The Newtown bee., 1904-05-20
SOCIAL TOPICS.
DEG INTERNATIONALLY o. o. WRIGH

DEG EGENERATION.-BY o. o. WRIGHT.
 Degeneration is the "Loss or i'm pairment of natural or proper quail ties; descent to an inferior state; the act of becoming or the state of having become inferior, especially with res pect to moral qualities"
 We are concerned mainly with the moral and spiritual man. We are to cay of faith, and of the Christian vir- tues which grow out of it. Why do peo- pie drift downward in the scale of be- ing instead of climbing upward? Why do they become inferior in moral char acter rather than superior? How is it that our religion itself becomes inn paired as to it's divine qualities, and ceases to have any uplifting and sav- ing power over it's vOtarieS? We may go even farther and inquire by what processes religion becomes an inStru- ment of oppression and degradation in- stead of the grace of God to comfort, encourage, and exalt those who are subject to it's power?
 There is doctrine of degeneration as opposed to the theory of evolution. Or we might say that degeneration is the reversal of the law of evolution. In evolution the higher life grows. sout of the lower by selection and use; in de- generation the lower forms of life or character descend from the higher by means of abuse or disuse. Religion falls into decay because we do not use | it. It was meant to hold the chief place in our conduct and character, but we put it in the second place, in the third place, and so on till there is no place for it in our program of life. | Tnif h iv,H ol tC o0fi 0,n 1,~o oos,. principle which should dominate the feel, and oo; but it deeenerates into a myth, abstraction, or pretension when we cease to make it the grand motive of conduct and character, and treat ii as sort of policy, or respectable
 habit or custom of society.
 1 The Church is the school of Christ
 in which we should learn more and
 more of the truth, power, and useful
 ness of the divine life; but if we neg
 lect the Church and for any reason dc
 not go on learning the lessons which
 ought to be our chief delight, we soon.
 CT or later become indifferent, and at
 last cease to care at all for such things
 It is use that gives strength, health
 spiritual nature just the same as tt
 the body, mind, or any function O.
 life.
 An eagles wings were made fol flight; but take the little eaglet anC
 tame it and you can transform it more
 or less into barnyard fowl, so domesti
 cated that it will scarcely attempt t( fly. So, too, the spiritual man has the
 wings of faith and hope by which h.
 may mount into the realms of the life
 eternal and hold communion witt
 God; but let him give up all his time
 and strength to business, domestic
 cares, or pleasures, and he will learr
 after awhile to be content to eat
 sleep, and drudge, until he forget
 that he has soul. He may not be { , bad man but he has degenerated as tt } his conduct and character simply b! the disuse of religion and he has be come an inferior type of manhood. He } may be success for this preSen world, but as to the eternal life he is ; failure, because he has taken no stool in it.
 Degeneration of character comes al so by means of abuse. There is nor or less dross, or alloy in all our silve 3 at best. It is not perfectly pure. Bu /, by certain perverSions of our faith 3 hope, and love, our religion mayl2be r come more and more worthless until is a curse instead of a blessing. Gu s faith may degenerate into cheap sU 9 perstition; our hope may fall to tn } level of mere ignorant presumption !. and our love may be degraded to mt 8 prOmiScuOuS, idle emotions which el ,. cuse sin, and lead to false charity fC 8 the wicked. There are certain form r Of evil which are potent to corrul