Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-08-09
ASsS55S=s55555S55:5SSNS@S
THE SOCIAL CONSCIENCE.
By Rev. Henry F. Cop


By Rev. Henry F. Cope.
"And the Lord said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy Gen. w.,
8.
Social selfishness is the most serious
charge against the church Of our day.
II the charge be sustained 1t simply
indicates that the church has become
subdued to the spirit and subservient
grave danger Of this age is that it shall
be dominated by social seltishness.
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 invective freely poured on
the individual or the corporation which
for gain sells out the lives of men and
women and disregards 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 a 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,
all's we'll with this world, there is no
good cause for popular discomfort; but
it is a 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
mamnon, when the power of wealth to
do wrong is coupled with the inability
of poverty to do right.
1t is a stunted intellect that says
conditions are no worse III. our day
than they used to be. These things
cannot be measured by former condi-
tons; 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 be satisfied with the backward
look. But every ege 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
heritor 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 a body bearing the name
of him who came to save the world
standing with hand outstretched beg
ging the world to save it from poverty,
to lift it to luxury, and to enable it to
enjoy soothing sermons and rich fur
nishings? The deadly heresy is this
living for ourselves, this selfishness
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
whitening whirlwind. "Inasmuch as We
did it 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.
RU Rev q z ALad