The Irish standard., 1896-12-05

Too r1any ofathe Cloth Are I'm
9 8 n worthy Of the Position
~ g&.a I'll t.fi,f III 5t 'Fitg .@ &S#
q. They Hold. .@..
More Practical, Eroad- Gauge Chris
|. tianity is Needed in f
s@s., - the World.
+, - ~ F'T-@ a .fAb n

e: Brann, the editor of the Iconocjast,
says: Perhaps the unkindest thing YET
said Of me is that wage ws.r upon relig-
ion-that I insult and ridicule tho
Christian ministry. From various
preachers I gather that the lccnoclast
would have the world discard law and
government, clothing and Christianity.
marriage and morals, and plunge back
into naked barbarism and icentious
free-love. But nothing was created al
together in yairl. Without Liars wl:s.t
would become OF Our politics? My only
quarrel with the ministry is that too
high calling; are too much given to dog
matizing about the deity instead Of
teaching the religion Of brotherly love-
too often mistake the husks of creed for
the kernel OF the Christian cult. Many
people appear to think preacher infal-
lible; that, like the king, he can do no
wrong-that to cl'iticise the clergy were
well nigh as blasphemous as to speak
disrespeetfully cf%the devil Or hell or
insist that the creator Of the cosmos is
better than the Biblical conception.
There are great many grand and noble
men in the mintats.x;;. but there are also
many hacking round with their little
hoes in the Lords vineyard who would
do much more effective work in the cot
ton patch-or penitentiary. have Of.
Tended many worthy people by criticis-
ing the sensational preacher, OF whoop-
la evangelist; but, in all candor, con-
slider such ministers a disgrace to the
cloth, an injury to the cause Of Christ,
When a nan must adopt the msthods at
Fyhe monntebank 70 persnads people to
Eobserve hiiln, hfs should dom ls.cano1a-
icals. and; seek situation as spouter for
"a snake side-show. When You have to
60 after sinner with a circus tent and
street slang, it were well to constgler il
the game be. worth the candle. " hsm 4
you have to turn the house Of GOD into
a freak museum to induce people to en-
ter it, it might he good policy to permit.
them to remain Beyond it's portals.
When you have to work sinners into
nervous frenzy to start them along the
rugged path of duty, it were we'll to
bring up the rear with a revolver ii you
would have them long continue climb
ing. The reaction from rnchine-made
attacks Of moral hysteria usually carries
al several degrees nearer hell
than before. twas evangelical. IT we
could but est rid Of the Talmages Park
.huryts, Jeneses and other empty blath-
'erskites, .impudent sensation-mongers
and vulger slang-slingers who are naalI-5
ing religion a cloak for their Internal
fakes and fill their pulpits with profound
and progressive men like Beeeher, and
self-sacrifi ficing souls like Pere Marquette;
we could easily capture the world for \
Christ .s3.
& s.What the world needs Is more prac-Sl
tical, broad-guage Christianity and less
hide bound dogHatisln; more substance
and less ceremony; more hard h,lstlingSS.
and less hacking at the@,Lord for help
more good Samar rfttssissa"und less holierr-,s55
tl1an-thou Pharisaisn. May he q man man
can be a consistent Christian and keep
his clutches on ntfffflio'n or more O n1on-
desy ,ey while people are suffering for the
.crudest creature comforts, but I don':tty &
believe it, That smile Of its being
easier for a camel to pass through the Y. 1 {
eye. of a needle than a plutocrat the
celestial portals, has BEEN cont
explained away BY plutocratic preachers.
but; between you and !, It is evident u 4
that Christ intended to Intimate pretty I
plainly that human hogs are not wantsd b;
IN heaven # " S:;a5 +. :s9- zs- 5:sSs
A GENERAL SETTLING DOWN. 81 .88::t5s5
Z Her Papa Well now that It lis All oyst,#