The Labor enquirer., 1888-03-03

pride as it is helpful to the poor
The gentleman before whom the
beggar doffs his hat and to whom
he says, God bless you" is about
as pleased with his giving as the
beggar; and the pleasure is equally
injurious in either case; the pau
per's delight and the pharisee's
delicious sense of the difference
between them. The church's
goodness to the poor is all of that
sort; she is gentle and benevolent
as long as the poor are docile and
grateful; she is a patroness of the
poor. But when it comes to
righting the wrongs of the op-
pressed and defrauded, or. even
seriously attempting to discover
if there are-wrongs to right, the
churcn always shows that she has
no such love for the poor as Jesus
had. She never was known to
attack vested wrong until popu-
lar opinion drove her to it. She
dabbles in dillettantc reform
slightly, more missions better
tenement houses, cooking schools,
associated charities (all but the
missions begin and end in essays
and newspaper articles, for the
most part but let a prophet point
out radical defect in the social
system, which must be changed
before anything of worth can be
accomplished and the church is
as deaf as an adder. She would
not see the evil of slavery until
everybody else had. She will
not even try to see the evils which
make and keep the people poor.
"As much charity as you like for
the worthy poor" says the church,
"but talk not of social injustice,
else we shall have to look upon
you as one who threatens vested
rights. Let the poor be con-
tented, sober and industrious in
this best of countries, and culti-
vate habits of church-going and
Sabbath-keeping, and all will be
well. If they suffer, it is their
own fault" l believe that history
and passing events alike attest the
truthfulness of what say.
The last criticism Which l shall
make is that the chnrch does not
allow, much less encourage, free
dom Of thought. She permits you
to think as you like, but not with
in her communion-that is, if you
happe n to be a minister. You
may think what you like; Roger
Villa ms, but not in Massachu-
setts! This is not freedom of
thought. In taking this position
the church becomes the enemy of
truth, the enemy of the mind.
THERE'S not a distinctive denomina-
ton IN Christendom that does not
put an imperative check on the
mind at some point. And yet
Jesus said: "And why even of
yourselves judge ye not what is
right?"
hope my Criticisms" will not
seem bitter. There was time
when felt bitterly upon these
subjects, but it has passed. !
know how many good men and
women are in the church, doing
Gods work happily and conscien-
tiously. They are happy in the
church. | am happy out of it.
We may each do our appointed
work,
Ma ny good friends have said to
me: rBut even though these things
are true, why abandon the church,
Why not remain within and do
what you can to reform herr Why
not live out your dlsclpleshlp or
Jesus within the church," My
reply is that tried to, but | be-
came such disturber of the
peace by preaching the gospel of
Jesus in the church that | thought
| ought to 60, before some num-
Der of persons disgraced them
selves. If any one thinks he can
follow out his honest thought
within the church, if that thought
leads him to discard the received
opinious of the church and to
attack vested wrongs which are as
vet pODular. or TO accent the pre-