Christian Peace Aims
The titular spokesmen of the Church of England and the Free Churches of this country have shown wisdom as well as broadmindedness in taking as the basis for their statement of peace-aims—the Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster being a co-signatory—the five principles enunciated by the Pope just a year ago. They may be summarised very briefly as includ- ing the right of every nation to life and independence; general and agreed reduction of armaments; an international body to maintain, and if necessary revise, the international order ; pro- tection of. the rights of minorities; the submission of human statutes to " the sacred and inviolable standards of the laws of God." Those principles, which utterly condemn everything our enemies are fighting for and every method they employ, obtained universal acceptance in this and other civilised coun- tries when they were first promulgated. To them the British Christian leaders now add five " standards by which economic situations and proposals may be tested," these being domestic rather than international in their bearing: abolition of extreme inequalities of wealth; equal opportunities of education and advancement for every child; safeguarding of the family as a social unit ; restoration of the sense of a Divine vocation in men's daily work; a fair distribution of the riches of the earth to all. Political, social and more specifically religious issues are all raised here, and not all are of quite equal relevance. But they unquestionably constitute, if not the final word, at least an admirable starting-point for authoritative discussion.
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