New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-09-12
The New Religion.

universe. It is the fulfllment OF the great
necessity Of mans being to worship.
Primitive man looked about him and
marveled at what he saw. He felt in
winds and waters, in trees and stars, in
all things, a power above his own. lie
feared and worshiped it and called it
God. According to his crude understand
ing he explained creation. He wove
story that embodied what he saw and
felt. 1t was his religion. The world
calls it a myth. AS man gradually
developed and solved the mysteries OF
Nature, his worship was transferred to
higher and still higher objects. Al
length he scared beyond the sun and
pierced the very veil Of space only to
find that beyond all was something more.
at is God," he cried, and was satisfied.
Of the nature ofGod he could form an
idea only from himself and the external
world. From these expressions of divin-
ity, he imagined divinity itself. He Gre
ated his own God and gave him the at
tributes he possessed. He knew no others.
The God Of every people and every age
is the divine embodiment of the highest
ideals of that people and that age. The
Christian world condemns as idolaters
and hcathens all who do not accept its
creed. It presumes to attempt to convert
the world to the worship of God. Tn
reality the world has always worshipped
God. The differences in religion come
only from seeing different expressions of
divinity and worshiping different phases.
These various beliefs have crystalliZed
into fixed systems. What was oncc only
speculation in the minds of saints or
/ philosophers has come to be accepted as
revealed truth. Such was the origin of
RELIGIONS. In effect, modern religion is
& only an attempt to conform to the estab-
lished systems. Iniv1duals accept the
creeds of the curches in which they are
brought up, much as they accept their
family names. The light of advanced
thought is turned on all matters save
matters of religion. In this most i'm
portant of the affairs of life, people are
strangely content to adopt the views OF
others and to justify their Incidence by
christening it "faith." The man who
goes apart from the world of prejudices
into the solitudcs of thought and finds
his own path to God is a rare exception.
With most people religion is mere
sentiment. Moved by the poetry
of ancient traditions or the fire of mod
ern eloquence, they yield their minds to
emotions and experience that unreason-
ing glow and ecstacy that passes for spiri-
tual exaltation. It is at best weaken
ing process. 1t dissipates those good
impulses that should 90 out in action
into flood of feeling that destroys brain
tissues, excites the nerves and enervates
the will. 1t is form of Mysteries little
different from that Of the spiritualist,
who terms such state of excitement g
trance, and regards his communion with
the spirit world in more gross and lit
eral sense. 1t is vain, selfish indulgence
1t is excess, and in that light seems vul
gar and degrading Others there are tt
whom religion is commercial transac
ton. The required forms and ceremonies
repentance and charity, are the price
that buys there eternal welfare. They
accept them in all sincerity as the con
ditions Of contract which they fulfil
more or less faithfully, according to theil
natures. The world seeing the strained
abnormal attidute of the one class anc
the perfunctory, calculating attitude Of
the other, brands them all as hypocrites
It is in error. There are few III the
churches who deliberately adopt religion
as disguise.
But new religion is spreading ove1
the world. Not through new sect, but
in all sects. 1t is a gentle flood that Il
slowly but surely breaking down the
reefs of cruel dogmas. It is the religion
that teaches simple, natural goodnes!
and nothing more. It teaches that some
where there is perfection and omnipo
tence. 1t teaches the worship of thi
great soul of the universe It teache
the mastery of self in patient pursui
of excellence. It teaches love of man
kind that comprehcnds all other virtues
1t regards prayer and confession, baptism
and pennancc, aims and sacrifice, form
and doctrines as insignificant and Q
no consequence. The only essentials ar
the worship of God, the subjugation Q
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