Thomas, Norman
Thomas, Norman (1884–1968), minister, antiwar and civil rights activist, leader of the Socialist Party of America, and social critic.Preeminently in his generation, Norman Thomas secularized the pacifist impulse and criticized militarism in relation to social systems: ideology and institutions tending to impose military responses on political challenges.
Thomas was introduced to the religious Social Gospel at Union Theological Seminary and was immersed in the urban reality of an immigrant parish in New York. In World War I, he joined progressive peace organizations to prevent U.S. intervention. During U.S. belligerency, he resigned his pastorate, became the founding editor of the World Tomorrow (1918), and helped organize the National Civil Liberties Bureau, primarily to defend conscientious objectors.
He also joined the Socialist Party because of its social vision and antiwar stance. In the 1920s, Thomas became the...
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