The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-10

Wbat the Church Folks ire Thinking
AboUt and Doing. Religious Mems

[Yonl EVeR.YgyheFe.

needs no brains to be profane. g. Pro
family IS unrehned. BY common o. ON
sciousness Of the fitness of things. II
is deDarred from good society The
worst people, when at their best, es-
chew it. f. Most serious OF all, pro
family is irreyerent. 1t does VIoIence
to mans respect. for Jehovah, who has
said. Thou shalt not take the name Of
the Lord thy God in vain The laws
as delivered on Mount Sinai and as
simpliffed in the Sermon on the Mount,
is clearly violated by the light and un-
thinking use of oaths.
An encouraging sign of the times, in
this respect is the rapid spread OF the
Holy Name society in the Roman Cath
Ole church, which fOrbids profanity
and inculcates reverence for the divine
name. A more general organization IS
the Anti-profanity society, which Is
finding many adherents. Out Of con
sfderation for the purity of the mother
tongue for the careful use of words,
for refinement and elegance of speech,
and for the Name of Him Of whom It
is written, Holy and revered is his
Name, simple. clean and chaste Ian
guage IS to be promoted
How Hate Hurts.
The soul-shriveling principle OF re
taliation-''an eye for an eye, and
the condemnation of Jesus Instead of
a close reckoning Of vengeance and
justice he would substitute tolerance
and magnanimity. No man can really
afford to hate, since hate hurts the
hater more than the hated. No harm
that may be done to an enemy can
equal the harm done to ones self. On
so low a basis as that Of sheer Self-tn-
terest. It is better to suffer wrong than
to pursue revenge
The magnanimOus man cOnQuers
both himself and his foe BY this gem
tie principle, strikingly in contrast with
the worlds cruel way, Christianity has
won notable victories. The meekneSs
/ of the martyr has more than once con-
verted his slayer. The way Christians
can endure extreme injustice has pow
er to overcome even savage foes. One
/ consequence of the Boxer outbreak In
/ China has been an extraordinary in
I crease of accessions to the Christian
/ churches, due, at least, in part, to the
way Christians conducted themselves
during that bloody period
Everybody is at some time wronged
/ by somebody Many feel that circum-
stances wrong them, compel them,
as the word here used has it. making
/ drudges and cOnveniences of them.
How shall the injured one retaliate
/ May he grow bitter in spirit and by
/ being a hater become hateful, with a
grievance against life! Surely not. a
soured spirit IS a sorry spectacle. The
/ Jesus way is better. for 1t gives one the
spirit Of a true conqueror. Some may
I master circumstances. He who rises
serene and strong in his own spirit
above every injustice is more than vic
! tor. No enemy can do real hurt to the
( person who refuses to become venge-
ful and retalfatory, but maintains. in
stead, the forgiving spirit Of Jesus.
The Ultimate Goal.
One Of the most difficult as well as
one OF the most noble obligations OF
the Christian religion is laid down by
I the great Teacher in the principle
Love your enemies. and pray for them
that persecute you"
With something akin to irony Jesus
/ depicted the little. tWO-by-fOur code OF
conduct which made a man love his
own, serve those who served him. and
nate those who hated him. Even the
despised tax-gatherers, the social par
labs of Judaism, and the heathens be
yond the pole did this.
This was a Wolf-creed and utterly
alien to the nature of the God whom
Jesus called Father. All who would
show themselves of the lineage ant
character Of this Father, proving them
selves his sons, must rise to a higher
divine plane. The nobility of sucl
transcendent forgiveness has beer
recognized by the great authors. Their,
is scarcely a finer picture in literatur,
than Victor HugO's portrayal of Jeal
ValJean's returning good for evil. NJ
book describing a revenge can b,
classed with this one Of the world!
masterpieces.
The generous spirit is great; the re
, vengeful spirit is mean. They who
like Jesus, who cried on the cross
Father, forgive them; they know no
j. what they do not only themselve
pardon their enemies but also seek di
s vine pardon for them, are displaying
: the very attributes of God himself
[ And, when the last word has been said
{ 1t remains true that God-likeness is tn
. greatest ultimate goal of humanity.