The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-22
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
TO BE THE BASIS OF THE COMING
UNIVERSAL RELIGION.

ent Religions Only Approximate
the True Religion and the BROTHER
hood of Man, which They Advo-
cate, VIII Never he Accomplished
by the Present SectarIan Divisions.
He Says-JudaIsm Contains the
Fundamental Principles of the
True Religion.
The subject of Dr. Joseph silverman's
lecture at the Temple Mickva Israel last
night was the need of a universal religion
by mankind. how such a religion may be
obtained and what it would be based upon
DIR. Silverman is noted for his broad and
liberal views upon religious subjects and
his discourse gave a good idea Of his views
on religion generally. He began by re-
ferring to an article which he had read in
leading journal recently in which the
writer took the ground that because of
the many crimes against humanity which
are constantly occurring. by which thou
sands of innocent people are made to suffer
that there could be no God, because if
there were a God he would not permit
such outrages against his creatures to oc-
cur.
These evils which exist universally"
said DIR. Silverman, do not prove,tbe non
existence of a God, but the need ola true
religion. They are not the mistakes Of God,
but the plumbers of man. 1t is more. to the
credit of an all-wise God to have men and
women who are able to sin than that his
creatures should be mere machines. These
evils exist, not because there is.no God, but
because there is no religion Of humanity.
what is needed is religion for all classes
and all races, not for any particular class
or nation. The religions we now have are
but mere steps toward such a universal re-
liGfon. They are narrow, exclusive, selfish
religions. They all preach the brotherhood
OF man, but fail to grasp the truth in its
full significance. The brotherhood preach
ed by them only extends to their particular
church. Outside of their church. outside of
their brotherhood. Each creed has its own
God, or gods, its own heroes, its standard
IT'S prayer and its church Accept of its
creed ana you must accept of all 1t claims"
While each of these religions, Dr. Silver
man said, aim at the brotherhood of
man, this object can only be accomplished
in the reverse manner from that In which
1t has been undertaken by the various
sects. The true religion, he said, would
not be based upon any particular creed
or hero or church, but upon the broad
basis that there exists already a natural
brotherhood of man. We do not need
to create it because it already exists
I'VE are wrongly taught from child
hood" he added, leach child is taught,
directly or indirectly that his own race,
his own nation, his own particular grade
OF society and his own family circle arc
better than any other race or nation or
society or family circle. and especially
that his own religion is better than any
other religion. TO this false teaching
the speaker attributed the many injustices
TO which the human race is constantly
subjected from its own members.
I'VE are taught that the human race
descended from common ancestor and
consequently we are all of one family"
he said. I'VE all have one home-the
world. This being the case, the true re-
hgion should recognize no divisions of
races or nations or classes. The suffer-
ings of the Inhabitants of Armenia or the
persecution of the Russian peasant wo>
man should interest all alike"
Speaking further on this line DR.. Silver
man SAID; I'VE have the universal BROTH
erhood of man and upon this basis l
would establish the religion of the world
DR.. SilVerman illustrated the character
of the brotherhood OF man as understood
and practiced by the religious denom-
nations of the day by the story of a tram
who applied to a farmer for something
to eat. The farmer asheddhe tramD II he
could repeat the Lords prayer The tramp
replied that he could not, and the farmer
began to repeat it for him.
our father which art in heaven - he
San the farmer
IF our father is in heaven, then we are
brothers,, said the tramp.
Yes" said the farmer.
II we are brothers, you should share
with me what you have" argued the
tramp.
The farmer assented to this to the OK
tent of giving him coT,1e4bsr,- -.
began to cut some slices Of bread from a
loaf. He cut the first slice very thin
Look here said the tramp to the far
mer' II we are brothers, think you ought
to cut the slices thicker"
Religion, Dr. Silverman said, consists in
cutting the bread Of charity a little thick
er, not in prayer and song and alteration.
though these are also necessary DO
unto others as you would have them do
unto you. Pray unto your God but at the
same time do good to your fellow man"
he said. II could never understand how
men can pray to God and curse their
ne'ghbors, how they can give to the church
sld rob some charitable institution of it's
funds or defraud their associates by means
of futures and specuiations, how a man
can pray to God in church and then erop
in button when the plate is passed. l
could never understand these things. l
can only explain them on the
ground that all the religions
of the world only approximate
the true religion. When that religion
comes there will be no separate churches
for Christians, Mohammedans and Jews.
There will be no cathedrals, no MOSQUES
and no synagogues. 1 could never under
stand why religion should be labeled. and
that each building devoted to religious
purposes should be merely a label TO in
dictate the particular grade of religion
professed there. When the true religion
is established we viii take down these
labels and there viii only be houses of
prayer conveniently located"
DIR. Silverman said, in conclusion. thar
Judaism approximates the true religion,
of the world because it's main doctrines
are one God, the father OF ali the worli
one house of worship for all the world
as signiiied by the temple, and a share
in the world beyond for all the good peo-
pie of the earth. These three principles
he said, would be the main doctrines of
the coming religion.
Dr.. Silverman is pastor of the Ten1ple
Emanuel of New York. His father. Nr
NJ. II. Silverman, and brother, DR.. Cha rlcs
Silverman, reside at No 103 Taylor streer
Lined Suits.