Towards World Government

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 220, 10 September 1943, Page 5

Towards World Government

4 E are committed to the goal of a_ world-wide political order, and thus to the establishment of institutions or organisations best suited to serve the purpose of this order — not because world government as such is a distinctive Christian objective, but because it is a necessary condition of the unified spiritual society which is our Christian objective. The need for action is urgent." That is one of the findings of the Conference. In an interview with The Listener, Dean Warren elaborated it by saying that post-war planning was a live question in the U.S.A., and it was realised that, if the peace was to be won, there must be adequate preparation among all the nations, both victors and vanquished. "The Princeton Conference was the first attempt of an international nature to examine peace suggestions in the. light of Christian standards, and from the point of view not only of the United Nations. As an examination of the Conference findings will reveal, there was a very definite appreciation of the need to avoid another peace treaty like Versailles. "At the same time, plans for international co-operation are of little worth without the will of the people to put them into effect. The Christian Churches therefore have a vital part to play in creating a sound public opinion. When peace conferences come to be held,

nations will be war-weary, and the Churches will have failed uniess they have met the situation in advance. It is important to realise that in enemy and occupied lands there are increasingly large groups of Christian people who are being kept informed by shortwave broadcasts and other means, of what is being planned for the future by the United Nations, and it is hoped that from such groups may spring leadership | for the future." World-Wide Christian Fellowship From what had happened.at the conference and from talks with leaders in State and international movements in America, delegates had found that "the battle for world co-operation has been won on the intellectual front, is being won on the political front, but still has to be won on the peoples’ front." A new factor in securing this victory was. the ecumenical movement-the world-wide Christian fellowship. And that, concluded Dean Warren, had ‘been a reality experienced at .Princeton, where there had been 68 delegates from 12 different countries, including citizens of occupied lands and former citizens of states with which we were at war, among them Germany and Japan. It is likely that at 8.45 p.m. this Sunday, September 12, Dean Warren will give a talk on the Princeton Conference from the main National and Commercial stations,