With reference to the recent Federation Circular Letter which reached me through you, calling upon me for the annual subscription, I feel it is due to you and others to state the reason why I am unable to become a member of the Federation.
I would say at once that it is not through any lack of respect either for my colleagues of the ..., than whom, I am convinced, there is no more loyal and conscientious body of men in the country, especially having regard to the conditions under which they work; or for the officials of the Federation, for whom, on the contrary, in so far as they are known to me, I have the highest esteem. It is entirely because I conceive membership to be incompatible with Christian principles and outlook in two respects.
Firstly, a Christian is called to the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and is a member of the Body of Christ. If he is to be true to these Christian obligations, which involve loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, and His commandments and teachings, he cannot become a member, and thus share responsibility for every corporate act, of an association which has not been founded with any intention of being guided by Christ and His teaching. No one could contend that any association of employers or employed has been founded with that object. In fact this general trend runs counter to Scriptural teaching as to the proper relations between employers and employed. Trade associations and unions claim rights (so called); but Scripture enjoins duties upon both masters and servants. Therefore, as a Christian,
I have no option but to stand apart. This is the personal aspect.
Secondly, my duty to my fellow men necessitates the same action. I am convinced that the grouping of men into organized bodies, governed by no ethical standards, but only self-interest, however well-intentioned the founders may be, and however beneficial the short-term results may appear (and even these I believe to be illusory), is forging an instrument that will be readily available in the hands of unscrupulous men, energized by Satan, to enforce an ideological tyranny worse than anything the world has yet seen. Fascism, Nazi-ism, and Communism are foreshadowings of it, but worse is to come. Christianity is the only bulwark against it, and the apostasy from Christ (foretold in Scripture) is now almost complete. Once the restraining power of Christianity is removed, the world's darkest hour will rapidly approach. The Gentile nations, as well as the Jews, who have already suffered so long through the rejection of Christ, will learn by bitter experience the truth of Peter's words, "And salvation is in none other, for neither is there another name under heaven which is given among men by which we must be saved", Acts 4:12. Christ is the only true Leader and Saviour. Happy the man who acknowledges it now!
Even the immediate implications of the 'closed-shop' principle, hidden though they appear to be from its advocates, are appalling from the standpoint of the trade unionist himself. His livelihood is no longer to depend on good workmanship and normal relations with his employer, but on the favour of his shop stewards and trade-union leaders; for expulsion from the union will mean the termination of his job. In some countries this already means that he must subscribe to unprincipled and anti-Christian ideologies and political theories.
In the light of the above, I should be guilty of moral
cowardice if I took the path of least resistance in this matter. It surely behoves all who see the danger ahead to make a stand now. Those who do so, in my view, render, a service to mankind.