The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-29
WOMEN AND
r ELIGI s II
II d

Some one questions II women are more
given TO religious decisions or "fads than
men. and If so. why? An old definition of
the word fad" is "a bundle of straw" Not
a ,-erv dangerous thing. unless. indeed. a
shark fall upon it from something already
abIaze. II the blazing thing be a woman's
opinion. a woman's conviction, well-founded
or unfounded. even a fad becomes a torch
that leads or misleads, scintillates or radi-
ates. dazzIes. scorches. smirches or warns.
so long as the glowing thing may be made
to seem something other and of more value
than straws-
The French language gives 10 our vari-
Gus hobbies and whims. our insipid fiddle
PADDLE ideas and fancies, the name fadaise.
In Macaulay's life and letters we find the
great writer declaring his sympathy with
Jeffrey in his contempt "for the fadaise OF
the bluestocking literature" NOtwithstand-
ing these notes of contempt from over the
sea. our own dictionary exalts the word to
a place OF some dignity when 1t admits
that a fad may be more than "a trivial
matter pursued with irrational ZEAL" and
calls it ian important matter imperfectly
understood. often urged with more zeal
than sense"
4NONN 1AAA1S III LRSAL
and the jealous. senseless pursuit do not
belong 10 the fad at all. but to the person
espousing II, we have sifted out of the vari-
Gus definitions the fact that a fad, however
understood or misunderstood, however I'M
wisely defended. may be "an important
thing" If. then, our questioner had asked,
Are women less keen in discriminating
between the important and the unimportant
@L,n N ~ If might he difficult to say.
But our question is: Are women more
given 10 religious decisions than men?"
and TO this query. no careful observer of the
various religious movements that have
claimed recent attention in our own and
other countries. can hesitate 10 answer
yes" We have only TO let the mind fol-
low along the procession of believers in
every ism" and ''ology" and ~"osophy'
under the sun. from those who gave heed
TO the utterances that crept from under the
poke bonnet of the early Shaker Ann, to
those who hung on the words of wisdom
issuing from the yellow-turbaned monks OF
the Orient. 10 know that the long ranks are
largely feminine, not in numbers only, but
in loyalty and zeal. Sad enough this fact
If the fads they espouse prove only useless
bundles of straw. One straw shows the
way of the wind. a bundle may show the
drift of united currents of sympathy, senti-
ment or conviction. If these are valueless,
then il is only a question of time when the
fire, caught, remember, from the woman
and not from the fad, becomes a consuming
fire. Then the whole thing goes up in
smoke, tainting the pure air for a little, but
swept away soon or late by that wind
whose silent coming and going we do not
always hear, but that "bloweth where ii
Iisteth,'' and always TO make the foul air
pure.
WOMEN ARE EXTREMISTS.
II would be foolish TO deny that extreme
phases of religious teaching have always
found many devoted followers among
women. In every abnormal movement they
not only outnumber men, but Outrank them
in advocacy and Guido them in sacrifice fol-
whatever cause has won their allegiance
But admitting the fact of woman's greater
devotion is not necessarily an admission OF
her greater weakness and credulity. The
very qualities which make women victim:
and defenders alike of new and unpopular
ideas, make them also faithful wives to un
lucky men, devoted mothers to ailing chill
dren, and loyal supporters of unfortunate
friends. A good woman's hunger to give hel
best TO the best she knows keeps her evel
on the alert for something better than she
has yet discovered. Her discomfort Will
much of her religious teaching is not al
ways unworthy; indeed. it is sometimes /;
divine discomfort. If she fails TO enjoy thu
mild essays, too frequently offered in th'
guise of instruction and admonition, sh'
may not openly rebel at her portion o
spiritual food; she may even blame hersel
for ner lack of assimilation, yet she know
perfectly well she is or is not strengthened
by the diet prepared for her soul. But how
ever conscious she may be of her W un
satisfied hunger, the good woman is rarel.
iconOclastic; she is usually glad if the re
ngious instruction proves the bread of If
TO other souls. For herself, if she is honest
heated and truly hungers and thirsts afte
righteousness, she is surely going TO tax
a nibble and a sip at whatever seems t
promise fullness for the emptiness of he
aching heart and brain. Especially is sh
going to taste for herself the bread and tn
cup which some other woman tells her sh
has found sufficient for her own need
Among women there are many student
with fair endowment of logic. with well
VO mr. OUrD