The Negro's church,.

The Message of the Minister 6

63

fight. We have got to get away from the worshipping of war
heroes. In many cities there are avenues where monuments are
standing and men who fought at various times are being kept
before the public as great heroes. We should prepare for peace
as earnestly as we do for war. We will have to educate for peace,
preach it in the pulpit, have it in the text books and give it out
in the press. We should take the R. 0. T. C. out of our schools.
The government wherever possible has put the R. 0. T. C. in our
schools and colleges.
We must get away from the hero worship of the great warriors.
In history we read of Napoleon who is spoken of as the lord of
conquests. Much attention is given to his conquests and the
shedding of blood as a result of these conquests. But, my friends,
you cannot have a beautiful world if you are going to glorify
war. In the city of X-~ there is an avenue known as Monument Avenue, up and down which are statues erected to men;
many of whom were just outright devils, many of whom were
against the Union; yet the world bows down to them in worship.
Men go week after week and pay homage to these men. The
world would be better off if these statues were torn down and
junked. The idea of putting all of that money in the glorifying
of war heroes, when it could be used in educational institutions!
We have got to do something else. We must stop being fools
over big parades such as flag day. We have too much false
patriotism in our American life of today; not that I do not believe
in the American flag and the principles for which it stands, but
I think we have taken patriotism a little too far. just before the
great world war Frenchmen and Germans were friends and then
over night the war came on and waved a magic wand which
changed friends into enemies. But they were not really enemies,
they were made to believe that they were enemies. A good illustration of this is the book All Quiet on the Western Front.
This illustration brings this to my mind. just before the armistice
was signed, which told that hostilities had ceased, they were lying
on their sides ready to kill; but at the very moment the armistice
was signed, men of all nationalities exchanged cigarettes and
candies or whatever they had. In truth they were never enemies.