The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-12-02
Morals Without Greed.

1t seems that q "Profess essor" Adler has
founded an ethical school whore pupils are
to be taught morals without any admix-
ture of creed. The New York San, in
which we ind seme allusion to the subject.
says that the course of instruction will
ignore call such disputed questions az that
of the existence of Deity or the fact Of q
divine revelation"
Here We have . system Of morality with
ont Deity as its essential author, and the
question presents itself whether such 3
thipg is possible. The Christian theory is
that man is made in the image of God or
Deity and, therefore, has a moral sense.
No other animal than man has the moral
sense, or knowledge Of right and wrong,
and snch knowledge is not, therefore, au
attribute of animal life. 1t has some other
origin.
The theory.that all morality is based on
| the fact OF deity is borne ont by another
fac., aud self. evident one, that there would
be no sanction to the moral code without the
existence of Divinity; and q code without
a sanction Is q mere dream, pbantasm, ht
perhaps to be the subject of q poem, but
unworthy of being taught as q science.
If there were no God, no eternity, NO
future reward, no future punishment, there
could be no practical morality Men, snp-
osing their existence possible, could be
wise and prudent; they might avoid all ex-
cesses, either because contrary to the laws of
nature ply sical and intellectual, and there
fore unwise, or because contrary to the
laws of society, and, therefore, imprudent.
Thus it would be unwise to get drunk, and
impr udent to steal, and, therefore, q man of
we'll balanced intelligence would avoid
both drunkenness and theft. In so doing he
would be wise and prudent, but not moral i;
morality is based on the idea of right and
wrong.
The moral code is nothing but the idea
of right and wrong in detail, and ifthere is
no reward fer right, no punishment for
wrong, there is nothing practical about
the idea itself and it naturally fades away
and is forgotten. Thenceforth men may be
controlled by law and restrained by self
interest, but the higher, the grander motive
Of morality is practically lost. What
would nine men out of ten; nay, ninety
uire ont Of q hundred, care about an
philosophers might choose to call the idea
of right and wrong. if it ~as not going to
make q particle Of difference practically
whether they did right OF did wrongi The
professor above alluded to might teach his
abstract notions to his class but the etudents
would take as little interest in them as they
would in lectures about the imaginary
| laws of imaginary men in the moon. Moral
ity without Deity Laws without courts,
q nation without government.
! All this is on the supposition that men
could have correct sense of right and wrong,
there beipg no such thing as Deity. Bu,
that is supposing An impossibility, because
correct seDte Of right and wrong snppose,
an infinite intelligence. A sense of righ'
and wrong is simply knowledge of truth
of things as they are, of the fitness of eact
part in the scheme of a whole. 1t req qire,
an infinite Intelligence to grasp this infinit!
of space and time, and man cannot dream O
attempting it, He may attempt to under
stand the laws which he himself has made
but not all the laws of existence. He coult
not, therefore, of himself, dare to form
HbstrAct idess of right and wrong, that is
the moral science.
Bat the soul of man is the image of Gat
and 10 that image lie can see all mora
} truth, if be will only look at it with eye
of purity. at aoy rate he is gifted wit
the moral sense, blurred and confused per
hape, but 81 only through his own fault
And if the moral Law is nothing but a re
Election of Gods nature in ours, how ca
any man teach that law who doos nc
even recognize the grand truth on whic
it is founded3