The herald., 1895-06-30
Religion Has Everywhere Com
manded the Domestic
Life for Women
WOMAN'S RIGHTS QUESTION
Has a Side to It Often Overlooked and
Seldom Entered Into as 1t Is ID
This Instance
By Abbot Kinney

The Christian religion recognizes dill
fercnt social functions in the two sexes.
From first to last the rules and regula'
tions of the Bible seek to enforce upon
men the duty of creating and maintain
ing family especially as to the outside
fight of life, and upon women equally
the family duty on the domestic or in
ternal side.
The Bible does not encourage women
to assume the outside male function. On
the contrary it forbids them from enter
inc upon male duties and commands
them to domestic life.
Every other religion of our day stands
on the same general groundlof different
social function due to sex. Every relig-
ion OF the past took the same stand on
the question.
We find the relaxation of such sex rules
only when the people had lost faith In
their religion. The reason for the unity
OF religious regulation in recognizing
and commanding domestic life as wo-
mans first duty may be assumed on the
following premises:
Religions are mainly nsetni IN enlorc'
ing rules for the welfare OF society by
supernatural authority. This authority
sets up pains and penalties in future
life and when received is the strongest
molder of human conduct. Self-preserva-
tion is the first law OF societies as well as
of individuals. A society to live even
stationary and stagnsnt must nave a
birth rate equal to its death rate. If the
deaths exceed the births the society so
situated must die and suffel extermina-
ton. Consequently for preservation
q society must enforce rules as to the sex
function that will guarantee. it birth
in excess of deaths. Societies have
hitherto relied on religion to DO this.
In America where every ono is wish ing
and working for increased population of
village, town. city, state and nation, we
ought to have u large excess of births over
deaths, Those who wish to limit i'm
migration might as well take into consid-
Grafton the fact that over wide districts
the births in the American population
are less than the deaths and that the real
ization of our ambition for increased pop
ulation depends on immigration.
Los Angeles, for instance, has now more
deaths than births, yet every one in 1t
looks for and strives for more population.
The final point is that women forced
into the industrial or other outside fights
are at once confronted with the handicap
of child bearing and child care. =,
The unvarying experience of mankind
has been that the performance OF the
duties or child bearing and child care,
not only for forceful and increasing
race, but for one even just holding its
own, demands such an absorption OF
woman's time and energy that she must
be relieved from the severe strains, druid
gerry and dangers OF the life fight. Other
wise she is unwilling to take the handl-
cap and refuses to have children, or the
strain sterilizes hei and she becomes un-
able to insure by children the continual
tion and life of the race.
Religion has everywhere commanded
the domestic life for women, because the
life OF the society depended on the women
being domestic and not forced iito the
outside fight. The higher the civilization