The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-04-01
SOME RELIGIOUS OPINIONS.

only to copy them for the benefit of its
readers.
The New York Observer, Presbyte-
rian), speaking of the weakness of the
church in the presence of 'he problems
of the day, which it thinks The church
ought to be able to solve, says:
Prayers, numerous and earnest
enough. are offered up. Multitudinous
efforts are put forth for the welfare of
society and the evangelization of the
lheathen. Ecclesiastical organizations
of al kinds are being worked with zeal
and efficacy. Yet, in spite Of all, the
demons that vex and harrass men are
not cast out, and a hooking crowd of
| critics laughs the church TO scorn.
| What is the reason of the failure?
Not the unwillingness of God to an
SWer PRAYER; not his disregard OF the
| toll of his disciples, and certainly not
his lack of interest in the advancement
Of his kingdom. The one reason is
the feebleness of the faith of the
church. The claimant necessity of our
time is not so much more prayer or
more work as more Baltimore trust
in the ability and willingness of God
to grant what we ask, and more reli-
ance on the spiritual dynamic by which
alone spiritual results can be accom-
plished. More power and life in SER
vice would come to us with more faith.
Lives are now Swallowed by The clouds
| of defeated yesterdays and doubtful
| tomorrowS which ought to be full Of
the confidence and triumph of faith"
The New York Christian Examiner
BaptisD, arguing that the true Chris
tan ideal is service not ecstacy, re-
marks:
THE extremes of anina,ism and as
! cehcism are to be avoided We neither
want a pampered race of gluttons nor
q group of skeletons hung with I'M
| cushioned nerVe-iines of sensitiveness,
given TO visions of vigils. The flesh
which is disparaged in the scriptures
| is not that which the tailor measures
| for coat, or which we weigh on the
scales 1t is rather that carnality
which no hand ever touched and no
eye ever saw. There may be rs much
of it in the man of five feet three in
ches as in the man of six feet two
! inches. St. Simon Stylites is as liter
ally fool of one sort as was the man
who proposed to pull down his barns
ana build greater, and then to take his
ease of another sort. Service is what
is needed one of another in This world
Men should be rugged enough to en-
/
gish that they have no movement to-
wards it,
In reference to the recent renewed
attempt to amend the Constitution so
as to make this an avowedly Christian
country. the same paper says
I'VE have never been much impress
sed by the arguments of those who
urge this amendment Considering the
/ enormous difficulty of passing an
| amendment to the Constitution, and
! the slight gain that would accrue
| from the mere mention of God IN that
document, this agitation seems to US
J like hunting snipe with howitzer. The
same amcu.it of effort and a,nmuni-
ton rightly expended would carry
havoc into the ranks of the enemy.
| The putting of the name of God into
the Constitution will make The United
states neither more nor less a Chris
tan nation than it now is; and If II
were really Christian nation, what
would the presence or the absence of
the name import?"
/ DR.. Rainsford, who has advocated re-
forms in the saloon system instead of
their abolition, and has been much
misrepresented in consequence, is thus
vindicated by the New York Church
man GpiscopaD.
His opinions are, after all, quite
innocuous when they are fairly under
stood. They deal with two issues. One
is that the saloon, as it now exists
IL our large cities, is a Factor of the
social life which cannot be at once
eliminated The man who denies this
must go blindfolded up and down the
streets of any Of our great cities. The
other opinion is, that private profit is
at the root of the evil results which
! come from the saloons. 1t is private
profit that makes the liquor dealer sell
| bad liquor, that makes him seI To
minors and women, that makes him
| encourage over-indulgence in stinu-
| lants. DR.. RainSford's claim is that if
any scheme can be devised which will
| do away with private profits in the
liquor business, it will go far towards
eliminating the worst feature of the
drink traffic. He advocates the Gothei-
| burg system, or some modification of
that system, and distinctly reoud. :
ates the idea that the church should
| have any share in the enterprise other
than the work of creating a healthy
and sensible public sentiment. We
! have felt constrained to say this be-
! cause we are unwilling to see a PRO
gressiYe and influential public moralist
continually charged with holdinr
views which he has never advocated.
Strong thinkers. independent investiga-
ton, deep convictions, are needed in
the discussion of the saloon question.
1t is hindrance and not a help wheu
men of earnest purpose and wide ey-
penence and turn for original opin-
ions are misrepresented.'
Virchand r. Gandhi, of East India.
in an article in the April Forum show
ing why Christian missions have failed
in India, says on the practical side of
the question:
The Christians, being meat-eaters
and wine-imbibers, seem to us TO repre-
| sent a religion devoid of humane prac-
| tees; for, to the mild Hindu, brother
mood does not mean simply the brother
hood of all living beings That repre-
sentatives of nations who fatten and
! kill for selfish qualification millions of
hogs and steers day should preach
| humanity to an already humane COM
munity, is beyond the comprehension
| OF the Indian mind. l am not saying
! that Christianity requires a man to eat
| animal food, but there is a prevalent
| opinion in India that a person becomes
| Christian simply to crafty his APP
| petite, to eat prohibited food and to
! drink Intoxicating liquor When a
| Hindu is seen going into a church, his
| co-religionists say nothing: but il he
| is seen going into a grog-shop, his
| friends say, He has turned Chris
| tan" Indeed, they seem to think that
animal food and spirituous liquors are
| inseparable incidents of Christianity.
As to the theoretical part. he quotes
!