Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1905-06-21

G<ZAS& by native OF that country now
living in America.
elbow much Of it is false, and how much Of it is
trRei From what angie OF observation has this
person been viewing the American peOplei
sI would like to see these questions answered in an
editorial in the American" ga HUMAN BEING"
The enclosed extract referred to reads follows;
sI am sending you a couple of daily Boston
newspapers to-day. They reveal what great and
still what a terrible, country thisi Human beings,
how they fight and slaughter for power, place and
pelfl Do you see this sign ($)f-it is the sign Of
the dollar. That's the god of this country. 1t is
first in the worship Of every American All deites
in the universe take a back seat for this (S) god
1t is hard to say such thing but the hardest part
of it all is that is only too true Don't laugh at
me when / say that this is tue worst kind Of god
that was ever wOrshipped-it kills the heart.
America claims to have a large hesrt-yes g;gan-
tic slab Of marble with this inscription (S)."
/ am ashamed TO have to admit that the ugly
charge Is unaRswerable.
It is true and bnmiliating "a it may be, there is
nothing for ,lO but face the fact as gracefully
as we eau.
The native goes too far ia saying that "every
American" is a wOrshipper OF the DOllar-there
being here and there an American who
has a soul and some reverence for lie's spiritual
vaues-but in the main he is quite right.
The American people-as peOple-are thorough
" cOmmercialized. The only values they seem 10
care anything for are of the material order.
'eWhst are you wOrthI" And that MEANS "How
many dollars do you own or cOntrOli"
stAre you succeedingf" And that means, 1'And
you getting rlchR Are you wearing fine clothes,
you living in fine house, do you live on the fat
Of the lsud, do yOu go with the crowd that ride in
the big aaos and appear in costly attire at society
big functonsi"
That man may be worth something and still
be poor in dollars and cents and houses and lands,
is to the average American Of to day prepOsterOus
idea.
That there may be wealth that shall be quite
aside from bank accounts, stocks and bonds is a
thought too utterly ridiculous for the average man
in this country to take with any degree OF serO1s
ness.
To have '.heathen" make mark like this 90
and tell as it is our god may strike us as being
rather "sassy," but 'What are You going to do
about iti'7
What is God anyway I can only answer that
God is the Highest, the very top notch of One's
aspiration; the idea, or thing, that is Supreme in
ones thought and life.
This being so, there is no lodging the fact that
the God Of the American people is the DOllar-and
the things that the dollar will buy.
For money, and the things that money viii buy,
We sell our sons and daughters our peace OF mind
and truth and sefrespect.
For money viii ieOpardize our very lives and
daily sacrifice the lives of our fellows.
For money and for the material goods that money
commands We cheerlully barter the honor OF man
and the virtue Of woman.
For money we stultiiy ourselves--at the marriage
altar, at the bar Of justice, around the domestic
hearth, and in the very sanctuary ofreligon
What then, is our Highest-Our God-iiitb be not
the cold, metallic, merCenaTy thing that bears Che
image and superscription OF Caesarl
Blush as we may, cannot deny that the native Of
India US from the true angle when he said that
our God isthe Dollar-the 'fworst kind OF God that
was ever worshiped"-the God that "lills the
heart"