"He Can Skin Civilisation, Hang Up The Hide, And Offer Prayer Over The Carcass"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 223, 1 October 1943, Page 6

"He Can Skin Civilisation, Hang Up The Hide, And Offer Prayer Over The Carcass"

OR many years now the Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr has been "a contradictory conspicuous figure in the two worlds of religion and radical politics." In 1941, before the United States entered the War, he was, even more than usual, a centre of controversy as leader of a group of eminent churchmen who believed that war could be a lesser evil than unChristian tyranny. He and his supporters had met and debated the issue; they had issued statements to the press denouncing pacifist isolation; and on February 7th, 1941, they presented the first issue of Christianity and Crisis, an eight-page bi-weekly. , , This magazine, intended mainly to oppose the staunchly pacifist tone of the existing interdenominational religious periodicals and particularly that of The Christian Century, was dedicated to the principle that "The halting of totalitarian aggression is a pre-requisite to world peace and order." Backed by a number of influential sponsors, its editorial policy, guided by Niebuhr, was to be devoted to giving anti-pacifist churchmen a voice. Niebuhr himself has said of his aims: "We think it dangerous to allow religious sensitivity to obscure the fact that Nazi tyranny intends to annihilate the Jewish race, to subject the nations of Europe to the domination of a ‘master’ race, to extirpate the Christian religion, to annul the liberties and legal standards which are the priceless heritage of ages of Christian and humanistic culture... The immediate task is the defeat of Nazi tyranny." This was not a new thesis for Niebuhr; it was one he had been preaching ever since 1933 in sermons, articles, and even in one of his latest books, Christianity and Power Politics (1940). Those churchman who remained pacifist were, he felt, guilty of a "sentimentalised Christianity" which says that slavery is better than war. During the depression of the 1930’s Niebuhr "rose to a position of command-

ing influence in the theological world." Americans had begun to wonder whether there might not be something wrong with the world, and Niebuhr tried to point out to them his views on its cure. In all these years Niebuhr was not only radical; he was also deeply religious. After listening to him talk, a fellow clergyman once said: "He can skin civilisation, hang the hide up to dry, and offer prayer over the carcass." It is impossible not to be impressed by his sharp logic, his theological brilliance, the fresh quality of his mind. More often than not it is impossible not to be stirred to rebuttal and controversy by them. To some of his colleagues this is, perhaps a shortcoming. As one put it: "He is almost too clever intellectually. A little more tenderness or downright compassion would help to balance his brilliance." -From "Current Bioggaphy"