The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1886-07-21
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

A Common Evil which Christians, Above
All Others, Should Be Careful to
Avoid.
Misrepresentation are due to varied
causes. There is, first, ignorance. or
lack of information. Persons speak
evil of things they know not of, or take
the statements of others equally igno-
rant. and perhaps unprincipled, and
report them as though they were facts.
Again, prejudice, which prevents see-
ing more than one side Of a question,
and which causes persons to make up
their minds first and look at the facts
in the case afterward, if at all. Again.
stubbornness and intractability, which
cause persons to adhere to wrong opin-
ions, and render all efforts to correct
them utterly useless; since the brighter
the light shines, the more closely they
shut their eyes. Still again, sort Of
moral color-blindness, which causes
people to see every thing in wrong
light, and, 80 far as practicable, keep
on the wrong side of every thing. Such
men put darkness for light, and light
for darkness; they call good evil, and
evil good. Arguments which are con-
vincing to ordinary minds have no
possible weight with them; and fsncies
which would be esteemed as trivial by
ordinary thinkers, to their minds have
all tho force of a mathematical demon
stration; trifies light as air being soon
tirmation strong as proofs of holy
writ"
When all these things are consid.
cred, surely no one need be surprised
that Misrepresentation occur. In fact,
it sometimes seems as if-between men
who can not tell the truth, and men
who do not wish to do it, and men
who do not care whether the truth is
told or not-it is wonder that we get
as much truth as we do in this world.
1t is quite proper for us to recollect
that If we are misrepresented we fare
quite as well as many other good men
have done. Perhaps no one was ever
more thoroughly misrepresented than
the Saviour; and it is enough for the
servant to be as his Master. Men who
will misrepresent the ideas of His SER
wants, and men who will garble, mis-
quote and misapply the Lords words,
are quite likely to garble, misquote
and misapply the words of men; and
it will frequently be found to be the
case that persons who are guilty of the
most outrageous misrepresentation
are persons who have been on the
wrong side of almost every subject,
and who seem, by sort of necessity
of their perverted nature, to gravitate
continually in the direction of error
and untruth.
Complain as we will of misrepresen.
tations, there is frequently no remedy.
The man who is wicked enough to in.
tentionally misrepresent another is moi
likely to correct his error; and a per.
son whose mind Is so constituted that
he can not tell things as they are, the
more he Is reproved the more thor
oughly his ideas become jumbled, ant
the less likely he is to view matters in
their true hight. In such a case it i,
frequently best to leave him entirely
alone, and, perhaps after ten or dozer
years have passed away, he may change
his own mind-which is something ne
one else can do for him. In a world
so full of Misrepresentation, Christians
of all others, should be watchful, and
endeavor to speak with caution, can.
dor, and truthfulness; and the more
they themselves are misrepresenteC
the more cautious should they be t,
keep themselves within the limits O
candor. speaking the truth in love. ;
IN. W. Christian AdUocate.