RETURNING TO THE ROOTS

By Eric D. Butler
Paradoxically, the present critical plight of the world is the hope of the world; the tragedies afflicting mankind are a graphic demonstration of the reality of Absolutes. If there were no Absolutes, Man's situation would be hopeless, one in which mindless chaos dominates. But Western Civilisation grew out of roots nourished by great historical developments. Man can return to those roots when he accepts that he is on a disaster road. The first essential is an understanding that all policies, economic, financial, social, or political, are rooted in philosophies. What Men believe governs what they do. If men hold beliefs that are contrary to Reality, the policies stemming from those beliefs will conflict with Reality and produce disastrous results.

In one of those memorable statements, which were typical of a genius, C.H. Douglas said concerning the Social Credit Movement: "We are attempting to release Reality." Reality is an Absolute which, having been discovered, can either be obeyed with satisfactory results, or be challenged and opposed with disastrous results. The plight of the world today is the result of the ideas of those who like to regard themselves as academic intellectuals, generally in favour of grandiose schemes, these, of course, to be run by "Superior" people like themselves. The concept is as old as Man, and was advanced by the Greek philosopher, Plato, as the classic Greek Civilisation was already showing signs of decadence.

C. H. Douglas predicted shortly after the First World War, the first major shattering blow to Western Civilisation, that unless the debt financial policy, and its undergirding philosophy, was replaced with a policy which reflected Reality, every attempt to resolve growing problems with centralised planning could only lead to the break up of Civilisation. Douglas stressed that what he termed Social Credit was a policy of a philosophy, and in a lifetime of endeavour he attempted to make it clear that unless the philosophic question was resolved in favour of Reality, Man could only move from one disaster to another. It was impossible to get figs from thistles.

It was disastrous to listen to false prophets. The modern media are full of false prophets. What is termed Western Civilisation was the result of an organic fusing of the mental disciplines of the Greek and Roman Civilisations and the Christian revelation. Christian literalists do Christianity a great disservice when they fail to accept that the Greek and Roman Civilisations prepared the seed bed in which the seed of the Christian revelation took root and flourished vigorously.

There are valuable lessons to be learned from an understanding that the Christian revelation resolved philosophical questions, which the Greeks and Romans had grappled with in a manner surpassing anything developed until that time. But although the Greeks had developed concepts which presented things as a whole, with a stress on form and balance, and had considered how best to preserve the value and dignity of the individual, they were unable to resolve the problem of Man's apparent helplessness in the face of what appeared to be a relentless Universe, much of this reflected in so much Greek tragedy.

It was the Christian revelation concerning the uniqueness and value of every individual, made in the image of God, the challenge to collectivism, the insistence that institutions like the Sabbath were made to serve the individual, and the message that individuals should love one another as children of the one God, which released a new dynamic in human affairs. There was now a message of hope, the individual no longer a slave to the doctrine of inevitability. The individual was now free to participate in an unfolding cosmic drama.

The result was an outburst of creativeness, one result being a scientific development, which opened to Man the truths about the Universe. The central feature of Asiatic Civilisations, with their many outstanding achievements, has been the passive resignation of the makes and the almost unlimited tyranny and corruption of their masters. The retreat from the Greco-Roman-Christian Civilisation, with the attempted centralisation of all power over the individual, is tending to produce the same type of passive resignation, along with greed and corruption in high places. The stress upon quantity instead of quality reflects a deep philosophical rot. The further Man proceeds down the road he is now travelling, the greater the retreat from the roots of Western Civilisation.

The well known Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, warned that a growing reliance upon Science could not help Man if he is already on the wrong road; it can only accelerate the progress towards greater disasters. The only sensible thing to it is to face the Reality about the wrong road, and then to turn back, endeavouring to re-contact those roots, which have been lost. Regeneration must start with the individual himself. The road back requires a conscious rejection of much that is termed Progress. The task can only be undertaken by those with understanding and faith in those roots, which still remain to be re-discovered. This is an appropriate time to ponder on these matters.

A Holy and Happy Christmas to all readers and their families.

THE ESSENCE OF THE MIDDLE EAST SITUATION

Even the media has been unable to censor all reports concerning Middle East realities. No understanding of what is involved is possible without an understanding of the relatively modern movement known as Political Zionism and its stated long-term objectives. Prominent Jews in Western countries, men like Australia's first native born Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, who attempted to warn of what one described as a "stupendous fallacy", were ruthlessly swept aside by the Zionist power machine.

The modern State known as Israel was established by a programme of escalating terrorism, with the British being the main victims as the Second World War drew to a close. As Zionist supporters, both Jews and non-Jews, are so concerned about "war crimes" which allegedly took place during the Second World War, what about Zionist terror acts such as the assassination of the British Minister for the Middle East, Lord Moyne, the blowing up of the King David Hotel with an appalling loss of civilian life, and the torturing of British servicemen? Israel has been headed by terrorists like Begin and Shamir.

Israel was created by a terrorist campaign, backed at the time by the Soviet strategists, which drove the native Palestinians, many of them Christians, from their homeland, creating a refugee problem of massive proportions. Terrorism always produces a counter reaction. The French underground, backed by the Allies did not regard themselves terrorists as they engaged in acts of violence against the occupying Germans. It was understandable that the Palestinians resorted to acts of violence, hi-jacking planes, and much else in a desperate attempt to dislodge the alien occupiers of their native country. The Zionist terrorists were responsible for the cold-blooded killing of the UN mediator, the distinguished Count Bernadotte. The killers were never brought to justice. The Zionists are selective in their campaign for "justice."

The 1967 conflict, masterminded by the Soviet, saw a further expansion of Zionist Israel and an occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan and yet another flood of refugees. After years of waiting in vain for the UN to honour its own resolution calling upon Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, and suffering at the hands of the Israelis, eventually the Palestinians started a campaign of civil disobedience. The Israelis have reacted with more violence, the steady killing of Palestinians, including children, while deporting some Palestinians leaders. The passing of time has produced a situation where the more realistic of the Palestinian leaders have decided that the clock cannot be turned back, and have agreed that Israel should be accepted as a reality. But equally important, that the Palestinians are entitled to their own State. The Zionists are violently opposed to this, and while the Yasser Arafat diplomatic initiative is a major challenge to the Israelis, they are making it clear that they are not going to give any ground.

While still using their African provided sophisticated military equipment to smash into Lebanon, killing large numbers of civilians, and still killing Palestinians on the West Bank, former terrorist Israeli leader Shamir raises obstacles to the sane proposal that the Palestinian leaders like Arafat be involved in the negotiations so essential to resolving a long running and deep seated crisis. However, the realities of the Middle East situation and the international influence of Zionism are now starting to become much clearer. Even mesmerised Christians who have accepted the "Chosen Race" myth are starting to see reality. Light is starting to break where there has been almost total darkness.
(Recommended reading: The Zionist Factor, by Ivor Benson. $15 posted).

WAR CRIMES BILL

THE HIGH COST OF RAISING A FAMILY

AND IN LIGHTER VEIN