CND Sut,—The writer who signed himself 'Liberal Christian' in your
issue of May 4 is between the horns of a dilemma which merits sympathy even from those, like myself, who oppose CND on grounds both of Christianity and of practical Politics.
Unfortunately, his tentative suggestion that more non-Communist support for CND would remove him from his uncomfortable position is naïf, since the problem does not depend upon the numbers of participating Communists; and for CND to de- cline Communist participation is not possible if Communists choose to attend CND public meetings. A more serious objection is that ethics camotrlikt
manipulated by manoeuvres of that type, but, rather, must dictate action.
I fear that your correspondent must use his situa- tion as an incentive to making some cold, and possibly unpalatable, calculations about the sharp- ness of each horn.
The problem of the Left horn is that if nuclear weapons are made and held they may be used, with extremely unpleasant results.
The offence here is to Liberality, but not (it must be stressed) to Christianity; for although the Christ- ian should desire and seek peace, he must not ex- pect necessarily to find it in the present. Where nuclear war is concerned too many Christians have fallen into the trap of believing that extreme physical suffering is absolutely unacceptable: an idea which is not among the absolutes of Christianity.
The Right horn is in fact much sharper. Christian- ity cannot compromise with the modern Caesar, who requires his 'image and superscription' to be stamped not only on the things which are Caesar's, but also on the things which are God's; upon souls and upon the family, which is the unit of human organisation most closely approximating to God's relationship with man.
I claim no especial right to advise your correspon- dent, but I am sure that in political, as in other activities it is well to choose one's bedfellows with care, and I suggest that in some circumstances the Christian cannot be 'Liberal' without finding him- self perched precariously between the horns of just such a dilemma as this.
DAVID Mt YELL HMS Condor, Arbroath, Angus
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