The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-04-21
UNITARIANISM ANALYZED.
Too R~suOnalIstlc to Compete With Crscds
OF Acaulescence and Faith.


To THE EDIToR or THE SUN-Sr. Several
contributed articles have lately appeared In
THE SIN purporting 10 account for the small
ness Of the Unitarian movement and ~
failure to grow, II appears TO me that the
reasons assigned are insufficient, and ] have
therefore outlined what appears to me 10
be a more fundamental reason for lis failure
a. an institution. a reason not exclusively
applicable TO Uniarianism but TO all re-
ligIous movements attempting to satisfy the
demands Of the ratiOnalistic mind
/ submit that from a psychological stand
point a distinctive characteristic Of a thor
! oughgoing instit utional religious move
ment Is a demand made upon It's adherents
OF an Affirmative belief In a set Of principles
that are beyond the power Of the mind reason
ably TO understand. In other words il Is
ultra rational, Being International the mind
finds equilibrium In the attitude OF faith.
Conformity in belief and continuity in faith
are prime requisites 10 such an organization
Departure from the prescribed religious con-
ceptions IL punishable by conventional and
alleged spiritual penalties.
IL is apparent that these elements OF institu-
tional religion are such as appeal only to a
low or mediocre order Of mental ard intel
lfNl wv W ~ u ~
"A we know II to-day. can only thrive on igno-
rance or a narrow and prescribed intellectual
development.
With the leaven Of intelligence constantly
affecting an increasing number Of church
people there must be a gradual breaking
away from the established order Of religious
thought. MAY II not be that UnitsTianism
ia no more than a middle ground for those on
the one hand who. while possessed Of a
truly religious feeling. are breaking away
from the orthodox church: and on the other
hand for those who, having drunk deeply Of
the liberal and scientific thought Of the time,
yet temperamentally demand a pietistic eS-
preston and a synthesis Of a divine order in
the universe? As a result Unitarianism tends
to become a community Of free minds minds
free bv virtue Of wide experience and NJ q
broad range Of knowledge in things spiritual
and Of the outer world. Blu We have as an
Inseparable accompaniment among its mem
bership an increasingly developed individual
lsm-an individualism that enables its DOS
SCISSOR TO stand on his own feet; an individual
ism that minimizes the importance OF %associa.
ton and associationAl worship In the crucial
matters Of spiritual concern; an Individuals,
that defines It's own conception OF God and
Nature. an individualism that creates lie own
unknoWable and synthetizes is " formulS
OF Z divine order.
Have we not here then q large segment
In the circle OF explanation for the failure OF
institutional CnltaTiantsmY IL tends TO be.
come a heterogeneous organization OF ind
yidualists untrammelled by any express
International command or prohibition, H.
contradistinction TO a homogeneous body OF
intellectually plant units. Here we have
the key TO both It's strength and weakness
Its institutional efficiency stands In an In.
verse relation to the spiritual and Intellectual
capacity Of It's members,
Roughly speaking. from the standpoint Of
institutional efficiency. tnltarlsnlsn stands
orthodox Professionalism that the latter stands
in toward Roman Catholicism. Catholicism
stands az the acme of church organization,
but It's strength Ia buttressed In the dense
ignorance and superstition Of its cOmmunl-
oants. And 30, for the sake OF illustration,
we have UnitArlanism and Roman Catholicism
standing a. the extremes in organized re-
ligion. The former Ia scattered. dlfused,
weak In organization, and In actual member
~yidunlistic in faith and belief. The latter j.
concentrated. definite In aims. i~mpregnable
In lis organized strength and numbers, and
above all homogeneous In faith.
Complaint may be made that this view u
pessimlstic, and 50 II IL without doubt. IL -
dlficult 10 see any immediate future for A
strongly organized Unitarian movement. a.
long as human nature remains as Il Is nov
that The Beliefs which unitsTianism repre.
sents are worldwide and lie deep In the heart
Of millions Of men and women who have
never had serious thought Of Allytng them
selves with the organized moysment;
SPOKANE. Wash, April IL.