World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace — Page 162
162 advanced and civilised. We have created various international charities and foundations that provide healthcare and education to children or that provide healthcare to mothers. Similarly, there are countless other charities established out of human sympathy and compassion. We, who have done all of this, should reflect and pay attention to the urgent need of the time and contemplate how we can save ourselves and others from devastation and destruc- tion. We should remember that compared to six or seven decades ago the world is now much closer together. Sixty or seventy years ago New Zealand was a distant country, far away from Asia and Europe. However, today it is an integral part of one common global community. Thus, in a state of war, no country and no region is safe. Your leaders and your politicians are the guardians of the nation. They are responsible for the safety of the country and for its continued progress and betterment. And so it is essential that they always keep in mind the critical point that it is from local wars that devastation and destruction spreads far and wide. We should be grateful to God that He recently granted sense and wisdom to some of the major powers so that they realised that they had to take action to stop war to prevent the utter devasta- tion that would have ensued. Most pertinently, Russia’s President made efforts to hold back some of the other major powers from attacking Syria. He made it clear that all countries, whether large or small, should be treated equally. He also said that if the require- ments of justice were not met and if other nations went to war in- dependently then the United Nations would suffer the same sorry fate as the League of Nations. I believe that he was completely cor- rect in this analysis. Although I do not support all of his policies,