Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-08-10
THE SOCIAL CONSCIENCE.
By Rev. Henry F. Cope
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BY Rev. Henry F. Cope.
"And the Lord said unto Cain.
Where is Abel thy brother ?''-Gen, w.,
g.
Social selfishness is the most serious
charge against the church of our day.
IL the charge be sustained 1t simply
indicates that the church has become
subdued to the spirit and subseryient
to the method of the world, for the
grave danger OF this age Is that it shall
be dominated by social seIfishness.
Yet the correctness with which this
accusation is made against the church
for failure to enter upon her work of
regenerating and reconstructing socie-
ty, the fierce inyective freely poured on
the individual or the corporation which
for gain sells out the lives of men and
women and dlsEegards all human
rights, the popular indignation against
social wrong is the most promising sign
of the time ~
There is an awakening social con
science; as never before men are real
izing that the old question, "Am / my
brothers keeper must be answered in
a clear and active affirmative There
never was time when there was more
serious search for the right way of
discharging that responsibility which
the individual has come to feel for hui
mainly as a whole
IL would be happy thing if we
could sit down at our ease and say.
alls well with this world, there is no
good cause for popular discomfort; but
1t Is horrible thing when we thus sit
at ease and speak smooth words while
things are far from right, when justice
Is thwarted by greed and the lives of
children are devoured. by the moloch of
mammon, When the power of wealth TO
do wrong Is coupled with the inability
of poverty TO do right.
1t is stunted intellect that says
conditions are no worse In our day
than they used to be. These things
cannot be measured by former condl-
tions; they must be measured by the
present day conscience. They are bet
ter than they were, but they are ut
terly wrong and bad until they come
to that standard we know to be right.
If you measure things by yesterday
you will bg satisfied with the backward
look. But every pge must have new
standards. Humanity never can stand
still. Standards of living and ideals in
life continually must rise higher The
desire for betterment which you Justify
in yourself ought to be reflected in dis
content with anything short of constant
improvement in the lot of others.
Every man has duty to society he
is debtor to all humanity; he Is the in
herltor of the high privilege of making
the world better, fairer, happier Most
of all does this duty and indebtedness
rest upon those who profess TO follow
the man of Nazareth, who came into
the world to redeem society The
church will be measured not by the
prevalence of her creeds but by the
production of type of character and
the prevalence of ideal conditions for
it's perfection.
Is there any greater mockery to-day
than that of body bearing the name
of him who came to save the world
standing with hand outstretched beg
cling the world to save it from poverty,
to lift it to luxury, and to enable 1t TO
enjoy soothing sermons and rich fur
nishings? The deadly heresy is this
living for ourselves, this selfshness
that puts to sleep the social conscience.
Neither the church nor the individ-
ual can live in "a little garden walled
around" We steadily are tempted to
shield ourselves from the loathsome
sights of poverty and the heavy drafts
on our sympathies made by suffering.
Walled in by responsibility we hope to
escape responsibility. Yet at the last
we shall but hear the words, like a
whitening whirlwind, "Inasmuch as We
did 1t not to one of the least of these"
Nor Is that all every time we refuse
to give ourselves, some Of our thought
and energy, our sympathy and love to
others, we cut off that much of our
own lives The narrow, dwarfed soul
is the one that is ever turned In on
itself and never reaching out to others.
He who lives to dissatisfaction Is
dead already; only he who lives to
serve humanity is alive and lives more
and more and forever.
HOW TO REACH THE PEOPLE