Madison County Democrat

Peace On Earth,
Good Will Toward Men

By Willis E. Stone

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Willis E. Stone is author of the "Proposed 23rd Amendment" and President of the American Progress Foundation, Los Angeles.)

So we come again to Christmas. This is not merely a season of the year, but the heartwarming remembrance of the birth of the Christ Child.

In the 13th and 14th verses of the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, is told the story of the birth of the Savior of Mankind:

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Remembrance of His birth is clearer and dearer to the heart of mankind today than it was nineteen hundred years ago when the miracle of the Nativity was still new.

Perhaps it is the anguish and frustrations of the centuries which have brought us a greater understanding, not only of the Holiness of His birth, but of the Divinity of the life of sacrifice which followed.

King Herod, defending the tyranny and despotism of his kind, attempted to prevent our Christian civilization by destroying the Child.

Herod proceeded to have his minions slay all the children from two years old and under, that were in Bethlehem and its environs.

Jesus was saved because his parents, having been warned by God, took Him to Egypt. It was not until Herod was dead, that Christ was brought back to Israel - the land of His birth.

Tyrants have always used every expediency to destroy or remove all obstacles to their absolute power, no matter what the form of government. The ancient philosophers often indicated that government was frequently the handy device for legalizing murders and thievery by despots.

Plutarch, who lived a hundred years after Christ, recorded the lives of all the so-called great men of those times, but never once did he mention Christ - the greatest of all.

It is curious that of all the personalities recorded by Plutarch, aided by the glorification of countless historians, not one can be easily remembered by us today. Yet the story of the Nativity is still fresh and new, known and loved by everyone throughout Christendom.

Progress from the ancient to the modern has kept pace with the acceptance of the true meaning of Christ's teachings that we are all created in the image of God; that we are all equal in His sight; that we must, therefore, be equal in the eyes of the law, if the law is just; that mankind holds dominion over the earth and all that is in it; that no man has dominion over another; that through a society of mutual love, understanding and respect we can attain "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men."

We are, unfortunately, still far from this ideal. Tyrants, who declare themselves the masters of men, are still pretending to achieve peace through force of arms and establish good will through bribery, corruption and compulsion.

Treaties and pacts are made, presumably to keep the peace, but actually to hold the balance of power.

History records an endless variety of Alliances between Nations, Leagues of Nations, and even United Nations, each built to defend the power of those who pretend they are "rulers of men," and to destroy those who contest their rule. These vain things are done in the name of peace - but there is no peace.

Have we not learned through these thousands of years of strife and agony that tyrants have failed to make peace? Must we forever seek the thrones of power to plead for peace and justice?

Or shall we accept the Divine condition of equality, one with another, and gather at the Manger to find love and peace at last?

If we could but maintain the warm compassion and human understanding which is ours this Christmas season we could soon abolish hate, greed and force. We would replace these with the Christmas spirit of service to others the one and only sure way to "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men."