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Douglas has shown the way by advancing policies      medieval  theologian,  Douglas  saw  the  universe  as
        which can make the Word flesh.                       an  integrated  unity  centered  in  its  creation,  and
                                                             centered in its Creator and subject to His Law.
                        Releasing reality
                                                                 In a 1933 address, The Pursuit of Truth, Douglas
            Large numbers of people who call themselves      stressed that his primary concern was with rightness
        Christians — followers of Christ — support policies   in all things, that there was running through the
        which increasingly crush the individual’s freedom.   universe something called a “canon”, and that
        The ultimate in blasphemy is the profession of       “genuine  success  only  accompanies  a  consistent
        “Christian-Marxism” and support for the World State   attempt to discover and conform to this canon in no
        —an International Caesar.                            matter what sphere our activities lie.”
            Many of those describing themselves as Social
        Crediters and Douglas supporters have perverted              Money is a man-made symbol
        by describing Douglas as a “money reformer” and          While it is true that the world-wide Social Credit
        a  “great idealist”.  It  was  the  famous                         Movement which came into existence
        Jewish  writer,  Dr.  Oscar  Levy,  who                            played the major role in publicizing
        observed that the ideal is the enemy                               how financial credit is created and
        of the real. Idealism is a manifestation                           destroyed by the banking system,
        of man’s false pride, and suggests                                 long before Douglas appeared on the
        that man can be his own God.                                       public scene, a number of authorities
            Douglas’s approach was that                                    had explained to select audiences
        of proper respect and humility,                                    how money was created in the form
        as expressed in his comment that                                   of financial or bank credit.
        “the rules of the universe transcend                                   And,  of  course, those  who
        human thinking,” and that if man                                   operated  the  credit-creating  system
        desired the greatest satisfaction                                  over the centuries were well aware of
        in   human    affairs,  he   should                                the enormous power they exercised
        painstakingly  attempt  to  discover                               — so long as people generally
        what those truths are, and then obey                               believed that banks only loaned out
        them. Douglas was primarily a man                                  money first deposited with them, and
        concerned with discovering truth,       Clifford Hugh Douglas       were  generally  ignorant  about  the
        reality.                                                            realities of a money system.
            In another comment, he said that Social Credit       Irrespective of what form it takes, money is but
        provided  “a glimpse  of reality.”  Douglas  modestly   a man-made symbol of no value unless real wealth
        claimed that Social Credit provided only a “glimpse”   is  created.  Just  so  long  as  sufficient  people  can
        of reality. A fuller understanding of reality requires a   be mesmerized into believing that, for example, a
        constant search for truth. In one of those profound   credit symbol is more important than a pound of
        statements which can be pondered upon indefinitely   butter, they are at the mercy of those who create
        with increasing benefit, Douglas said Social Crediters   and  control the symbols. The shadow  is more
        were seeking “to release reality.”                   important than the substance!
            “I  know  from  my  own  technical  knowledge,”      Subsequently every effort was made to
        said Douglas, “that there is no production problem   suppress, or misrepresent and pervert, what
        in the world  at all;  that there is  no single thing   Douglas was proposing. The hostile reaction
        which, if you will put your money down on the        of an unholy alliance of International Bankers,
        table, you cannot get.”                              Marxists and various other groups, including those
                                                             do-gooders who earnestly claim to know what is
                 Man must follow God’s Law                   best for the individual, brought into clear relief
            One of the most revealing word pictures we have   the fact that it was the philosophical challenge of
        of Douglas the man and his philosophy comes from     Social Credit which was seen as the major threat
        Mr. L. D. Byme:                                      by all representatives of the will-to-power.
            “Notwithstanding a mental stature unusual in         Douglas, the physical man, died in 1952. But
        any society,  Douglas’s outstanding characteristic   the truths he revealed now belong to eternity. They
        was a profound humility — a humility which was       are essential for the regeneration of civilisation,
        reflected in his writings and in his life... Where others   irrespective  of  how  long  that  regeneration  takes.
        viewed the world in terms of mankind’s struggles     Those who have grasped those truths have the
        and achievements, and society as the creature        responsibility  of  carrying  the  knowledge  of  them
        of  man’s brain  and  behaviour,  with the realism  of   forward into the future. v
        the engineer and the penetrating spirituality of a                                                          Eric Butler


        www.michaeljournal.org                                                MICHAEL  May/June/July 2024    19
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