The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-28

atta6t " VI stoAe t"N
fuel of human victims. Religion blesses
and advances the world. Dogmatic
theology curses and retards Its prog
ress. Religion says Lubbock. was
Intended to bring peace on earth and
good will toward men. but whatever
tends to hatred and persecution. how
ever correct In the letter. must be ut
terly wrong in the spirit Bokhara Is
said to have contained 200 colleges. all
occupied with theology. but ignorant of
everything else. N IL was probably
one of the most bigoted and
able cities in the world. There Is more
true Christianity says the same nom
Jewish writer. in some pagan phil
o~sophers, than in certain Christian
theologians: take, for instance, Plato,
Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus. Plutarch.
Be IL said without a tinge OF vain
glory that Judaism-the Judaism Of the
prophets-has always been marching In
the van of progress. nay, more often.
amid a world in arms against her. alone
and unaided. she clambored the rug
ged heights leading to social justice.
While soaring after the ideal, the re-
ligion OF Israel never shuts her eyes
to the real. and whilst striving win
| all the intensity at her command to
.h~eavenIze' mans soul. her greatest
| concern always has been and still con-
tinues to be. to imparadise his earthly
abode. Ii Is not true that the religion
of Israel fosters clannishness. No. no,
he who has studied the true Jewish
knows full well that the
Jewish heart ever pulsates with sym
patty and love for the woes n suf-
ferings of all peoples. believe they I'm
Moses. in the Naxarene, in Mohammed.
Buddha or deny them all. And ye
shall love the stranger, for We well
know the heart OF a stranger is a
Mosaic command. which the Jew
strongly cherishes and emphasizes In
his daily life. He understands well,
through experience. the physiology OF
pain and suffering, so when humanity
suffers his sensitive heart feels the
pangs. Tossed for 1900 years upon an
infuriated sea of religious hatred n
social ostracism. scorned and derided.
herded and hunted, mathematical n
expatriated these many centuries. yet
has he never forgotten h divine In
junction: Thou shall not hate thy
brother In thy heart. thou shall not
avenge nor bear malice against the
children of the people. but thou shalt
love n neighbor as myself Thus to-
day. under the basking rays of free
dom's sun. willing is he, nay. anxious,
to forget the past n cheerfully con-
tribute his share to the nnal emanci
patton of man. Fastening the Jubilee of
universal peace and good will. . "
1t is a mistaken idea, friends. to be-
lieve that the pulpit Is merely a
MISUNDERSTANDING ladder and a devil
fighting armory'-and the pew, a pas
sive, or, better, a automa-
ton and nothing else.
Come has the time when 1t il crimi-
nal for the pulpit to assume, sphinx
k a spirit of mysterious Indifference
to the social and industrial agitations
and problems engaging the public
mind.
For what is the highest aim Of re-
ligion? Is 1t anything else han to i'm
prove every condition OF man. human
izing his every instinct, linking him
with his kind for the purpose of reach
ing that ideal goal, where truth. rea-
son, justice and right are eternally and
lovingly entwined around the throne
Of humanity? How Is that end TO be
attained? How is hat goal to be
reached unless the pulpit stops dog
matizing, stops tinkering in theological
sophistries, stops dealing in futures,
and acts. acts in the living present,
keeps warm the heart within, so that
it becomes truly responsive TO the Will
of God DER head
Il do not believe that hallelujahs and
h~osannahs. never SO sweet. melodious
and sublime: prayers and exhortations,
never so pathetic. fervid and sincere,
will accelerate n step that millenial
time which is the aim, hope and aspi-
ration of all religions. Son OF man. !
nave maQe tnte Il NuttDIDdH uhto tbt
house of Israel these words OF our
text thunder i'm the heart of every
leader of religion. What contempt we
nave for the Waterman. calmly sleep
ing on his post of vantage, while the
enemy, menacing the liberty and veal
of his country. is fast approaching
nay, is already encompassing the very
tower upon which he is placed to keep
a sharp lookout, but not a sound OF
warning, not a whisper escapes his
lipsi
What is the pulpit but a tower, and
the minister blu a Waterman?
Deny it If you will. it remains zone
the less an unfortunate truth. that civ
ilization's deadliest foes, poverty, vice
conquered yet. by no means waning
and decreasing.
What are the practical remedies
coping with these evils? True. our age
is not uncharitable and the philan'
thropic clouds are vibrant with sym
pathetic sounds: true. our public char
tiles are being multiplied day by day
but are the crumbs. the sporadic act,
of pietistic philanthropy all sufficient
to Justly entitle ours a 'God-like age?
In the words of an eminent Jewish
writer, Charity is like the old process.
!, of cupping and leeching and bleeding
to relieve congestion. No modern ply
!, stefan will resort to this method. OuI
social and moral hygiene must devils
better means IL Is indeed absurd IL
!, plaster here and there, while the whcl'
system Is diseased and needs funda
mental treatment
mo in the spirit of pessimism. bu
in the spirit Of human sympathy do
say it, that 1t il but a sham civiiiza
ton where tens of thousands OF human
beings are anxiously, but vainly clam
moring for honest employment. Boas
2 as much as we want of our progressive
ness. OF our unrivaled inventive EN-
ingenious age, yet is IT anything Blu
= fattering for such IN age. where IL I
possible for the individual to accumu
I late millions upon millions on the ON
hand. while on the other hand. tens o
thousands are denied the mere neces
saries OF life!
"what means the spirit Of restivenes
Y which. like a tempestuous ave, l
1 naasino over the landp Why the con