The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-14
RELIGION AVID CIVILIZATION.
An Argument That Civilization Decays with
the Decay of Religious Faith.


| what the form or forms OF their gods and the
| style and manner OF their worship. grew In
| strength and constantly developed to higher
plane so long as the people kept their faith sin
| cere and their religion pure. When the people
| reached the plane OF ndifrerentism the incip-
| lent stages OF that nations decay can be dis
| cerned. When they evolved from the state OF
indifferentism TO the state OF inhdelity the
| signs OF decay can bs seen everywhere. These
| are solid logical facts.
So long as the faith OF the Egyptians re-
manned strong in their gods. so long did the
moral life OF that people remain pure. When
| soepticsm arose. the moral life OF the ERyp-
tian people became something too abhorrent
| to speak OF. The punishment Of deaf h i'm posed
| by the Mosaic law against sexual perverts
| tExod XXX, 1915. 49, is strong evidence Of the
terrible condition OF the civilization OF Egypt
| from which Moses led the Children Of Israel.
| The moral condition OF Greece and Rome at
| the time OF Christ's coming il something that
should make every person who believes in
pure women and homes shudder at the
| thought Of any such condition coming to our
| civilization. The condition was Contemporaries
| Gus with the decline ofthc Grecian and Roman
| faith in its religion and its gods.
| Now. let us look briefly at the condition Of
the religious faith Of the Christian civilization
| here. Tho American colonies were formed and
Jul couHlty ebldDliSneu ny mtu anu women
| who had most coniiling faith in the strongest
orthodox creed OF religion. New England and
| Maryland were settled by those who left Europe
because OF their religion. and the settlers Of
the other colonies were mon who bo-
| lieved In the doctrine of eternal re-
wards and punishmsnts as firmly as they be-
| lieved in their existence The student Of
| human development will he compelled to say
| that no stronger set Of men and women werc
ever produced than were produced under the
| influence Of the strict religious faith which
! existed in the United States up to few years
| ago, The men who have conducted the affairs
| OF this country for the last Atty years. with its
| tremendous industrial development are men
| who were brought up and educated under the
influence Of an orthodox religion
In the relation Of the sexes (which in every
| civilization seems to have been the first point
| at which the weakness appeared that finally
| produced physical deterioration resulting in
| intellectual deterioration a strong religious
| faith brings about the greatest purity The
| best evidence of this is seen in the purity OF
the Roman Catholic women in the United
| States. Every man who knows anything at all
| about the subject will say that Catholic women
as a class are very pure and this is 80 because
| of the religious faith which they possess.
| A study OF the Socialists in this country as V
class will show also that nearly all of them ARD
| agnostics and have no faith In a Supreme Be-
| ing. The beginning OF their socialism is the
| ending Of their religion. The Anarchist holds
| in horror anything and everything that has a
sacred or religious thought or appearance con-
| nected with It. From years OF observation l
| feel warranted in saying that mh Jority Of the
| Socialists here accept the doctrine Of natural
| affinity in marital relations to the extent Of
| holding that il. after marriage. and even the
| birth OF children. the couple find that their
afflnltes to each other are not idcalistic. they
should be allowed without let or hindrance. to
sever the marriage contract. / have heard
some Of the ablcst Socialists in the city OF New
York argue this and go to the extent OF saying
that it would he great deal better II. instead
OF having children raised in individual families.
under the care OF their parents, they were
raised in great institutions. whore large num-
bers OF them could be cared for systematically
and economically. The Anarchist has re-
spect whatever for the marital relation and be-
lieves that 1t should only be a matter OF con-
| venience between the sexes, though every thor
| ough student Of the development OF the human
race knows that proper fatherhood motherhood
and home life are the great pillars Of civiliza-
ton. Outside tho Socialist and Anarchist
classes, too. there ia tendency to look lightly
upon marital relations The constantly in
creasing number OF divorce cases and the ease
with which divorces are obtained, the view OF
so many of our people seeming to favor these
divorces. are evidences that our whole society
is drifting toward Wow Of tho marital rela-
ton which. il not checked. will bring us into
| position on that question nearly as bad as that
| occupied by the Socialist. Moreover the signs
| OF gross decay appear in large cities in the in
| creasinR prevalence OF sexual perversion of an
even lower scale than that Moses condo m ed.
| What is the coincdent state OF religious faith
| In tho United States?
| The Christian Church is divided into three
branches-the Protestant the Catholic and the
| Greek. With the Greek we have so little asso-
| citation that will not discuss it. The Catholic
Church teaches and insists upon a religion
| which accepts the doctrine OF reward and
punishment in the next world. There is no
| equivocaton about it. and the result ia that the
| training and education OF the average Catholic
| in the United States makes him a respecter OF
| property rights, keeps the lives OF his W e anu
| daughters pure and is m ak ing the young Amer
| lean Catholic among the best OF our citizens.
| That Church permits no divorce and am COM
PEELED to admit that 1t 10 very wise in that
position. do not say that the Catholic Church
| ia the ideal one. but am compelled to say that
ths result OF its firm religious principle and
| uniformity OF doctrine and teaching Is tre-
| mendously in its favor.
The Protestant Church has. in many of it's
| large and strong denominations. gone practi-
caly away from the Bible and the old faith
upon which Professionalism was built up and
| made strong. The Congregational Church ID
so far away from the religious faith OF its New
| England ancestry that IL any OF the Puritan
fathers could return to earth and see 1t they
would repudiate al connection with it, and
| Justly, too, for as demon inalion it has no
| doctrine that is fixed. and ConRregationalist
| need now hardly believe anything that Includes
| faith in the Bible. The great Presbyterian
| Church, which, under the teachings OF
| Calvin and Knox. grew to bs such a
power for civilization. permits men who
openly repudtate the Bible to teach
in its great theological semnaries ard
preach in its pulpits. The Episcopal Church
has grown to be an eleemosynary institution.
to which resort men with broken religious
| backbones who are either forced out or retired
from the other denominations because OF
spiritual disability. Tho Methodist Church in
the city OF New York permits young man to
| stand up in a clergymens meeting and de-