" CHRISTIAN CIVILISATION "
SIR,—While in no way wishing to detract from the fundamental importance of the principles enumerated by Mr. Davis, I feel prompted to ask whether he is justified in claiming these principles as specifi- cally Christian. Are they not, in fact, principles which would be up- held by a majority of ethically minded persons, whether they adhere to the Christian or to one of the other great religions, or belong to no orthodox religion at all; and is not the foundation on which they rest a belief in the sanctity of human personality rather than the doctrines of any one religion? If this be so, is it not, perhaps, a little pretentious of Christians to claim them as their own, and is the statement that this war is being waged in defence of Christian civi- lisation one which is likely to appeal to members of the Jewish faith or to those supporters of the British cause who may happen to belong to one of the other non-Christian religions? In this con- nexion it might not be inappropriate to quote some lines from Kipling: " His God is as the fates assign, His prayer is all the world's—and mine."
Previous page
