The Nazi betrayers of Germany declared that the Germans are a "master race," to whom other nations should be subservient. Indeed, the German word herrenvolk, used freely during the late war, connotes a people which has serfs, upon whose toil the herrenvolk live in luxury.

This stupid and insolent claim originated in some conceited brain, probably military, several generations ago. It was not, at first, taken seriously by the German people. But it had such appeal to human vanity that it was fanned into popular favor by several philosophers. At least one of these, the most often quoted (Nietzsche ) , was of unsound mind. Hitler, himself mentally ill, used the doctrine of German superiority over all other peoples as a bulwark for his incredibly insane, inhuman ideas which threw the whole world into horrible, bloody warfare. The recent military defeat of the axis powers has laid low for the time being, it is hoped forever, the untenable notion of German superiority among the nations. Belief in a "master race" is an evidence of ignorance of the long history of man on earth. The procession through the ages of Egypt, Babylon, Greece, the various nations of Europe, and many others, refutes the doctrine of the final superiority in any one nation. However, when power came into the hands of these ignorant and mentally oblique proponents of the "master race" theory, they entered into this unhappy war much as a goat butts its head against a solid wall. Ignorance is blind.

Human experience has shown that in all peoples, even in those whom we call semi-civilized or barbarian, lie powers of body, mind, and spirit, which may be developed to match our most "civilized" attainments. Cultivation of these gifts, under the further influence of environment and heredity, will lift men of every land and clime into greater power. It may take longer with some than with others because of their stage of development, but the possibility of growth is there. As a mass, in innate qualities, there is little difference among races.

There are highly endowed individuals in every land, whose heads are above the crowd — the Platos, Galileos, the Tennysons, who see and do things beyond their fellows. These are the great men of history upon whose thoughts and labors our civilization has been built. They are the artists, writers, scientists, and thinkers who have shaped the lives of the multitudes. They are the Newtons in their respective fields. They are really the final answer to the "master race" question, for every nation has produced some of these mighty minds. They may arise in any society, anywhere. No one nation has built the world of men as it is. Instead, it is the product of people of many lands. Nature has not recognized a "master race" with geographical or racial limitations.

The believer in the "master race" thinks too often of bodily prowess. He is likely to look upon physical strength merely as a means to subjugate his weaker brother. That has been the mistake of Prussianism. He forgets that the members of a "master race" must, above all things, be evenly balanced, and that the developed body is only one mark of superior man. He should also remember that it is a commonplace of knowledge that many people who are on the way to civilization, but yet in the lower stages, have great physical vigor. Witness the Indians of America, the hill tribes of Asia, or the Negroes of Africa. Bodily vigor depends on wise methods of living, notably simplicity in diet and occupation. Among Europeans the self-styled "master race" has no pre-eminence of physical vigor. Such a claim is idle boasting.

Similarily, no one nation leads in the possibility of intellectual achievement. Nevertheless, it is here that the proponents of the "master race" fallacy have made their greatest claims. They would have us believe that the major conquests by the mind have come from one or a few nations. Even a casual study shows that the world's intellectual history, in every field of endeavor, has been written, painted, sculptured, sung, and played by many peoples. Mental gifts, and those of the emotions, have descended upon poor and rich, just and unjust, from China to America, with no reference to geography.

In the case of science, for example — from the leaning Tower of Pisa to the atom-smashing cyclotron in Berkeley — at least fourteen nations have been concerned with the building of modern science, and nearly all nations are entering the arena.

In the number of notable scientific discoverers, England, France, and Germany shared about equally; but there were key men in the smaller and less known countries, without whom the others would have been helpless.

Radio, the wonder gift of science, has come to its present perfection by the labors of men in at least fifteen different countries. Some of the most important radio discoveries and inventions came from the smaller, less esteemed lands. The radio results won in any one country, if assembled, would not give us the radio as at present understood and used. In the number of men who have contributed greatly to radio, Germany is a very poor third.

Likewise, spiritual outreachings are not peculiar to one country. Instead, in every land men have sought the gifts of the spirit. Even the savage has pondered upon the meaning of life. The whence, why, where questions persist in the thinking of every person, great or small. Men have arisen in every land, who have tried to formulate the way to happiness, for the benefit of themselves and their fellow men. And millions of soul-hungry men have followed them. The religions of Egypt, China, India, and Persia, are examples. In the Christian world, this eager spirit has resulted in numerous sects to correct the evident departures from the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

The "master race" claims, as used in this war, are sheer poppycock, used by characterless men to further their own interests. There has never been a monopoly of mastery in human achievement by any one nation. To claim so is simply to allow lawless nationalism to run wild.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that there is the possibility of a true "master race" or group, excelling all others in human powers. Its membership will include all who seek truth, and, having discovered it, set about at any sacrifice to accept and to practice it. They have acquired mastery over themselves.

The Master of that group will be Jesus, the Christ. Conformity to his plan of salvation for men will be their law, for thereby they will win the desired health and strength of body, mind, and spirit. Thus they will move towards perfection.

The objective of this group will be not only to help themselves, but also to bless all mankind, and to lift all men to their own stature. That is the difference between the false "master race," and the true redeeming leadership of the world. The first is selfish; the other unselfish. The first is limited to one nation; the other covers the world, believing that "of one blood hath God made all men." The first is of the devil; the other of God.

The "master race" doctrine of the late war was an ugly delusion conceived by the powers of evil, whose prince is Satan, the devil. — J. A. W.