Bernard Shaw's Remarkable Religion: A Faith That Fits the Facts

136 Bernard Shaw’s Remarkable Religion
trous superstition the notion that certain coins are tainted by the hands
through which they have passed. He notes with approval the assertion of
an actual officer of the Salvation Army that “they would take money from
the devil himself and be only too glad to get it out of his hands and into
God’s” (Pref. 3:35). An understanding of how Barbara’s religion differs
from that of the Salvation Army must begin at the most obvious and striking
point of departure: the fact that Mrs. Baines accepts the money and
Barbara does not. If the reason for Barbara’s rejection is an unwillingness
to accept tainted money, then Mrs. Baines is closer to Shaw’s own position
than is Barbara. That is unlikely. It would also mean that Mrs. Baines, in
her open-eyed pragmatism, is closer to Undershaft than is his daughter.
But if Barbara is less enlightened than the Salvation Army—from the Undershaft
point of view—it is difficult to see why he should think her so
special.
Religion and Responsibility
Barbara’s disillusionment at the end of the second act illuminates the distinctive
nature of her faith. It is special, for Barbara understands a fundamental
truth missed by Mrs. Baines: the truth about the admonition to
abstain from judgment. In the preface Shaw points out that “you can no
more have forgiveness without vindictiveness than you can have a cure
without a disease” (3: 43). The essence of vindictiveness is the concept that
a misdeed is something to be repaid. Forgiveness is the cancellation of a
debt, and sin (to use Barbara’s terminology) is not a debt. It cannot be
erased; it can only be stopped. This, Shaw says, is a profound point of his
disagreement with the Salvation Army, and Barbara is on his side, not the
Army’s. Barbara demonstrates the practical wisdom of the Sermon on the
Mount in fighting brutality and cruelty. She treats Bill Walker as an equal,
a fellow sinner and child of God. She talks about his assaults on Jenny and
Rummy as casually as she might his clothing or his trade: she actually
suggests it is his trade. She does not bully, threaten, or condemn him. In
fact, she does nothing to save his soul, as that is generally understood. She
merely encourages Bill’s soul to save him. Rummy’s violent vindictiveness
justifies his brutality, and so, in a real sense, he is comfortable with her.
Together they inhabit a world in which anger begets anger and violence
excuses more violence. When Barbara tells Bill that he cannot buy his salvation,
either in coin or in kind, what she really means is that she will not
let him buy off his soul, she will not permit him to bribe his conscience.