conditions of internat
ional society.” To avoid war
the Council suggests a global
revolution, in which a share-
the-wealth scheme would be
run by an international body.
Supposedly, then, all war
would end.
The Council forgot to men
tion that an organization
known as international Com-
•munism is responsible for
most of the war in the world
today. The Red's history of
aggression, subversion, and
terror has had little to do with
prosperity or higher wages.
Victims of Communism end up
worse off than they were
before the Red “liberators”
took them over.
Other Liberal church lead
ers, speaking of the war ir
Viet Nam specifically, main
tain that it is immoral for the
United States to take part in
the conflict. Some leaders even
go so far as to suggest that
the Viet Cong is in the right
and those fighting against
them in the wrong.
What are conscientious
Christian Americans to do in
the face of such “leadership?”
For one thing, they can listen
tothe other side of the story.
Unfortunately, however, the
pages of the newspapers and
magazines mention the other
side with habitual infrequency.
For this reason, the Manion
Forum summoned to its
microphone the Administrator
of the Lutheran Churches of
the Reformation, Reverend
Cameron A. MacKenzie.
“I think,” said the Reverend
MacKenzie, “that the tragedy
of our time is the fact that
clergymen, supposedly spokes
men for God, so willingly set
themselves up as pundits on
every question and problem—
political, economic and social—
as though they and they alone
can solve every problem by a
simple pronouncement indica
tive of their supreme wisdom
and superb understanding.”
The Lutheran leader was
asked by Dean Manion to give
his own interpretation about
the morality of war. MacKen
zie said this:
‘ There are wars of offense
and of defense. All wars of
offense are Scripturally con
demned, but God commands
us to stand for the defense of
our land and of our lives.
“Communist government is
absolutely illegitimate. It
promotes crime; it steals
property; it steals livelihoods
in the countries which it over
throws.
It has stolen those countries
and, therefore, just as you
would have the moral right to
get your own property back
if you were forced out at
gunpoint, so you are certainly
right when you try to get
your own country back. We
must honor men who make
the attempt to get back what
belongs to them.”
Readers who find them
selves saying “Amen” to the
TV Chimp is No Chump! He Shows You
How to Reduce Risk of Heart Attack
WANT TO REDUCE YOUR RISK OF HEART ATTACK?
If so, Kokomo Junior has some timely suggestions for
you. From left, the famous chimpanzee emphasizes
the value of regular health checkups and control of
high blood pressure, argues against cigarettes, recom
mends a diet low in saturated fat and proclaims the
virtues of regular exercise and of normal weight.
Kokomo is helping promote the risk reduction pro
gram of your Heart Association. It is one of the
many activities supported by public contributions to
the 1967 Heart Fund, being conducted here and through
out the country during February.
LOOKING
AHEAD
By Dr. George S. Benson
BUDGET CEILING NEEDED
Here is a fact that should
shock every taxpayer i n
America: Since 1930, while the
population of the United States
was increasing 60% and the
per capita income 300%, cost
of the Federal government was
soaring 5,000%. On top of this
is another fact that should
ignite a second shock: Our
bloated Federal government of
1967, already neck-deep in a
floodtide created by financial
irresponsibility, is plastering
further mortgages upon present
taxpayers and future genera
tions with a demand for spend
ing authorizations totalling ap
proximately $170 billion next
year (casl Budget estimate).
And a wl ping 6% tax hike
(now recommended) would
make scarcely a dent in the
big deficit accumulating.
These are fantastic facts —
any way they are measured or
analyzed. They give graphic
warning, when their full impli
cations are recognized, of a
governmental colossus arising
to assert priority claim on our
earnings, to dominate every
vestige of our daily lives, and
to endanger our future eco
nomic welfare and even jeo
pardize our personal liberty.
“Jack-and-the-Beanstalk”
Growth
The “stewards” who have
been running the Federal
government for us since 1930
have not only built a Hydra
headed bureaucracy sprouting
ever-more bureaus (and a
spending colossus) but have, in
addition, amassed a staggering
indebtedness upon present and
future taxpayers. They have
raised the public debt from $15
billion (1930) to $330 billion
(today) — a very real indebt-
ness of $6,000 on every family
in America.
The money-eating growth
continues. Official statistics on
Federal government employ
ment (civilians) show that the
bureaucracy was expanded by
100,000 new employees during
the last five months of record
— July-October 1966. The
Federal government now em
ployes (December 1, 1966)
2,964,687 people. That runs to
about $20 billion a year ifi
salaries alone! This is five
times the total. 1930 Federal
Budget (for everything, in
cluding national defense,
foreign aid, Federal “aid” pro
grams, Post Office deficit, and
all Federal programs).
The people we’ve been elect-
ing to Congress and the White
Reverend MacKenzie’s words
may hear more of them by
ordering Broadcast No. 640
from the Manion Forum.
House are not plotters bent on
our destruction, or persons in
sensible to financial facts of
life. They are, generally speak
ing, public spirited citizens who
got into politics as a means of
contributing to their nation’s
welfare and progress. Much of
what they have been doing is
commendable. But the con
centration of power of every
description in Washington, plus
influences and forces at work
(some alien to our govern
mental traditions) have com
bined to create an atmosphere
on Pennsylvania Avenue that
too often leads good men
astray, usually to play “Fol
low the Leader” rather than to
assert the kind of leadership
necessary for sound govern
ment decisions.
Other factors are involved:
The Federal Budget is the most
awesome fiscal document in
the world. Only a handful of
persons have mastered its com
plexities. The government’s
fiscal and monetary affairs are
today in constant disarray —
with the Budget unbalanced,
our Balance of Payments in
the red, and such a national
debt to manage. Add to all
these problems the rule of
“political expediency” which,
in Washington, exerts the
greatest power in so many
actions, and we get at least a
partial picture of the nature of
the job.
Three Needed Reforms
The financial mess is going
to get worse — and this is the
people’s business, remember;
financed with the people’s
money — unless some drastic
changes are made. If a few
million citizens become suf
ficiently alarmed to take ac
tion, changes could bewrought,
Here are three major changes
that would go a long way to
ward safeguarding our future.
1. A balanced Budget. It
won’t be done until Congress
enacts a law requiring it. It
could include . permission, by
Congress, to lift the barrier in
national emergencies.
2. A ceiling on spending.
Even with a balanced budget,
wasteful spending would con
tinue — unless a yardstick is
established. A certain per
centage of the national income
might serve as a limit on
Federal government spending,
or better, Congress should set
a top limit, beyond which
Federal spending could not go.
3. An immovable lid on the
national debt. To lift it should
require at least a three-fourths
vote of the House and Senate.
Your representatives in Con
gress ought to welcome your
views on such changes.
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