Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-07-16
Hts in society and politics. with. bTaTe

ISIS IN society anu pOuCCs VIZ" p'"is
mindedness but if they had their way, and
if tl.ey could sweep religion from the face
of the earth, burn up the Bibles, dynamite
the churches, it requires no prophet to
foretell what dreadful situation would
ensue as the result of their havoc. The
man who puts agnosticism against the
creed has nothing to give this world except
what would make men more narrow than
they are, and would speedily plunge them
into conditions first of civilized paganlsm
d a little later of rank barbarism. The
skeptic is no more an apostle OF llbera!ity
than is the anarchist an apostle OF liberty;
With great regret 1t must be confessed
that there are and have been multtudes
of narrow-mnded Christians. 1nasmuch
as human nature finds it difficult to attain
unto lberality, It is not TO be wondered at
that so many fall short of the breadth OF
our holy religion. Christians have not
only been prosecuted, but they have &C,
t,,ally prosecuted one another, because OF
have they failed, to recognize the com.
prehensiveness of the Gospel, and they
prefer their confessions to the catholic
faith and their sects to the catholic
church. II is simply impossible to apollo
gize for them or to offer any argument in
extenuation of their gricvous offensess along
this line They have restricted their God
and their Bible and their creed, and
have stood up stoutly to resist the large
mindcdness of their Lord. But this does
not really affect the issue which we have
in hand. 1t does not at all impair our
contention that the gospel Of Christ itself
not Professionalism or Puritansm or
Medevalsm, but the. gospel-,contans tho
broadcast doctrines, the broadest ideas OF
God and of man and of destiny, and the
broadest working principle of thought and
of life
Gods commandment is exceeding
broad" in its practical application to mans
conditions it breaches Gods Fatherhood,
which is mighty foundation for the in.
telectual life, and mans brotherhood,
which makes the scope of moral obligation.
Gods relation to us is most assuring, and
our relation to Him and to all our broth.
crs makes the theatre of action and sets
forth the sphere of conscience, sympathy
and cndcavor One of the miseries of ir..
religion is that it despoils humanity of all
thi.. The heart which cares not for the
poyerished and reduces this present exist.
cnce to small affair, for it has nothing
to say of the higher things or Of an eternity
of b!csse,mess. and nothing that ava!s for
the enlargement of aspiration and the re.
Enforcement of energy. Christ truly dis
covered the individual He argued that a
mans soul was more important than the
prcssly to lift human nature ont OF Its
smallncss and to place it in an environment
where the sons of God rightly belong; lie
revealed the model which is nothing less
than the character OF the klng OF kings.
and called all the sons of men to royal
life; lie disclosed a large meaning Tor du'
tics and Grcfs, pleasures and possibilities;
He would have His peop.c stand OH the
Mount of the Ascension whence they can
see the present in its perspective. and have
an expansive outlook for the study Of them.
-eyeS and their lives. The hroadminded
Lord has givcn a broadmindcd religion for
men when they pray and work and suffer,
and lie would inspire them to rise MP
to the obligations and opportunities which
wait upon them every hour in the day.
How narrow is the average man. Mod.
to the masses There have been many
gains. but there have been many losses
also. Among the losses in the world as we
know it today is the almost inevitable
tendency of orr way Of living and our
methods Of business to curtail the individ.
nal in the living of his life and the doing
of hi, work. More and more are the peo.
ne Of the wnrkaday world hampCrcd and
rcstli,tcl hy the demand for specialization
/ . individual is being called upon to do
some one task and to do it over and over
,oai, three hundred DAYS in the wear. all
Of Which is equivalent to shutting him
Within confines where he can scarcely hope
TO tcyc,op into his best self. This effect
il ono Of the dpn,orah'c ills of the times.
he rules Of Offices and factories and shODs
which encourage experts is ruinous to the
Individual who indeed learns to do one
thing perfectly. but who is thus numbered
from knowing ANYTHING else outside of his
daily task. Then, too. the split of the