A speech by Yrjö Kallinen in Helsinki on the 18th of May 1935.
Yrjö Kallinen (1886–1976) was a Theosophist, a staunch advocate of peace and non-violence and Finland's only pacifist Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1948. Despite his pacifism and non-partisanship, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death in the Finnish Civil War in 1918. However, he made such a powerful and moving speech before the firing squad that he was pardoned on the spot. His words of compassion from nearly a century ago will hopefully shed some light on the darkness of the present.
From the perspective of good will and peace we may describe the world in two different ways. The first, more superficial one, is in stark contradiction to the other, more profound one, yet both are true.
As we look upon the situation in the world it looks bleaker than ever. Never has life been in such peril as it is these days. The methods of destruction are so powerful that if left to rage uncontrollably, there would be no guarantee that our civilization would survive. In the field of armament there has never been such a great disproportion between the capabilities of defense and offense. Among nations, there has never been such deeply rooted, conscious hatred against each other as there is in the present time. And not only in the relations between nations but also within them, the conflicts seem insurmountable. The governments try to uphold ostensible peace by feats of strength, but it seems as if different nations were ready to attack each other on any given day. In this world view, which no one will doubt to be true, good will seems to exist scarcely.
But if we examine ourselves and our neighbors and ask whether it's a good will or a bad will which is the leading force in our lives, I think we can say without bragging that even though we are erring, incomplete in our evolution, we still are generally benign. And we certainly are no better than people in general. Others are benign as well when we visit other societies, homes, or other countries. When we think about this fact, we must confess that good will exists everywhere. How is it possible to portray the world in two such thoroughly different yet true ways? How can a world populated by benevolent beings be so evil? The explanation for this condition is that all good, if set under limitations, transforms its nature and becomes its opposite. This reminds me of the claim of the old mystics, that satan is god inversed.
Let us make some observations. If an accident happens in our nearest circle, a strong and genuine compassion arises in us towards the victims of the accident. At times, this is clearly felt even in wide surroundings. For example, the recent sinking of the steamboat Kuru, killing 136 people, made the whole nation of Finland tremble. But we can quite indifferently read about earthquakes in distant countries, or that 10 000 Chinese people have died of starvation, or other such tragedies.
The limitations of compassion are not just of a local quality, dependent on distance. They often exist in thoughts with locally close people and circles. From the perspective of war and peace, the limitation of thought is very fatal. Compassion towards one's own people easily turns into hatred towards the neighbors, and leads to military buildup and war. So compassion, instead of spreading infinitely as a blessing, becomes demonic when it meets a limitation. We know, for example, how in Germany new religious movements admire Germanness, and due to their limitedness, they react negatively to Christianity: ”Away with the sheep-like Christ, cursed be compassion and mercy!”.(1) This is something horrible. But basically it's only compassion transmuted by limitation.
As it is in the life of a single person so it is also in international relations. Selfishness is most dangerous when it takes over a crowd. A single person is easily straightened by life's experiences, but when a crowd begins to chant: ”We, our group, our country”, then its members will not correct each other but gain incitement from each other, and thus are born we-groups that are in stark contrast to each other. Borders between countries, classes and languages separate these groups from each other. People are benevolent in all groups but live in the faith that in the other groups, evil is the motivating force of their actions. They can't see beyond borders.
A good will turns into a bad will at a boundary. Therefore, the world of essentially benevolent people will be filled with fighting and hatred as long as the ”we, we!” shout shatters humanity into limited areas, into limited groups. Peace can be created only by the will which acknowledges no borders but instead is universal and focused on the whole planet and on all living beings, and which really strives to understand people in other countries, in groups with different opinions, just as we already now strive to understand our own people, the people of our own group.
By considering the intensity of the good will which is confined within borders, I would like to believe that there is plenty of good will on Earth. If only With a broader understanding, the borders that now transform the good will into a curse could gradually be erased. And In this work, we must first begin with ourselves. I assure you that it's possible to understand the angry ”we-groups”, whatever they may be, to such an extent that their screams and actions won't arouse any anger in us, even when we ourselves are suffering from them. This happens when we clearly understand – not only believe, but really understand – that those poor people are doing bad things born of a good will, which due to limited understanding has become transformed into its opposite: a bad will.
This is the basis for a true good will, and for a true work for peace.
FOOTNOTE
(1) The National Socialist Party, i.e., the Nazis, invaded key positions in the church and started to form their own version of Christianity, in which Adolf Hitler was a messenger of God. Translator’s note.
Translated by Lauri Livistö - Proofreading and corrections by Ilkka Castrén.