The record-union., 1899-09-16


there are beauties and blessings in
other countries than that of his birth,
and that the sun does not rise and set
exclusively for his own little commun-
ity.
Micah, the divine prophet of old, re-
duced the teachings of Judaism to the
three commands: DO justice, love
mercy and walk humbly before thy
Cod" Not least of these three, is the
teaching to walk humbly before thy
God.
How can we walk humbly before our
God if we are filled with conceit and
arrogance, if we believe. for example,
that, as Jews, we have all the truth,
and, as Americans. we have the only
nation worth fighting for, and, as Cal
ifornians, the only State worth boast
ing about, and. as Sacramentans, the
only city worth living in.
Tt is well to have a pride in our falth
and a feeling of loyalty and patriotism
for our community. our commonwealth
and our country but let US rememper
that to carry this pride and loyalty 10
the extreme, is to- become like the Eng
lish and the French that Buckle tells
about and to degenerate to the condi'
ton of the Catholics and the Protest'
ants who tortured and burnt each other
because each believed he had all that
there was of truth and that the other
was a base imposter. To carry TINS
pride and loyalty to an extreme is TO
make US narrow and bigoted and to NH
us with prejudice against our nelgh"
bors, against the people of other ma.
tionS and the followers OF other faltnS.
-
Undoubtedly religion has been one OF
the most potent causes OF Widespread
prejudice. A case in point comes to my
mind. Recently most intelligent and
broad minded Christian woman said to
me: 'As child in Sunday school my
blood was set boiling every time
heard the story Of the cruclflxlon or
Jesus. Every time I listened to the
tale of how Judas Iscariot sold the Sa-
vior for thirty pieces Of silver, l was
made to feel that the blood OF Jesus
was on the hands of the Jews, and /
conceived for them an intense hatred
To me it seemed that they must be a
cruel, heartless, wicked and unlovable
race. / could not understand how my
pious Christian mother could admit
Jews into her home and talk and laugh
and be pleasant with them. To me all
Jews deserved to be damned. My love
| for Jesus was so intense that I felt
could show it in no stronger way than
by bitterly hating the Jews. This feel,
ing filled my mind for years and years,
until, as grew to womanhood, circum-
stances threw me much in the society
of Jews and found them an honorable,
generous, kindly hospitable and iovable
people, and wider reading taught me
that Jesus was crucified by Romans on
the charge of treason to Rome, in pro-
| claiming himself. in violation 10 Ro-
man law, the King of the Jews; and
| that, even if the Jews of eighteen hum
! dred years ago We're instrumental in
! the death of Jesus. the Jews of to-
! day We're certainly in no way respon-
| sible therefor Thus did love take the
place of hatred in my heart ana esteem
| replace prejudice and tolerance drive
| out from my mind intolerance"
| Yet another case comes to mind. This
/ time it is the experience of a Jew, who,
as a boy, was taught by his pious re-
! ligious teacher and his orthodox par
ents, that Jesus was an apostate and
| the personifcation Of all that was im>
pious; that in permitting himself to be
| proclaimed God in the flesh, he had
been guilty of blasphemy; that Chris
tians in worshipping God as the Father
and Jesus His son as yet another god.
and the Holy Ghost as still another god
We're no longer Monotheists, but were
as bad as the heathens of old, who wor,
SHIPPED several gods; that the Christian
had prosecuted the Jews for hundreds
of years and that their hearts were
filled with hatred against the people OF
Israel whom they would try to injure
/ at every opportunity.
| Continuing, my friend said, that for
many years, as boy and youth, his
heart had been filled with hate toward
Jesus and prejudice against the Chris
| tian, until a wider reading and a
broader culture taught him that Jesus
preached religion of love and not of
hate; that he was not an apostate, but
an earnest believing Jew who taught
and preached a beautiful conception Of
Judaism, and who lived the life of a
pure, upright, consistent Jew. Broader
enlightenment taught my friend that
while as a Jew, he could not compre-
hend the Christian doctrine of the
| trinity, that it nevertheless was a be-
| lief which had for it's purpose the up
! lifting of the human family, the spread
! ing of morality and righteousness and
the betterment of humanity. His con-
! tact with Christian men and women
| taught my Jewish friend that, while
| the few may be filled with religious
! hatred and prejudice against the Jew,
/ the many are generous and fa.ir-mind-
ed and animated only by kindly
| thoughts and liberal sentiments, and
! that, as a rule, they try to judge the
Jew as an individual and respect or re-
| iect him, love or hate him in accord
ance with his merits as man. Thus
were my Jewish friends early preju-
dices against Jesus, against Chr1stianl-
| ty and against Christians modified and
overcome and his heart filled with re-
I spect, esteem and love for his fellow
men of the Christian faith.
/ When we remember the religious pref
/ udces existing between those of diff
/ ferent faiths and the race preJud1ces
! existing between those of different
countries, the local prejudices existing
among those living in different prov
/ inces and commonwealths, and the eco
/ nonic preiudices between those who
have and those who have not, the out
look for the speedy coming of the time
when all men shall look upon each 9TH
/ er as brothers, seems discouraging II
| not disheartening. But when we furth-
er remember that the prejudices of the
past were infinitely greater than those
/ of to-day and that untold numbers
| have learnt to love and to respect each
| other, whose ancestors hated and des-
pissed and stood ready to burn each