Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-18
THE CHURCH AND LABOR.
rwn1rrrN ron THE DIsrArcH. /,

ONE tnlng tnat mas done Tue cnurcuoe
great deal OF HARM" SO writes in g letter a
man eminent in the ranks of organized la
| Dor in this city, sis too much theology and
too little common sense. People don't care
| anything about the difference between q
| theological tweedledum and theological
| tweedledee. Preachers and churches that
| have the courage and honesty to expose and
| denounce tyranny, oppression and ROBBERY,
whether it be perpetrated by rich or poor,
great or humble, can always influence us,
and command our respect"
And again my correspondent says this:
at would please us poor people much bet
ter If the churches would not deal so much
in promissory notes. That is, they tell us
sometimes, to console us in our troubles,
that we ought to bear it all patiently, and
when we get to heaven what good time we
will have, and how many good things we
will have, more than We can possibly use or
| want Now, we think if that is the case
then 1t would be better and more sensible
not to bother SO much about the next world,
and try and have us better provided for in
this world
This is quite common complaint against
the churches, on the part of people who
never go to church. To judge from the
criticisms of sermons that are made by Men
who never hear any sermons, one would i'm
o1arr, 80 a.. az ra,,or;ta to,,,c of most
nreochor, ;s tha o,,e-I.s+in, torn,ents NJ the
damned.
The Past and the Present.
THERE was, I believe, time when the
churches were somewhat removed from the
daily life of men. 1t may be that men still
living can remember it. There was day
when most persons were more interested in
%hAS @1,o,, q, o,,I
time in the study OF exesesis than in
the study OF economics. There was
also an age in which most astronomers
were of the opinion that the earth
was fiat, and most chemists were firmly
follow those e.neriments which were pre-
ceded by the pronounciur of certain mysti-
cal incantations. 1t is even within the
memory of people not vet much past middle
life that physicians prescribed dose which
was itself "a had as n disease. The clergy
cannot claim to have, been always very far
in advance of their age. any more than their
brethren in other walks of life.
The truth is that the spirit of the age sur
rounds us like an atmosphere. We breathe
it in continually 1t makes M a considera-
BILE part of our life. It shapes a great pro-
portion of all our SAVINGS and doinps. We
NAV not be conscious of Il We NAV be like
the good man who said that the moon is. in.
deed useful because it shines in the night
while it is dark, but the sun is no great bene-
fit to us because it shines in the daytime
when it is light anyhow. We may not
realize that the spirit of the age is
the great luminary which lights our
stems. Nevertheless il is. And all men
live in the shine of it. Only the
rare men of genius the preet heroes are in
advance of their time. and even thew have
only one foot ahead The other foot keeps
step with all the rest Of us. NY friend asks
a great deal when he expects the parsons to
live already in the twentieth century,
TO" oiu hosie' A
BUT the parsons are most of them living
very enthusiastically in the last decade Of
the nineteenth century. They are fully as
abreast of the times as most men. or
denseIy conserr.tiHa ,arsons rreanbino
sarn,on. t,.o,, ,ranuso,i,,,s -eIinu .rith ona
ond ;r,st,, or,a- - ~, asnt,s lei
c;srs Thera 90 .iso ahs,,rd,,r faaot;oaI
aanost;cs ~ afta- t,,.,- Ians ~ Iitt1a
more wisdom, and sense vilI M, he ouite so
omniscient And tbere ore .-trovagantl,,
radical sociaIists n,en whose tonor,es ars
bigger than their heads and wbose sneecbes
ore ,ha dosno;r ~ aI1 friands ~ ,obor +.
&c hu oil ha hast In, fha
Tr.fies Irnions that tba rre.,est trorhIe
tbot tbsv ,raot ,v;tb a. The snnnrassior .,f
FOOLS An the imheciIe serr,pp. ars not
nreacbod in tho ,,,1rits ~ chnrnbos Tha
sacnI.r socsetr, and ths Iahnr IInio,, ,,s,,o
evan ,nore thar tb eir sha,a ~ thsr,
Ia+ ne oar,;t t,,at .o,,,a ,oan o,a fo,,. W.
need NOT mt n ouite .o stron,lr as Cor,r,e
d;o Son.e ,,an &c f,.o,s IA t,,ora 80,
- he M +ests and Nm e~o,,in.t;ons os ,,a+
devised that will Leen fools Ont Than 1,ot
;n eyorvwbera .,o,, -, tLa ,,,;.,istr,- D.
ALI tbe narsons are not fooIs Tha ,ah,r
unions meke q oreat ro;st.tei - .ha,, thi,,l-
thot THO +rrth a. th,t A., ,,,.,, ,,t,,s - a.
fov ,ooro i,ter.etad tho,, o. ot,ar,
,ot dirac.I,, noroarnad =, .,,s a.. $500
want of tbs nrohIo,,,. ~ ~ ,,,s.rr~ - 81.
ministers of the Christian church.
The Church Deeply Interested.
THE last ten wears have seen a general
awakening on all sides in regard to the
problem of poyerty and the rights of labor
All men are now interested in tonics which
before that seemed to interest onIv a few
And the Christian clergy are en-.
nremelv interested Tn every modern
r,,...u.:. -. - -