Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-01-30
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW

N,l,t.on Tue lines ke yuuiicli
Sometime ago case was mentioned
In this column of u good Iowa woman
who invested several hundred dollars
/ in Elijah Dowies industries, and
when her husband began an effort to
again get possession of his wife's
/ money the private secretary of Dowie
notified this good woman that it might
be necessary to remove" her husband
IN! he continued to hinder Gods work
Since then the writer has met with an
other case that seems to him puzzle
illustrating the possible workings OF
the human mind quite out of the ordi-
nary.
We have in Iowa today young bust
ness man whose private character and
public reputation are above reproach
So conscientious is he that he refused
Il salary from a railroad company OF
500 per month because he would be
Obliged to work Sundays till IL o'clock
in the morning. This young man has a
good high school education, is notably
g. gentleman In conversation and per-
sonal habits. Has young. lady-like
appearing wife. Seen on the trains or
lin public, they would be at once rec
ognized as persons well-bred, of educa-
ton and culture. There is not the
slightest trace of the crank. the enthu-
siast or the monomaniac in his appear
once or general conversation. You
have met gentleman, that's all
| But, listen! This young man is a
powieite of the extreme type. He hon
cstly believes that Dowie is Elijah the
Second. He knows that Dowie cures by
prayer. He is positive that Dowie is
honest, and that all OF the reported and
actual charges against him are false.
| III a sentence, from our point of view
this intelligent young man is COM
plete dupe of Dowie. 1t presents q
curious study. Probably there are many
other young men. prototypes of this
one Somehow we know of and expect
many sentimentally organized women,
young and old. to fall under the intiu-
cnce of Dowie and to be willing to sac
ricfice everything for "the cause" the
truth" But for man. young man,
strong in body and mind, to be brought
into the same mental condition destroys
the entire sex argument Students VINO
have looked into the causes of the sue
cess of many of these impostors have
always found one reason why they
draw so many Of the other sex into the
fold 1t is that OF strong masculine
ty that appeals to femininfty anywhere,
everywhere. II Dowie owes anything to
this source of power, there is no pub
Iished record of his abusing his power
over the other sex.
So for an explanation of the mental
condition of the Iowa business men we
must look farther. What is 1t that
has destroyed this young mans reason
ing power on this particular subject?
On other subjects he is as close rea-
soner as his neighbor. Why is 1t Dowie
and Dowieism are as much matter OF
reality to him as the Christian ortho-
dox religion is to you. neighbor? You
believe in Elijah the First; how is 1T
you do not believe In Elijah the Sec
ond? The young man and yourself have
equal means of research, of obtaining
facts. He knows Dowie is Elijah the
Second. You know Dowie is fraud
How do you know it? You believe that
1900 years ago men effected bodily
cures by prayer. Our Dowie convert
believes it is done in Chicago today.
You know he is wrong in such belief
He knows you are wrong in your disbe-
lief Dowie to him is prophet. to you
q pious fraud How did you and the
young man get into these mental con-
ditions? Where's the cause?
Another fact connected with these
mental phenomena is that Of the pos
sible change of belief. Thousands of
men and women ever since the world
began have accepted just such beliefs
as Dowieism. And thousands have re-
rounced such beliefs and wondered
afterwards that they accepted them.
Christian Science and Mrs. Eddy have
thousands of followers today. You
know, my Christian Science neighbor,
that such doctrine is a misnomer. How
do you know 1t? Isn't it possible you
are wrong and Mrs. Eddy right? And
why is 1t your Christian Science neigh
Lor feels genuine pity for your igno-
rance? You don't doubt his sincerity.
Why can not you get together with the
same good Book to draw your facts and
reasoning from? An easy answer to
Dowieism is that he possesses strong
hypnotic power. Well, If we admit that.
we must also admit the power contin-
les after the subject Is miles away.
Again we ask, how did our intelligent
young Iowa business man become a |
convert to Dowieism?