Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-03-07
OSTRACIZE THE WICKED.
PROF. ADLER DISCUSSES HOW TO
DEAL WITH PUBLIC lNlQulTY.
lie Believes That the Church Has in
Exclusion Strong Weapon Which
1t Should Use, but Deprecates PIac-
ing Certain Virtues Above Others.

gle Hall, on Wnetner cnurcneS and re-
ligious societies should use ostracism
in the struggle against public iniquity
He said ne believed in ostracism in
certain cases, but that the great dan.
ger to churches and religious societies
lay in the erection Of rigid moral
codes and in the placing of certain
virtues above all others.
Prof Adler cited the case of young
she should marry a man whom she
hardly knew. simply because he Meth
er drank nor smoked To them this
was sufficient guarantee that the
husband they had picked for her was a
moral man, yet he turned out TO be a
monster of iniquity and caused her to
lead life of untold misery.
DR.. Adler prefaced his lecture by
the statement that any man who is not
wholly corrupt will pay secret respect
to that very honesty of which he fails
short in his practical affairs. The
worst libertine will bend the knee be-
fore purity when he sees it in all its
unmistakable radiance.
Taking up the Church, ne said it had
lasted so long because it was so useful
morally. Early Christianity was a
great moral movement. New stand
ards were appreciated, and in some
cases, at least, lived up to. 1t taught
the people to put aside the racial mar
rowI ass so characteristic of Israel,
and thus the most exclusive race be-
came the most inclusive.
But there is no denying the fact,
continued the speaker, ''that all
churches and all religious societies
are losing their influence. The hand
of religion on human affairs is weak.
It's voice is scarcely heard. In fact. it
is rarely ever raised against public
iniquity. Look at the crimes of the
last ten years, The heads of the great
communions were silent on the out.
RACES committed in China. Rome was
silent. The Vatican spoke no word
of condemnation on what Christian
people were doing in China. And the
Protestant Church was no less mute
and ineffective.
'And so there is a distinct and pal
pable decline in the influence Of the
Church. Statistics show US that the
number of young men in our colleges
willing to enter the ministry has great
ly fallen off. There are said to be
considerably more churches than there
are ministers for them. How, then,
can churches and religious societies
be made more effective? Should they
not, instead of combining their attacks
to doctrinal heterodoxy, also take a
stand against moral offenses?
"The Church lays down certain rules
as to the right relations between the
sexes both before and after marriage.
If it laid down certain rules or bust
ness and then cut off all who did not
comply with them, would not the peo-
pie feel that the Church once more
lives? The great weakness of reli-
gion is due to the general belief that
it is not real. Another thing that
weakens it is the contrast between
precept and practice. There are
plenty of good men and women in the
churches, but somehow the whole at
titude of these bodies is weak and in
effective. | blame no one for this. be-
cause the situation is complex and a
better way hard to find.
How can we bring it about that
there shall be greater agreement be-
tween what is taught in the pulpit
and on the platform and the practice
of the members of religious bodies?
What is the use of pleading for purity
if young men continue in their impure
ways?"
Concerning the use of ostracism as
a corrective, the speaker said it was
dangerous to make a set of certain
liked rules and then drop all who did
not comply. On the other hand, 1t
was just as dangerous to throw down
all barriers and have no rules at all
This extreme latitude is not feasible.
The Church can not say it has no con-
Germ with how its members behave
themselves.
Take, for instance, the Command
ment Thou shalt not steal This
should not be held to include merely
burglary and larceny, but also the
stealing that is done by fraudulent
bankruptcy. A man guilty of that
crime may say, You have got nothing
to do with my morals. come to hear
you talk and / am helping to support
your church or society But can
church live that winks or connives at
such a view? Does it not stultify IT.
self? Will you not in such case
bring discipline to bear? Isn't the
Church weak because ii doesn't pay
attention to these things?
Il can conceive of man Icing
theoretical anarchist and yet being a
moral man, but / cannot conceive OF
a man throwing bomb and seeing all
the horrors that follow in the train of
the act unless he has bad heart.
Neither can / see how the Church can
allow the woman five times divorced
to take seat among the congregation.
Legally, she may have done nc wrong,
but the Church should require con-
formity to standard higher than that
upon the statute books"
Prof Adler said he believed that
in exclusion the Church had a strong
weapon for It's upbuilding, and that
even If this rs used only rarely it will
have a wholesome effect and show the
offenders that they have to deal with
a body not wholly innocuous, body
that is not TO be hoodwinked or bought.
1t will also have wholesome reaction
airy effect upon those who sit in judg-
ment, for it will help them to appre-
ciate the st;tldarss which they have
applied to otners.-New York Sun.
Look Out for This Woman.
A comparatively new style Of thiev-
ing has been developed recently and
is being operated along the lines of
re elevated roads. An elderly, inirm
woman about to climb the stairway TO