YOUTH AND THE NEW ORDER
By THE MARCHIONESS OF LOTHIAN TT is very disconcerting that at a time in the world's history I when youth is seen at its most inspiring so many articles should be appearing expressing the anxious and frustrated disillusion that the young of today feel when they look forward to the post-war world. That this should be the prevalent emotion of a genera- tion so open to high ideals is a paradox which should be analysed, fought and conquered, to prevent the peace from starting as a bitter anti-climax for just those people who have sacrificed most to win it. To me, as a young contemporary, this lonely cynicism is easy to understand and easier still to share, because the war has led youth to despair of the morals and conceptions of a past which led to it ; it has destroyed so many of the old values and has proved so many attractive theories to have been merely artificial ; yet now, in replace- ment, nothing is offered to fire the spiritual void. Charters and suggestions for the material future are available in plenty, but these are not enough, because Youth needs to be led in mind as well as in matter.
It is encouraging to know that the goal of all genuine intellectual endeavour is to live according to the true purpose of humanity, but when this generation looks back now on the ideals that were disguisd as that true purpose before the war it finds that tragically little has withstood the trial. Youth of today has watched Democracy fail France as disastrously as National Socialism fails Germany, seen Russian Communism as selfish in Estonia as Italian Fascism in Abyssinia ; and realised that there is more integrity in men than in politics. It has known the minds of men shaped by an often immoral and sensational Press, and their lives sometimes swayed by irresponsible financial influences. It has seen the Christian faith suffocated and ignored in Christendom, and with the suppression of fundamental principles of charity and justice known waves of cruelty and evil sweep over the countries of the world. It has listened to the voices of advanced "modernists," and heard them scorn the spiritual obligations which tie children to parents and parents to children, and heard it advocated especially by the totali- tarians that it should become the duty of the State and not the right of the parent to control education. Yogth has watched the world slowly forgetting that the family is the vital pivot of the nation. It has seen men and women insist on the privilege of swearing life-long loyalty to each other before God, and then later seen them divorced on pretexts which are of no credit to the standard of any legal system. It has seen Progress expressed in material but not in spiritual terms, and, in fact, had watched rabbits being taken for lions and eagles for doves for so long, that it was not unduly surprised when as a fitting climax it watched the off- spring of modern thought and morals worship Adolf Hitler and follow him to war.
The truth seems to stand out. In his efforts to surpass it, man has been by-passing spiritual civilisation, and now it seems that without thorough moral reorganisation he cannot even hope for social reorganisation. Intellects that can talk black into white are intellects which have lost their sense of proportion, and without this even the greatest reforms must fail. Admitting then that Youth has little cause for raising enthusiasm over the New Order if it is still to be founded on the old outlook, and admitting that it is an outlook which if not completely eradicated must again warp the finest ideals, and again lead the nations first into mental and then into material chaos, the problem left to this generation and its leaders is to find the alternative and the cure. To many of us the alternative seems obvious. It lies in a world- wide return to the harmony and " neighbourliness " of a logical Christian life. If the scat of the world's evils lies in the warped atti- tude of men's minds, these minds must be re-educated in Truth, and after the trials and lessons of this war it should not prove to be as difficult as the faint-hearted would have us believe. Throughout all countries many divergent opinions agree that suffering has driven countless " disillusioned idealists " to reason out for themselves a strong, tried Christian mysticism. It is these idealists who could form the spiritual vanguard of the New Order and spread its leaven through the world. Their hard-won mysticism must be encouraged, even by those who cannot share it, if the peace is to produce a generation capable of brotherhood and goodwill. Even the most aggressive atheist should not wish to quarrel with laws characterised by common sense embodied in a faith capable not only of educating the international character of citizens, but also of inspiring their eternal destinies as souls.
On the other hand, the silent millions themselves must be silent no longer. If during this war they have found in Christian values inspiration and strength, after the war they should insist that only these values should influence their lives. Realising that unless materialism and spiritualism go hand in hand progress is doomed, they should shoulder both with courage and determination. In this world man has no "continuing city," and reform is never easy ; but it would be easiar to reform conditions now than later. Now the war has cleared some of the cheaper intoxicants from the minds of the survivors. Later the narcotics of peace may again lead men to forget that nearly all the promises of the modern prophets have been proved to be as unattainable as the most fantastic of Mr. H. G. Wells's " chromium-plated nightmares."
It may be argued that in the lives of families of most people some manifestation of modern madness has taken place, but this should prove no handicap. Now if ever seems the time for all to forget and build anew, and having found spiritual inspiration to ally it to materialistic progress and on these sound foundations to attempt the New Order. But, before attempting it, many basic improvements both in social and spiritual spheres seem to be necessary.
In spiritual spheres many Christians lack the courage of their convictions ; some have not been taught, and others have not stopped to think out, the laws they profess to adhere to. Sonic have been disillusioned by those who undermine man's sense of Divine Authority by compromising over vital subjects, and some have been led astray only to find that if doctrine based on human revelation is flattering it is not convincing. These are discrepancies that should be 'faced if now, galvanised by a common horror of war and the kind of thinking that leads to it, Christians of all classes are, in all nations, to take effective and united action. They should therefore never forget that shallow thinking, living and loving has not brought happiness to either men or nations. They should remember the chaos modern humanism has resulted in, and to counteract it they should ask of themselves a more disciplined attitude towards spiritual things. They should dissociate the adjec- tives "intense " and " spiritual " and resolutely accept the latter.
In the social sphere the reforms necessary are many and obvious, but might it be suggested that amongst them are the following: An Atlantic Charter firmly based on international brotherhood ; Christian Governments firm enough to govern in Christianity ; spiritual as well as political representatives to lead nations and influence Peace Conferences ; parents and teachers who will not shirk their vocation, but will educate children in moral and spiritual law as well as in manners and mathematics ; larger families and laws that will protect and encourage them, and, lastly, human beings sufficiently convinced to retain their common sense in the face of the most determined pseudo-intellectual opposition.
To put it comprehensively, if the New Order is to appeal to Youth, it must promise moral as well as material security, and it must be one that will not neglect the former in favour of the latter.
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