The Power of Moral Force

We hear much in the affairs of men of the use of moral force. It is a force to be reckoned with now, as it always has been. It is one of the few weapons that does not become obsolete. It is the first and last line of defense. Without it men lose heart and give up. With it they often hold out against great odds. There is something about the nature of man that makes it necessary for him to justify himself⎯to want to seem to be right both in his own eyes and in the eyes of others⎯before he can effectively sustain his position. This is one reason why people in positions of power so frequently take the trouble to explain themselves, even when they don’t have to. This is one reason why even dictators often make at least a gesture at justifying their actions when they ruthlessly violate the rights of others, or when they disregard the integrity of territories. Everyone in some degree feels the weight of moral force⎯even an absolute autocrat, no matter how completely he controls the material and physical elements about him. He may make men go through the motions of loyalty. He may force them to labor long for his cause and to come to him for bread and to become dependent upon him for all of the physical needs of life⎯but he can’t prevent a man from thinking against him, from praying against him, and contributing with moral force to his ultimate undoing. It is no small thing to face ten people whose wills are set against you, even if you have no physical harm to fear from them. And it is cumulatively more terrifying to face a hundred. And then think what it must be like to contemplate that there may be a million or a hundred million or many hundred million who are thinking and praying and hoping against you; to know that you stand convicted in the eyes of man and god. It is no imaginary thing⎯this power of moral force. It is a power that overrides in its own time and in its own way all of the barriers set up against it, and all of those who disregard it. It is a power so real that no wise man reckons without it, and foolish man can for long.