Moral Re-armament: History and Challenges

Moral Re-armament is a global network open to people of all cultures, nationalities, faith traditions and beliefs, who work towards change, locally and globally, starting with change in their own lives. Formerly known as MRA, this network has been active on every continent for over 80 years.

History

Moral Re-armament grew out of the Oxford Group which started among university students in the late 1920s. In 1938, as nations re-armed for war, its originator, Frank Buchman called for a ‘moral and spiritual rearmament’ to work towards a ‘hate-free, fear-free, greed-free world”. At the end of World War II, under the name Moral-Re-armament (MRA), a program of moral and spiritual reconstruction helped to reconcile former enemies. Today it is a network of people of different faiths engaged in the ever-needed process of “remarking the world”.

Frank Buchman, founder of MRA

Frank N.D. Buchman was born in Pennsylvania on 4th June 1878. In 1908, while visiting England, he underwent a spiritual experience in a church, which altered the course of his life. Describing it, he said, “I began to see myself as God saw me, which was a very different picture than the one I had of myself… I realized how my sin, my pride, my selfishness, had eclipsed me from God. I was the center of my own life. That big “I” had to be crossed out…It produced a vibrant feeling, as though a strong current of life had suddenly been poured into me”.

The strength of this experience convinced Buchman that moral compromise and indifference were destructive of human character and relationships, and that moral strength was a prerequisite for building a just society. His experience led him to give the rest of his life to helping others, through personal encounters and the sharing of personal experience. Among those whom he befriended and influenced were the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is perhaps the most famous outgrowth from his work and approach, while MRA’s international center in Switzerland at Caux is renowned for its role in post-World War II reconciliation in Europe, particularly between France and Germany.

Back in the 1920s, Buchman was a frequent visitor to Oxford University. In 1928, a group of university students, inspired by Buchman, formed a group which the press labeled as the “Oxford Group”, and the name stuck to the work which Buchman had started.

In 1938, with the world on the brink of war, Buchman spoke to a public audience, including many labour leaders, in the east end of London. “Hostility piles up between nations… The cost of bitterness and fear mounts daily,” he said. “The remedy may lie in a return to those simple truths which many of us have forgotten – honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. The crisis is fundamentally a moral one. The nations must rearm morally…”. Buchman sensed that people who had enriched their personal experience of faith through the Oxford group could make a contribution to the problems of the wider world. Thus a movement for “Moral Re-Armament” was launched. The essential philosophy of MRA was that personal change could lead to social change. With its emphasis on experience rather than doctrine, MRA provided a focus where people of different religious and political persuasions could meet together without compromising their own beliefs. Buchman was decorated by seven countries, including France, Germany, Greece, Japan, and the Philippines, for his effect on their relations with other countries. He died in 1961. However at the start of the new millennium it was clear that the words “moral re-armament” no longer carried the same resonance as in 1938. In 2001 the name Initiative of Change (IofC) was adopted.

What is Initiatives of Change?

Initiatives of Change is an informal, international network of people of all faiths and backgrounds working to change the world by first seeking change in their own lives. These moments of personal transformation often mark a new direction in a person’s life. Some of them have resulted in the various initiatives of change currently being undertaken by this global network.

Current initiatives are aimed at:

o Healing the wounds of history where cultures and civilizations meet;

o Strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of democracy;

o Encouraging care and responsibility in family life and personal relationships;

o Bringing hope in cities and communities;

o Tackling the root causes of poverty and corruption;

o Strengthening moral commitment in economic life.

Where does Initiatives of Change get its funding?

IofC is financed largely by contributions from people who believe that this spirit and practice are needed. Legal bodies exist in many countries to administer funds and property. Each initiative, each need, is approached with an expectation of sharing resources and with the faith that people acting with unselfish motives will find support from unexpected sources.

How many people work for Initiatives of Change?

In most countries, Initiatives of Change has no formal membership. Many people volunteer their time in various capacities to carry forward this work. There are several hundred people across the world who devote all their time, energy, and resources; many thousands more who make it the basis of their family and working lives; and countless others whose application of IofC’s principles has resulted in far-reaching changes around them.

Does Initiatives of Change have religious affiliations?

People who work with IofC come from a multiplicity of faith backgrounds and from none. Those with faith are encouraged to live it out more fully. All, with faith or none, are enabled to work together for a lasting change in society.

Today

While ways of expressing truth, and methods of coordinating the global work, continue to change as succeeding generations take on this particular responsibility for the moral and spiritual renewal of society, the essential philosophy of IofC remains the same – that personal change can lead to social, economic and political change. With its emphasis on experience rather than philosophy, it provides a focus where people of different religious and political persuasions can meet without compromising their own beliefs, and be part of a global network committed to working for change in the world.

 

Cooper Fault, Magazine For a Change, 2001, No3

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