Middle Ground.

As chairman of the Federal Council of Churches' General War-Time Commission, Robert Speer represented the middle ground between the extremes of militarism and pacifism. Like much of the population, Speer and his colleagues in the council felt a profound sense of duty to their country and committed themselves to furthering the war effort in whatever ways they could. As the controversy over Speer's YMCA speech illustrates, however, many were perfectly able to perform this service without engaging in Germanbashing. They had pledged their loyalty to their country and acknowledged the United States as the last great hope in what seemed to be a war "to save civilization itself." The result was, in effect, a temporary suspension of the separation of church and state. Religious bodies became virtual subsidiaries of the War Department, providing a variety of services...