Theism Doctrinal and Practical, or, Didactic Religious Utterances. By Francis W. Newman |
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Military Oaths.
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Military Oaths.
If some wild rover collect a band of followers,
And forming them into a company, administer solemn oaths,
That they shall follow him and obey him, though he command deeds of violence,
And shall be true to his standard, before God and man:—
No one moderately thoughtful imagines such oath to be binding,
Or that it can ever clear the bandits from a charge of guilt:
Rather, the oath itself is deemed guilty and execrable.
And forming them into a company, administer solemn oaths,
That they shall follow him and obey him, though he command deeds of violence,
And shall be true to his standard, before God and man:—
No one moderately thoughtful imagines such oath to be binding,
Or that it can ever clear the bandits from a charge of guilt:
Rather, the oath itself is deemed guilty and execrable.
But wherein does this differ from a despotic Emperor,
Or from a despotic President, to whom armies have sworn obedience?
Whether the bandit chief or the emperor command an outrage,
Outrageous it abides, nor can the wrong be made right;
Nor will voluntary oaths justify the soldiers more than the bandits
In laying conscience aside, and executing a wicked deed.
Or from a despotic President, to whom armies have sworn obedience?
Whether the bandit chief or the emperor command an outrage,
Outrageous it abides, nor can the wrong be made right;
Nor will voluntary oaths justify the soldiers more than the bandits
In laying conscience aside, and executing a wicked deed.
It is never the oath that can justly move a soldier,
Nor national spirit nor patriotism and loyalty;
But only his own conviction that he is a minister of righteousness,
Warring for the right side, as a servant of God.
Most men feel this conviction in repelling force from their own land,
And likewise in other cases, which touch the national conscience.
But where the cause of war is too complex for popular judgment,
Too obscure in its ground, its aims, and its chances;
As, a dynastic war waged upon foreign soil,
A war for commercial rights based upon treaty,
A war to conquer some foreign or Pagan nation,
Or a war against our own discontented colonists,
(And of such wars as these, Christian History is full,)
In such cases, I say, it is an outrageous iniquity,
Without processes of Justice, to expect soldiers' obedience.
To train men to obey absolutely the word of command,
So as suddenly to attack a nation previously friendly,
When ordered by their officer, who has secret instructions;—
Is to train them to become tools of ambition, piracy and treason.
For what if he choose to act the freebooter on his own account,
Trusting that “accomplished facts” are sure to be accepted,
And feign secret orders, or misinterpret or disobey?
Or what, if the head of the Executive plot usurpation?
The men have been accustomed to lay aside all conscience,
To ask no questions concerning Right or Law,
And to obey the commanding officer unconditionally and promptly,
However ruthless and unexpected was the deed commanded.
This very vow made by Jesuits to the General of their Order,
Has been reprobated by all Europe and pronounced abominable.
And how can any good man,—any man not wholly thoughtless,—
Any man not willing to be wicked,—enter into such vows?
Is it doubtful whether unjust wars outnumber the just?
In every war between nations one party at least is unjust;
Nor is there any great power but has made many unjust wars,
Wars both unjust and foolish, no longer defended by any,
Wars of onesided Expediency, or of hot and unseemly haste,
Or of guilty ambition, coveting territory and subjects.
And with facts so awful glaring in our eyes,
Can any one pretend that a war has ostensibly God's sanction,
And that men may ravage and burn and slaughter fellow-men,
Merely because it is commanded by a secret Cabinet?—
Oh! but “how else are we to carry on the Government!”
If you cannot stand without brigandage, you had better fall:
But if you desire God's blessing, let martial law be reformed,
Let the Lynch law of Cabinets be replaced by Judicial Verdict,
And the engagement of a soldier may cease to be brigandage.
Nor national spirit nor patriotism and loyalty;
But only his own conviction that he is a minister of righteousness,
Warring for the right side, as a servant of God.
Most men feel this conviction in repelling force from their own land,
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But where the cause of war is too complex for popular judgment,
Too obscure in its ground, its aims, and its chances;
As, a dynastic war waged upon foreign soil,
A war for commercial rights based upon treaty,
A war to conquer some foreign or Pagan nation,
Or a war against our own discontented colonists,
(And of such wars as these, Christian History is full,)
In such cases, I say, it is an outrageous iniquity,
Without processes of Justice, to expect soldiers' obedience.
To train men to obey absolutely the word of command,
So as suddenly to attack a nation previously friendly,
When ordered by their officer, who has secret instructions;—
Is to train them to become tools of ambition, piracy and treason.
For what if he choose to act the freebooter on his own account,
Trusting that “accomplished facts” are sure to be accepted,
And feign secret orders, or misinterpret or disobey?
Or what, if the head of the Executive plot usurpation?
The men have been accustomed to lay aside all conscience,
To ask no questions concerning Right or Law,
And to obey the commanding officer unconditionally and promptly,
However ruthless and unexpected was the deed commanded.
This very vow made by Jesuits to the General of their Order,
Has been reprobated by all Europe and pronounced abominable.
And how can any good man,—any man not wholly thoughtless,—
Any man not willing to be wicked,—enter into such vows?
Is it doubtful whether unjust wars outnumber the just?
In every war between nations one party at least is unjust;
Nor is there any great power but has made many unjust wars,
Wars both unjust and foolish, no longer defended by any,
Wars of onesided Expediency, or of hot and unseemly haste,
Or of guilty ambition, coveting territory and subjects.
And with facts so awful glaring in our eyes,
Can any one pretend that a war has ostensibly God's sanction,
And that men may ravage and burn and slaughter fellow-men,
Merely because it is commanded by a secret Cabinet?—
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If you cannot stand without brigandage, you had better fall:
But if you desire God's blessing, let martial law be reformed,
Let the Lynch law of Cabinets be replaced by Judicial Verdict,
And the engagement of a soldier may cease to be brigandage.
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