Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-06-09
The Moral Order.


One of the most painful riddles of
life is presented by the moral confu-
sion which pervades society; the ap-
parent escape of evil-doers, the APP
parent failure of those who strive to
do well. This is the aspect of the mys-
terry Of evil which most sorely per-
plexes men and prevents the greatest
obstacle to faith. How can sin go
unpublished under the government of
q righteous god?" is question which
multitudes Of men since the beginning
of time. The more deeply men have
loved goodness and the more passion
ately they have searched for God, the
more keenly have they felt the dis
sonance between the idea of God as it
lay reflected in their own souls and
the distorted image Of God reflected in
the disorder of the world. This per-
plexity and pain which the lack Of
harmony between a divine idea of
righteousness and the condition OF So
ciety have brought to the most SEN
sitive spirits is itself one of the evil
dences of the divine birth of the soul.
The instructive feeling that righteous
society is righteous world is inev-
table If there be righteous God, and
that the apparent prosperity of evil
in the world Is at variance with the
existence of such God, evidences the
presence of ideals in the soul which
are not born amid human conditions.
So long as evil remains, men ought to
feel perpleXed and unhappy, because
between the thought of God and the
presence of evil there is a deep gulf
fixed.
But there is a radical distinction.
often overlooked, between moral con-
fusion and moral anarchy. The two
are constantly confused, and yet they
are very different in nature and in
fact. The world is full of moral CON
fusion, but there is no moral anarchy.
So long as law is inflexibly executed
there may be many lawbreakers and
much lawlessness, but there is 10 an
archy. Anarchy exists only where the
law fails of execution. Now, as mat
ter of fact, no sin has gone unpunish-
ed since time began; no act Of greed.
brutality, dishonesty, impurity. has
ever failed to work its instantaneous
effect on the wrong-doer. Like our
pagan ancestors, we are always expect
ing to see the infliction of some exter
nal penalty; for to most of us pun
ishment is something which happens to
a man. We are still waiting, after ali
these centuries, as our fat.:e-S waited,
to see the anger of the god take some
visible shape; we listen for the sound
of the Furies' wings in swift pur-
suit, and when 10 crushing pen
atty falls like thunderbo,t from
heaven, we charge another fail
ure of justice against the moral
structure Of the world Society APP
pears to be full of men who have
escaped the penalties of wrong-doing.'
and who are enjoying its fruits. But
Gods conception of punishment differs
Punishment, in his view, is not some
thing which happens to man; 1t Is
far more searching and terrible, for 1t
is something which happens in a man.
No external system of justice is neces-
sary in order to bring a man to JUS
tice; the moral system of life works
automatically and lnexorably. What
man does instantly reacts upon his
nature and he becomes the product OF
his deeds. II a man could escape by
the loss of an eye or an arm it would
be an easy escape; but there is no es-
cape from the action of the moral
nature; the doer and the deed are
bound together for ever; there is no
pause for a dramatic arraignment and
conviction, no postponement of penalty
until another life; the evil deed works
its effect the instant 1t is committed.
Dante, surveying the world under 1.-THE
aspect of eternity" saw that sin and
its punishment are bound together in
time as well as in space. In this pres
emit life men are already in hell or pur