REGENERATION FROM THE GRASS-ROOTS

When Senator Barry Goldwater was contesting the American Presidency in 1964, one of his critics of the press sneeringly suggested to the Senator that he sounded as if he had one foot back in the 19th century. To which Senator Goldwater replied by saying that he was prepared to go right back to the 1st century if necessary to rediscover and reestablish those basic principles upon which Western Christian Civilisation had been erected.

There are eternal truths, and Easter is a time to reflect upon them in order that the resurrection of a dying Civilisation may be effected. Christ triumphed over death. His triumph demonstrated many truths, not the least of which is that the spirit of life can achieve miracles - providing there is sufficient faith in Truth and the necessary dedication to make it a reality.

One of the features of a disintegrating Civilisation is a frensied searching for change of all kinds. Change for the sake of change has become almost a new religion. But in fact it is a manifestation of a restlessness resulting from a sense of rootlessness. It is a search for a satisfaction, which never comes while man is cut off from the living sap of the eternal Truths. Regeneration requires that man go back to the source of life. This requires a conscious effort. Men still possess free will. They can make choices. But false choices do not alter reality - truth.

Men are free to ignore reality. They may turn their sex lives into a replica of the farmyard. They may take a "trip" into the world of nothingness. They may insulate themselves from the earth which feeds them, living in the concrete jungles called cities. They may shut out sun and moon with their blankets of smog. But beyond the smog and the grey of the concrete is the reality which man cannot abolish. Men cannot repeal the multiplication table without producing chaos. They cannot offer stones and pretend they are bread. The wages of sin - the defiance of truth - is always death. New life only comes with atonement -re-establishing a correct relationship with Truth.

The distinctive feature of Christianity was that it elevated the individual over the collective. The group existed to serve the individual; The Sabbath was made for man, not man to serve the Sabbath. All associations existed primarily to enable the individual to grow, not to build bureaucratic monsters. And because Christianity particularly in England was associated with the development of representative Government, it stressed that the structure of government must partake of truth. Excessive centralisation was declared by Christian constitutional authorities to be unconstitutional.

In 1931, Pope Pius XI spoke on the subject of the truth, which governs human associations. He said:
"... just as it is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to a group what private enterprise and industry can accomplish, so too is it an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order, for a larger and higher organisation to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently in smaller and lower societies. This is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, unshaken and unchangeable. Of its very nature the true aim of all social activity should be to help members of the social body, but never to destroy or absorb them."

Since the enunciation of the "fundamental principle" by Pope Pius in his Encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno, the Roman Catholic Communion has regrettably joined in the stampede of the gadarene swine down the slope of growing collectivism. Comparatively few voices are to be heard these days denouncing the "grave evil" of taking power from the individual and vesting it in ever-bigger organisations over which in the nature of reality he can exercise not one iota of influence. Christian pulpits of all denominations are today occupied in many cases by advocates of the AntiChrist. Not even the "pop masses" and other manifestations of the sick "with-it" philosophy can fill the ever-increasing empty pews. Man gropes in a spiritual darkness, which has shut out the light of truth and life.

Never before in man's history was it more important that the few continue to hold high and steadfast the torch of truth, to guide mankind through the perilous days ahead. Unlike "instant coffee", there are no instant solutions to man's basic problems. Australians are at present being subjected to the view that they can experience instant greatness based upon what the shallow commentators term a "new nationalism". Australia could grow to a real greatness given time and development, which is rooted in a deep respect for truth.

It is the same with genuine culture, which can neither be taught nor imposed. A culture is the product of long, continuous and patient growth. What is called European culture was the result of that type of growth. European culture was given its distinctive character by the influence of Christianity. It reached its highest level in the period preceeding the first of the great disasters, which have shaken this century - the First World War. Austria of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was one of the glittering jewels of that period.

But this organic structure, like the British Empire, was broken up in the name of progress. Two World Wars not only saw the flower of Western European manhood decimated in what was in essence a type of Civil War; and a wanton destruction of much of the art of all forms produced by Western European Civilisation; they also resulted in a return to barbarism and the introduction of alien concepts. A synthetic and anti-Christian unity is imposed upon Western Europe with the Common Market. But in spite of all this and much more, there still remains the possibility of propagating a culture from that life which still remains of a parent culture.

It was the great C.H. Douglas who observed that he was much more concerned about the possible eradication of British culture than he was about the destruction of the British Empire. British culture was a distinctive manifestation of Western European and Christian culture. It is what remains of this culture, which Australians concerned about regeneration must concern themselves about. If much of a tree is dead, it is from the still living parts only that growth can occur and from nowhere else. It is futile to try propagating dead branches. There is plenty of "dead wood" in Australia. There is a heavy stench of death in the air. But for those who have grasped the message of Christianity, the miracle of resurrection is always present and possible.

EASTER RECESS

SUPPRESSED TEACHING

"The great danger of the modern State lies in the tendency to overcentralisation, with its attendant evils of red -tape and what is known in America as graft." - Civics for Australian Schools, by Alice Hoy, M.A.

Before any of our readers get enthusiastic about the above statement as evidence of a new spirit in the Australian educational system, we hasten to point out that it is many years since Civics For Australian Schools was used as a text-book. In most schools, civics, geography and history are taught under the heading of "Social Studies". Much of the teaching is the brainwashing of young, immature minds by Socialists.

Big Government is now much preferable to a number of smaller Governments - it is, for example, much more "efficient". Faced with the Socialist views of many senior students, League lecturers have found upon investigation that students are taught little or nothing about real Australian political history, of how the Fathers of Federation, men like Parkes, Barton, Deakin and others, were primarily concerned about how to frame a Constitution which would ensure that power did not become over-centralised. These men knew the dangers of centralised power.

Mr. Eric Butler found at one meeting that not only the students, but also the "progressive" young teachers, had never even heard of the Fathers of Federation! And, of course, as they had never heard of them, they were unimportant. As a result of these experiences we sought around to obtain a copy of the type of civics textbook, which used to be used in Australian schools. One of our readers obliged with his old copy of Alice Hoy's text-book, one which will be recalled no doubt by many of our older readers. Consider the following from Miss Hoy's book:
"In the system of local government handed down from Saxon times we have an antidote to over-centralisation. Comparatively small groups of people allowed to manage their own affairs naturally show much greater interest in the work and bring far greater knowledge to bear on it than some far-away official who has to look up the place on the map."

It is difficult to produce the robots for the centrally planned Socialist State if children are taught truths like these. And so young Australians will have to learn the hard way that centralisation is a menace to the individual. They have been cut off from their traditions, which are in part the accumulated wisdom of the past. Our quotations are from the 1940 edition of Civics for Australian Schools, but the publication first appeared in 1917.

SOVIET-ISRAEL STRATEGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

"A distinct softening of the atmosphere between Israel and the Soviet Union is noticeable following the visit to Vienna of Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban... While in Vienna, he issued a public invitation to the Soviet Union to re-establish diplomatic relations. Interviewed on television, he said: "If the Soviet Union corrected its attitude, resumed its contacts with Israel and pursued a balanced policy in the Middle East, it could immediately exert a much greater influence in Middle East affairs." - The Australian Jewish Times (Sydney) April 5th.

The Eban statement followed closely on the announcement by the Soviet Government that the ransom tax on Jewish academics wishing to migrate to Israel had been lifted. While in Vienna Mr. Eban visited the transit camp of Schoenau for Soviet Jewish immigrants. Exact figures are hard to come by, as both Israel and the Soviet do not appear to wish the world to know the truth, but it is certain that in recent years many thousands of Jewish migrants from the Soviet have been permitted to move to Israel. No other group is permitted to leave the Soviet Union.

It is significant that the Soviet once again made use of the Soviet-based Jewish journalist, Victor Louis, a man who has served the Soviet intelligence services for many years, and who has also visited Israel, to release the news about the abolition of the tax of Jewish academics wishing to leave the Soviet for Israel.

Bearing in mind that the Soviet Union played a decisive role of bringing the new Israeli State into existence in 1948, following the collapse of the British under Zionist terror tactics in Palestine and international pressure, the following letter, by two British Members of the House of Commons, Mr. Carol Johnson, Labour, and Mr. David Crouch, Conservative, in The Times of February 23, makes chilling reading:

"Recent utterances (reported in Maariv, and summarised in Le Monde) of General Dayan, who, as Minister of Defence, occupies a key position in Israel and who is in the running to succeed Mrs. Meir, justify the reluctance of Egypt and Jordan to enter into direct negotiations with Israel otherwise than on the basis of Resolution 242. "The Minister is quoted as saying: 'we now have the military power and, thanks to the immigration of Jews from USSR, the manpower also, to enable us to establish ourselves everywhere... We are therefore in a position to realise the historic aspirations of Zionism... of establishing ourselves in the entire territory of Eretz-Israel. Let us not lose this historic opportunity, which the most optimistic had never dreamed of.' "He added that the planting of Jewish colonies ought to be 'extended and accelerated'. He then maintained that the settlers would have only to wait until their enemies resigned themselves to the acceptance of what they considered to be usurpation, and concluded that there was no justification for 'the arguments of those who favour Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and other Israeli concessions.'" (our emphasis)

General Dayan's statement confirms what eminent anti-Zionist Jews like the American Alfred Lilienthal have been warning about for years; that so far from Israel being a barrier to Soviet expansion in the Middle East, it has been essential for that expansion. It is clearly a matter of high Soviet policy to permit a growing volume of Jews to leave the Soviet for Israel, thus increasing Israel's strength and helping Israel to generate the necessary fear amongst the Arabs which the Soviet then so cynically exploits.

The Communist is happy to encourage the senseless and murderous terror tactics being used by the Arabs. They know that cold-blooded murder of innocent people has no real impact on Israel, but that it helps to keep the world confused about what is really happening in the Middle East. As the tensions increase, President Nixon suddenly discovers that the USA has an energy crisis and is increasingly dependent, as is Japan upon oil from the Arab states.
The Big Idea on the international scene is now becoming much clearer. Effective exposure through Gary Allen's book and similar works is the only hope of averting major disaster.

NATIONAL DIRECTOR FOR MAJOR INTERSTATE ADDRESSES