Arizona republican., 1903-07-12
PHOENIX. ARIZONA. JULY 12, 1905
The Religious Instinct.

In an article in the Saturday Evening Post on the Americans of Today and Tomorrow" Senator BeverIdge happi- ly touches upon the prevailing note in the American character when he points out that the religious instinct is a na- tional characteristic:
 'Try this experiment on any com pany of Americans you choose: Pro- pose the subject of our national su- periority and ask what we are going to do about it. The majority will al- ways tell you that we are going to do right about it: we are going to work out good with it. Then ask, why right?' and why good?' and why just?' and any other why which imperfect ly inquiries into the best American as- pirations The answer of the majority of that company vii always strike a religious note-which, after all is the dominant note in American character Perhaps neither this analysis TOT any analysis occurs to our scores Of Ameri- can millions-but no matter. The re- suit does occur to them-flows in their blood, throbs in their brain, and is part of the indrawing of each renewing breath. Thus all of our effort which otherwise would be merely stupid and purposeIess becomes vivid and glori ous with a certainty that We are exc cutting the plans of the Infinite. The instinct of the divine within us be- comes more than instinct-becOmes an intelligent if vague conception. And so we find that we Americans are pro foundly religious people. We cannot help it. It springs, like all other fun damental characteristics. out of the clements of our being and our place and antecedents in the history of man."
 There is, indeed, no doubt that the Americans of today are the most truly religious of all the people of the earth. By religious" we do not mean that they trouble themselves particularly about dogma or ritual. To the con- trary, the average American has rath CT liberal ideas on the question of creeds, and he has become emphatical- ly free from the fears and supersti- tions which make up a large part of the religious thought of other peoples. But if the American has little regard for dogmatism he has, to balance that lacking, a profound belief and trust in Almighty God. The superiority of his intellect and his higher reasoning pow CTS have enabled the American to req son logically. and all reason teaches him that the universe obeys a supreme law, and that the evolutionary prog ress of man is in obedience to the laws of the Creator, while the religious in stinct--a faith in Gods loving care for humanity and a faith in a thereafter" follows as matter of course.
 Senator Beveridge is eminently cor rect in saying that the instinct of the American is to do right" And he might have said that this innate dis position of the normal man to do the right thing is one of the most gratify- ing evidences of their higher civilza- ton of which Americans have a right to feel proud. It is undeniable that as man gets farther away from the crude religions of his ancestors which told him to do right because he would be rewarded therefor, he follows the high CT standard which requires him to do right because it is right" And this, it must be admitted, is the most satis- factory of all religions. It is the re- ligion of true Christianity. The United States is truly the most Christian of all nations today.