Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-06-23
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW
Some Reasons Why the Majority Ar
Not Church Members.

First and foremost is the almost uni
yersal mental obliteration of hell and
eternal punishment. 1t can not be sue
cessfully denied that fear is the gov
erninv power OF the universe. 1t is a
beautiful theory, that of love, but in the
family, in the community, in the state,
fear. in other words dread of punish
meut. is the controlling factor in good
results, whether we apply this theory
to the actions of the child or the par
emit No stronger argument is needed
than to mention the Roman CatnoIlc
church, where purgatory and hell are
not obsolete words in church services,
and the Unitarian church, that dis
cards hell and all that goes with sucn
belief The first is today gaining more
converts and followers the world over
than any other body Of Christian or
CARNATIONS, while the latter is losing
numbers and strength everywhere.
Again, the wealth and prosperity of
this country works against the
churches in many ways. A man like
Rockefeller charging the public an ex-
horbitant price for a necessary COM
modify, and ut the same time being so
ostentatiously a church member this
with the Sunday school teaching OF his
son. antagonizes the masses. They say
to themselves, the religion these men
profess lacks what we need. Either
these men and their ilk are hypocrites
or the religion they profess is false.
They assume the latter because the
men are retained in full church fellow
ship. In another way, wealth seriously
operates against Christianity. This In
the way of class distinction. The labor
ing man knows and is made to feel that
in the churches where the members be-
long to the So called rich class neither
himself nor family are wanted. Ihefe
is nothing strange about this. me
same condition exists outside or the
churches. Again, wealth and prosperity
offers to all, rich and poor, many more
forms of recreation than formerly. The
churches can not consistently admit
that these forms Of recreation, enjoy
,nent and pleasure are things a church
member should take part In. That some
of their church members do take part
in and enjoy these questionable amuse>
ments brings reproach on the church,
as we'll as to give an outsider the
chance to say they do not practice what
they preach.
Once more, and this has much to do
with keeping the majority out of the
churches. Not only is this a most
strenuous time in the age Of the world,
hui it is the most practical. This is the
day of proving things. The Christian
h,Jilt
{and this is, true OF all other forms Of
religion) does not appeal to the masses
as it did one hundred or five hundred
or a thousand years ago. The tenaclty
with which the church hangs on to the
improbable to many the Impossible,
statements in the Bible makes 1t a
hypocritical act for many to join the
church Of today. The average man or
woman dislikes a mental reserva-
ton. Add to this that even in
church circles there is dis
position to remove these fairy tales
from the good book, and severe criti-
cism from within and without, comes TO
the sincere Christian. There was a
time in the history of the world when
the story Of the immaculate concep-
ton hardly found a doubter. Today
not per cent of the Christians them
selves believe in it literally 1t is not
the o-called educated classes entirely
that discredit the many miraculous
accounts in the bible. 1t Is the prac-
teal workingman, dealing with nature
in thousand ways, finding nowhere
any transgressions OF natures laws.
It was not SO a few hundred years
ago. The thinkers, the reasonerS, have