The New York herald., 1877-10-29
is RELIGION DYING OUT?


agonizlng sensations.
is RELIGION DYING OUT?
AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOURSE BY REV. O. B.
FRoTHINGHAM ON GOD AND THE CHURCHES
After having read chapter from the Hebrew Ecco-
siastics selection out OF the Persian anthology
the Rev. Mr.. o. b. rockingham preached an impress
sivs tho unfruitiulness Of formal religion.
The eloquent speakers audience Was large. attentive
and seemingly highly appreciative
IL tho course OF his sermon the preacher said, In
substance that he laid particular stress the words
sIormai religion. the religion OF custom
ence, as contradis.ing guished from tho religion OF
thought Real religion lie the Inspiration Of lie. not
the limitation Of II. No ono is weaker Tor
giving force TO his best Ideas sweetest
hopes II never injured any ono to have
mind open TO the most delicate Impressions,
looking upward to the highest happiness. True re-
iigion makes people worsnipiu, thoughtful purc OF
character The formal religion that people PRACTISE
without thinking call 1t jewish, Christian what
you wi-n becoming mere formaity Is converted
into real clog great question with dcnomina-
tonalists Is how TO reconcile religion with the prog
ross OF tho age Tho best way to do that accord
ing to tho preachers, Is to put lifc into the
form; fill tho vase, but do not break IL keep up the
force the machinery do not strain It. 1t Is never
rusty, and therefore require to be broken up. The
speaker alluded TO able article religion which
lately appeared In OF the daily journals and drew
inierences thcreirom which tended to illustrate his
arugmont that tho usefulness OF formal religion ls
gone.
People no longer fear hell tho devil; they do not
look 10 the Judgment Day with fear and trembling
live under the authority OF what ID called divine
law With tho decay OF belief we see religion go one
way and tho world another. Religion Is no longer
the educator OF tho people; II mny be found
among the most ignorant Of the mass,
who throw themselves tho protection Of the
priests and the strength Of intellect. No
luton Of tho anomalous struggle between religion and
intellect presents itself excepting this-that religion
must disappear before the march Of a cultivated,
higher intellect Tho force OF discipline would,
II was claimed, greatly aid the work Of progress
railroad, the army aud navy were used to illustrate
the line o argument and to show the necessity OF the
OF the army navy is tho nobes education and The
grapdest TO which the race has been subjected. II is
o machine great and noble works
WHY BUSINESS MEN DO NOT ALWAYS sUCCEED
Why, u WAS asked, do business men faily Because
really they not business men they feeble
iatuatcd and carried away by some special scheme.
They who expected assistance from tho
clouds, calling upon the Church or the priest to aid
them Finally, wnen they see that tho God whom thoy
called upon did not respond, and tho Christ they
cried out TO could not DO relied upon, they
which failed them because II Is false and they failed
because they were not practical 10 Now England.
halt century ago family worship was tho custom
In those days families were more happy and parents
received greater respect than now. II SO.
was this aSs TO smy sns
asos At present, in tins great city,
that exact discipline OF old times Is not brought to
their own affairs to call them away, and children
ieavo home sooner than they did formerly. Ifany-
thing Is wrong now In society must the rem
edy come from the rc-cstablishmont OF fam
lly praycrs2 Not so, but by considering
society it is, and applying remedy suitable to i.s
A nAs hose SIT no q
food must remember that there are two 10 be ed,
body and the mind therefore the physical and In
tclcctual wants OF society must both DO attended TO-
RELIGION AND rHE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
On side rclgonlsts clam that the public schools
make atheists tho other that tho influence OF
religion IN tncm is cramping the power OF education
The Catholic Church that tho schools Hour
h without IT'S benedction and Tho Protestant Church
contends that II tho Bibe is taken from the schools
rel gion viii be lost But In the din OF this contro-
versy people are beginning to know that learning
is not necessarily associated with any particular
dogma denomination. Their Catholicism, Protes-
tanism, the Bible. priests and parsons-all stand in
the way OF progress They throw all tho higher ro-
spons6llity OF the scholar away with the mumbed
| prayer. Is It possible that this should navo
the power Of qaickening tho mind or OF
making the pupil moro III TO meet the
MastcrY Tho pubic schools will not be perfect un-
III they completely unsectarian There must be no
priest, no pastor, no sacrament, no Bible IN thom
The whole question must be TO nationally educate the
young mind for the best enjoyment OF an intel
lectual Lie. The Office OF teaching not be con-
demnod to su0ordinate lot religion iift It's hand
of aud lcavo the results to conviction only Tho IN
truson OF formal religion breeds scciarian strife. We
have Catholic and Protestant textbooks histories, In
terpretatons Of the sc,cnces and all hs rest Of
them having comprehensive view OF thcir subjects
and oil bent ON imposing their own peculiar Vows
upon the American youth This IS an outrage OF IN
describable magnitude; II Is dong against which
every man In the country should array himself We
know that history philosophy and the neod
not be sectarian that Romanism, Protcstantls tho
Greek Church-al are but secs; that they are cthl-
cally the same ami seeking identical interests In tho
light OF this knowledge Of TRUTH the books put into
tho hands OF our boys and girls should not DO on ho
side Of Romanlsm or Of Professionalism, but on tho
grounds OF eternal truth Unless the schools DO anti
sectarian they must degenerate and can never fuhl
their mission TO educate Americana
GOD N ruE CONSTITUTION
Certain people believe that would bc more happy
by coDstItutionaiy avowiDg ourselves Christian peo
pie; that our not saying this by the oil CONGRESS
leaves us IN the place oil outlaws among nations. The
opponents oil this measure think II illog-
Ing whatever to do wuh the working
Of the laws. Tho idea that the avowa OF Christianity
Ia the constitution would make tho American peopio
more happy or prosperous absurd and II IS hard 70
believe that any set o! men could entertain such .
trenzicd potion. sWhat expectation IS there in tho
heart OF the people that thk alteration Of tho consttu.
ton would make the millions better onY Many oil
cannot understand tho meaning thereof IL is ncedful
that Americans should call their attention from
abroad and nix It sharply nj home. Let religion APP
point no chaplains In the army, navy Legislature
upon Idle prayers the ignorant should depend
appoint sabbath TO bo kept IN any particular way
other than that Of the general uesire. Let re-
hg,on set no last OF feast days, telling people
The poopic can mud these things uncrriugIy enough
for IN, selvas Ne have had nitv no.