Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
“The Dream of a World United…”
Rev. Tony Perrino
October 28, 2007
When the League of Nations collapsed, Pres. Woodrow Wilson, who had given so much of himself to that endeavor, said, “The dream of a world united-- against the waste of war-- is too deeply imbedded in the human heart ever to be completely defeated.”
That is the way I like to think of The United Nations: as the flowering of a dream, the global expression of an ideal which began to evolve when primitive people first tried to live co-operatively—instead of fighting each other for food, shelter and dominance.
Indeed, I suggest that it is a dream whose evolutionary development is reenacted in the social growth of every human being.
Let me approach the matter by telling you about a biological theory which contends that “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” The idea is not as complicated as the mouthful of syllables sounds. It merely suggests that the ontogenetic process (the development of the human embryo) recapitulates (or re-enacts) the drama of phylogeny, the historic evolution of the phyla, i.e. the classes of animal life.
In other words every human being, including you and I, experienced, in our pre-natal states, a re-enactment of the drama of evolution. Beginning as one-celled organisms, we then became more complex, passed thru a fish-like stage (with gills) then an amphibian existence and so forth until we reached the physical form of a human being and birth.
This theory has always fascinated me—not only because of its biological significance—(which must confound the creationists!) but because it has larger, intriguing implications- the most relevant here being that we humans also re-enact, in our social development, the historic evolution of the human capacity for inter-personal relationship.
At birth, a human infant is really nothing more than an animal, a delightful creature—especially in its parents’ eyes--, but creature none-the-less (as someone once described it “an alimentary canal with lungs!”) And then the great day comes—when its eyes, having learned to focus, and its mind experiencing recognition—the baby bursts forth with its first, real smile. The significance of that first smile is momentous—because with it, and thru it, the infant is registering its initial experience of conscious relationship. And THAT is the beginning of human personality development, the crossing of a threshold from an animal into a personal existence.
As the child grows, socially, he/she cultivates a wider and wider range of relationships: first, as a member of a family, then aware of other families in the neighborhood, then in a school community, the home town, the state, the nation—until, when fully mature, a sense of relatedness with the whole of humankind!
In doing this the child re-enacts the drama of human, social development: the historic evolution of the family, the gathering of families into a tribe, the assembling of tribes into a state, the federation of states into a nation.. and, finally, the achievement consummated 62 years ago this week—the recognition of the interdependency of all human beings—with the formation of The United Nations!
Centuries ago, some of the dimensions of this dream were given voice by the prophet, Isaiah, who spoke of a world in which “swords would be beaten into plowshares…” and every, major religious teacher since has echoed this longing and exalted “the dream of a world united against the waste of war.” But more recently social scientists, psychologists Erich Fromm and Eric Berne, and sociologists Pitrim Sorokin and Ashley Montagu, have identified the source of the dream—as something deeply imbedded in the human heart!
As Robert Frost put it in a poem: “Something there is that does not love a wall—that wants it down.” What modern studies of human nature are saying is that there is a hunger in the human heart – for relationship… a yearning which drives boys and girls into gangs, men and women into clubs (churches?) the same impulse which prompted a little child to push notes thru an orphanage gate which read, “Whoever find this, I love you.”
The United Nations is simply the final, full expression of that longing for relationship.
Many things could be said about the matter; I will limit my observations to three:
The first is somewhat negative, I fear, but it must be said: what has been, throughout history, the noble dream of prophetic voices—has now become sheer necessity, the stern requirement of survival! The world has become too small for anything but cooperation, too dangerous… for anything but peace.
Some time ago I saw a cartoon depicting a robed pilgrim carrying a placard which read: “Love thy nabor for ten full days, if not fully convinced…” In short, give it a try? More appropriate in recent years is another cartoon with two men carrying signs which say, “Repent for the judgment day is at hand,” and the caption has one of them adding, “I like to see the expression of their faces when I glance at my watch!”
People have talked of “doomsday” for years and heretofore been dismissed as fanatics. But now we’ve reached a circumstance in human history where Armageddon is a very real possibility. (The recently developed hydrogen bomb, standard equipment on our war planes, is equal, in explosive power, to ALL of the bombs dropped in World War Two!)
A few years ago, when there was talk about developing a “clean bomb,” I came across a bit of verse which aptly described the scene: “To call the H-bomb clean/ makes sound and sense divergent/ unless, of course, it’s meant to mean/ the Ultimate Detergent!”
When the atomic cannon was unveiled in Aberdeen, Maryland, a truck full of American soldiers, returning from the event, were heard singing the familiar “Whiffenpoof Song.” The words, on this occasion, had a haunting poignancy: “We’re poor little lambs who have lost our way, Baa, Baa, Baa. Little black sheep who have gone astray, Baa, Baa, Baa. Gentlemen songsters off on a spree, doomed from here to eternity. Lord, have mercy on such as we, Baa, Baa, Baa.”
The tragic irony of our situation is that the technological development-- which makes the world so dangerous also holds the promise of a world of economic abundance: where the basic necessities of life could be available to every human being. We are like Damocles who sat before a sumptuous feast but, because there was--hanging above his head, a sword—suspended by a single hair, he was afraid to stir and partake of the food.
And so, we frantically stockpile bigger and better bombs—while half the world goes hungry every night. President Eisenhower spoke to that tragic fact when he said, “Every warship built, and every fighter plane sent into the sky, represents a theft from those who hunger and are not fed…” He also said of The United Nations, “Never before in history has so much hope, for so many, been gathered in a single organization.” Today we must add, “Never before has so much terror, for so many, been promised, if The U.N. fails!” What was a noble dream... has become stern necessity!
The second thing I would say is that, if this dream is to be fulfilled, it will require greater men and women than the world has known before: persons with a larger vision and a capacity for daring commitment to that awareness and innovative approaches. (Persons like Nelson Mandela who created the reconciliation efforts in South Africa!)
Sir Thomas Beecham, the orchestra conductor, once said that Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” has never had an adequate performance. He meant there had never been, in any one place, the performers capable of doing justice to the composer’s demanding score. The musical ideal Mozart had envisioned—was yet to be fulfilled in human endeavor.
So it is with the political ideal of The United Nations. Its realization will require a new breed of men and women: wiser and more mature human beings, capable of imaginative understanding and the emotional strength needed to realize the promise of that dream.
Patrick Henry expressed the maturity and wisdom I have in mind—when he said to the Continental Congress, “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians and New Englanders—are no more. I am not a Virginian... but an American!” We also must recognize that affirming allegiance to a larger union of people, which projects the ideals and values of our own nation, is NOT disloyalty to our native land: that the long range interests of every nation, including ours, and the best interests of the U.N. are one.
By the same token, our leaders will have to demonstrate an emotional strength that enables them to be sensitive, rather than scared selfish, creative, rather than rigid in their responses to the difficult demands of our day. A strong sense of personal security is needed to see that the real enemies of peace in our world are hunger, disease and the abject misery of millions—and not be driven back by the ugliness of that sight.
HERBLOCK, the political cartoonist, once depicted a global scene—with a portly American looking across the ocean at a starving couple peering into a trash can for food. The trash can is labeled “Communism,” and the caption below has the American saying, “How can they eat that stuff?” The answer, of course, is that they “eat that stuff” because they’re hungry, and there’s nothing else to eat!
The Cubans chose Communism because it promised them something better than they had known under the dictatorship of Battista. The Chinese chose Communism in preference to the oppression they experienced under Chang Kai Shek. The Vietnamese turned to Communism to escape economic exploitation by the French. And in each of these instances, our government had been supporting their corrupt and oppressive rulers! Their animosity and subsequent distrust of American intentions is understandable. And our government’s belligerent, military responses to their legitimate striving for freedom and economic justice—has been short-sighted and stupid—as well as immoral!
A current expression of that self-defeating mentality can be seen in our government’s behavior toward the nation of Iran. In 1953 the American CIA engineered a coup which overthrew the democratically-elected leader of Iran, Mossadegh, and installed a ruler more sympathetic to American oil interests. When the Shah was later overthrown and the Ayatollah Khomeini took power, is it any wonder that they were antagonistic toward the United States? And now, by again demonizing the leadership of that nation, our President, (instead of working thru the U.N.) is fomenting a fear that would justify another pre-emptive war. (The Peace Conversations group will have a letter-writing table available at the Coffee Hour—so you can communicate your concerns about this urgent matter to our elected officials. I hope you will do so, if not today, then sometime soon.)
The fulfillment of the dream represented in The United Nations, will require more wisdom and maturity from our leaders than we have had. And it’s up to those of us, who care, to demand that more thoughtful and responsible leadership. For, in a democracy, if you do not speak out about our government’s behavior, you are responsible for its actions.
There is, however, one more comment I must make... which stems from a realization that the leaders of the world, at this time, may not be equal to that task: that the dream of a world united against the waste of war—may be beyond the capacities of the people in power. BUT that possibility (that the U.N. might fail) must not deter us! It is better to fail—in such a worthy endeavor—that will someday succeed—because it must—than to abandon the dream and thereby betray our own humanity.
At the time of the U.S. Senate hearings on ratification of the U.N. Charter, Michigan Senator Vandenberg, (who had been an isolationist) aptly said, “You may tell me that I have but to scan the present world with realistic eyes to see these fine phrases reduced to shambles, that some of the signatories to this charter practice the opposite of what they preach… I reply that nearer right you may be-- in such a gloomy indictment—the greater is the need for new patterns which promise at least to try to stem these evil tides. If the effort fails, we can at least face the consequences with clean hands!”
I’ll simply say “Amen” to that. The United Nations “dream” is worthy of our whole-hearted devotion. Its humanitarian work, alone, combating poverty, hunger and disease, is a powerful contribution toward “a world united against the waste of war.”