The history of the world has been built around the theme of war; its points of crisis have been the great battles. The thought of revenge motivates some nations; the demand for the righting of ancient historical wrongs influences others; the restitution of lands, earlier held, directs the acts of others. For instance: the ancient glory of the Roman Empire must be restored - at the expense of the helpless little peoples; the culture of France must be paramount and French security must outweigh all other considerations; British imperialism has in the past outraged other nations; German hegemony and "living space" must dominate Europe, and the German superman must be the arbiter of human life; American isolationism would leave humanity defenceless in its hour of need and hand men over to the rule of Hitler; Russia, in her silence, cannot be trusted; Japan is upsetting the balance of power in Asia. Such is the picture today. Anarchy rules the world; famine stalks the inhabitants of Europe; the civilian population of cities, the women and children, are in grave danger of injury and death and are forced to live underground; pestilence appears; there is no safety on land or sea or in the air; the [185] nations are on the verge of financial ruin; science has turned to the invention of the instruments of death; the populations of cities and entire districts are shifted from one part of a country to another; families and homes are broken up; there is intense fear, hopeless looking into the future, bewildered questioning, suicide and murder; the smoke of countless fires blackens the skies; the seas are strewn with dead and with wrecked vessels; the thunder of guns and the noise of exploding bombs are heard in approximately twenty countries; war rises up from the waters, marches over the lands and descends from the skies.

For our encouragement let us recognize that the same humanity which has brought about these terrible conditions can also create the new world, the new order and the new way of life. The selfish, wicked past can give way to a future of understanding, of cooperation, of right human relations and of good. Separativeness must be superseded by unity. The combination of totalitarian aggressors, of allied democracies and of anxious neutral nations must be changed into a world which is characterized by one endeavor - the establishing of those relations which will produce the happiness and peace of the whole, and not only of the part.