Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-01

II ! addressed you upon the SUBJECT u
law 1 might interest the lawyers; II
discussed the science of medicine
might interest the physicians In like
manner merchants might be interested
in talk on commerce, and farmers
in a discussion on agriculture; but
none of these subjects appeals TO an
Even the science of government
though broader than any profession or
occupation, does not embrace the whole
sum of life, and those who think upon
it differ so among themselves that 1
could not speak upon the subject SO as
to please part without onendlhg
others. While to me the science OF
government is intensely absorbing, l
recognize that the most important
things in life lie outside of the realm
of government and that more depends
upon what the individual does for him
self than upon what the government
does or can do for him. Men can be
miserable under the best government,
and they can be happy under the worst
government.
Government affects but part of the
life which we live here, and does not
touch at all the life beyond, while re-
ligion touches the infinite circle or ex-
istence as well as the small arc of that
circle which we spend on earth. NO
greater theme, therefore, can engage
our attention.
Man Is a religious being; the heart
instinctively seeks for God. Whether
he worships on the banks of the Gan
ges, prays with his face upturned to
the sun, kneels toward Mecca or, re-
garding all space as a temple, COM
munes with the Heavenly Father ac-
cording to the Christian creed, man Is
essentially devout.
There are honest doubters whose sin
cerity we recognize and respect, but
occasionally I find young men who
think it smart to be skeptical; they
talk as If 1t were an evidence OF larger
intelligence to scott at creeds and re-
fuse to connect themselves with
churches. They call themselves lib
eral," as If a Christian were narrow
minded. To these young men l desire
to address myself.
Even some older people profess to
regard religion as a superstition, par
donable in the ignorant, but unworthy
of the educated-a mental state which
one can and should outgrow. Those
who hold this view look down with
mild contempt upon such as, give to
religion a definite place in their
thoughts and lives. They assume an
intellectual superiority and often take
little pains to conceal the assumption.
Tolstoy administers to the cultured
crowd" (the words quoted are his) a
severe rebuke when he declares that
the religious sentiment rests not upon
a Sup6rSLlLlOuS rear OF IuS lnNlSlDle
forces of nature, but upon mans con-
seriousness of his finiteness amid an
infinite universe and of his sinfulness;
and this consciousness, the philosopher
adds, man can never outgfow. Tolstoy
is right; man recognizes how limited
are his own powers and how vast is the
universe, and he leans upon the arm
that is stronger than his. Man feels
the weight of his sins and looks for
One who is sinless.
Morality Impossible Without Religion
Religion has been defined as the re-
lation which man fixes between himself
and his God, and morality as the out
ward manifestation of this relation.
Every one, by the time he reaches ma
turity, has fixed some relation between
himself and God, and no material
change in this relation can take place
without a revolution in the man, for
this relation is the most potent In
fuence that acts upon a human life.
Religion is the basis of morality in
the individual and in the group of in
dividuals. Materialists have attempted
to build up a system of morality upon
the basis of enlightened self-interest.
They would have man figure out by
mathematics that 1t pays him to abb
stain from wrongdoing; they would
even inject an element Of selhshness
into altruisn, but the moral system
elaborated by the materialists has sew
eral defects. First, its virtues are bor-
rowed from moral systems based upon
religion; second, as it rests upon argu-
ment rather than upon authority, 1t
does not appeal to the young, and by
the time the young are able to follow
their reason they have already become
set In their ways. Our laws do not
permit young man to dispose Of real
estate until he is 21. Why this re-
sf1~a int 10 rna ca fc nt mn
ture; and yet mans life is largely
nodded by the environment Of his
youth. Third, one never knows just
how much of his decision is due to
reason and how much is due to passion
or selfish interest. We recognize the
bias of self-interest when we exclude
from the jury every man, no matter
how reasonable or upright he may be,
who has pecuniary interest in the re-
suit of the trial. And, fourth, one
whose morality is based upon a nice
calculation of benefits to be secured
spends time figuring that he Should
spend in action. Those who keep a
book account of their good deeds sell
dom do enough good to justify keeping
books.
Morality is the power of endurance in
man; and a religion which teaches
personal responsibility to God gives
strength to morality There is a power
ful restraining influence in the belief
that an all-seeing eye scrutinlzes every
thought and word and act of the in
dividual.
There Is a wide difference between
the man who Is trying to conform to
a standard Of morality about him and
the man who is endeavoring to make
his life approximate to a divine stand
ard. The former attempts to live up
to the standard If it is above him and
down to it If 1t is below him-and If he
Fl Oh xzf1a a
looking he is sure to find a time when
he thinks he is unobserved, and then
he takes a vacation and falls. One
needs the inner strength which comes
with the conscious presence of a per-
sonal God. II those who are thus for
titled sometimes yield to temptation,
how helpless and hopeless must those
be who rely upon their own strength
alone!
There are difficulties to be encoun-
tered in religion, but there are diff
culties to be encountered everywhere
passed through period of skepticism
when I was In college, and I have
been glad ever since that became a
member of the church before I left for
college, for 1t helped me through those
trying days. The college days cover
the dangerous period in the young
mans life; it Is when he is just coming
into possession of his powers-when he
feels stronger than he ever feels after
ward and thinks he knows more than
he ever does know.
Confused by Theories in His Youth