THE ETERNAL CONFLICT
The Gospel of Jesus proclaimed the highest ethical ideal that had yet appeared on earth. But, as a working rule-of-conduct for practical, everyday life, it contained an essential weakness. With its acceptance by one nation after another, it became an efficient force, working with other forces in the evolution of mankind. But here it came in direct conflict with the forces of nature, which, working through countless ages, had made man what he then was. The ultimate goal of man's struggles and aspirations under the Gospel of Jesus was self-abnegation, non-resistance, the protection of the weak by the strong. The ultimate goal of nature's forces was self-assertion, battle, the crushing out of the weak by the strong. The struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest had no place in their operation for the doctrines of "turning the other cheek," and "loving thy neighbor as thyself." The two were, and always will be, as incompatible as fire and water.
When the Germans, some fifty years ago, began dreaming of, and planning for, a world empire, some of their philosophers clearly recognized, and openly proclaimed, the essential antipathy between the forces of Christianity, working towards Jesus' ideal, and the forces of nature, working towards the survival of the fittest. In order to realize her dream, it was necessary for Germany to treat the Sermon on the Mount as the piping of some "idle singer of an empty day."
On the assumption that the "manifest destiny" of the Germans was to be world-conquerors, these philosophers argued, with unassailable logic, that the nation had made a vital mistake in abandoning the heathen gods for the Jesus of Christianity. World-conquest demands of its aspirant merciless severity, even to the enslavement or annihilation of any unoffending people, which the "necessity of war" considers to be impeding its progress. In so far as the individual imbibes, and is affected by, the ideals of Jesus, just so far is his efficiency as a unit of the conquering nation impaired. World-conquerors can tolerate no "conscientious objectors" in their ranks. Logically their gods should be the gods of the old Valhalla, Valor, Glory, Victory. Their priests should preach war and hate, not peace and love.
With a courage and consistency that left nothing unsaid, these German writers tore in twain the veil of hypocrisy with which Christian nations cover up their wars, and their schemes of colonization, benevolent assimilation, etc. They showed forth the naked truth that Jesus' ideal and nature's goal for man are the antipodes of each other, at least as regards different nations struggling with each other for supreme power. In other words, the forces of Christianity are working in one direction, and the forces of nature in another.
As with the Nation, so with the Individual.
Jesus (stating His ideal standard, it must be remembered) says: "Go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor" (Matt. XIX:21).
Nature says: Not so. If you had done this in the beginning, you would now have nothing with which to help the poor. If you do it now, you will simply be adding yourself and your family to increase the number of the poor.
Jesus says: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on" (Luke XII:22).
Nature says: Take thought for the morrow and provide for the future of yourself and your family; practice economy, frugality, thrift; see to it that the contingency of sickness, or the coming of old age, does not bring you and those dependent on you into the ranks of the poor, seeking aid from others.
The contrast between the two goals is as sharply defined in the case of the individual as in the case of the nation.
From this it does not follow that nature's forces do not make for altruism. As the family, the tribe or clan, the race, and the nation are successively evolved, the scope of self-interest widens and the means necessary to attain its ends become less individualistic and more humanitarian. As Fagin impresses on Noah Claypole, even in a band of thieves, the number one of Noah must also include the number one of the other members of the gang. In a modern community, whether Christian or heathen, the successful business or professional man must necessarily practice, to a greater or less degree, the same virtues inculcated by Jesus; otherwise he makes himself an outcast—an Ishmaelite—against whom every man's hand is turned.
"Honesty is the best policy" of the utilitarian leads to the same results as the Gospel maxim "to deal justly with all men."
Also the growth of a world-wide commerce, with the accompanying spread of international law, develops constantly a spirit of international morality. A nation today, planning a war, must look beyond the question of how its course will affect the self-interest of other nations. If it has wisdom in its councils, it must also reckon with this spirit of international morality. If its cause be too palpably unjust, or the means it adopts to secure victory be too barbarous, it may shock this international morality, and bring upon itself unexpected enemies, who may balk its best laid plans. The possibility of such contingencies arising will have far more weight than any argument based on the teaching of Jesus.