The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1908-02-27

DOCTRINE
Our Regular Weekly Contribution
On the Subject care Religion
and Socialism Antagonistic ;
(ARTICLE ,rNVO.)

ne reason why those who had worked I
so hard in the cause of their religion |
We're at last rejected as not being true
disciples was that they had made the
same mistake that tho Pharisces made in
making religion to consist of service Ia
God, instead of service to their fellow
beings. james says: Pure religion and
indebted before God and the Father is
this: To visit the fathcrlcss ana wild,
ows i'll their atiliction, and to keep him
self unspottcd from the world God
does not stand in need of anything. for
he is all sufficient in himself We can
neither take away from Him nor add to
Him. He can neither be flattcrcd nor in.
suited. 1t costs something to visit the
fatherless and widows in the sense james
speaks. But worship costs but little.
You can say prayers, sing psalms. and
shout glory to God very shcaply. but it
takes good money to feed the hungry.
and clothe the naked And while there
have been supcrstitious men who were
the soul of bcnevocnce, as rule. those
who are very supcrstitious and very
exact in paying ''tithc of mint, anisc
and cinnamon are usually negligent of
| the weightier duties to their fellow men.
And many of the bloodiest of men have
been exceedingly superstitious in the
performance of some religious rites The
cut-throat buccaneers of the West In.
dies. for instance who are said to have
had priests along in their pilluging and
numbering expeditions. The picture of
the pharisec given in the New Tesla
mcnt, OF Il man very Jealous OF the out
ward forms of religion, but showing
little mercy and compassion, is as true
OF the average professor of today as it
was then, and III no way is this dispo-
sitlon more clearly shown than in the
commcrcialism of the present day. which
is not condemned by the churches. but
distinctly encouraged, just as chnttcl
slavery was fostcred by the churches
Wherever 1t prevailed. Indeed, under
stand it to be a historical fact that II
bishop of the church was the first to
bring slaves from Africa. and made this
excuse that it was IL Christian duty to
rescue the African idolatcrs, and bring
them here to christiauise them. The
real motive for bringing them, whatever
the prctence might be, was the profit in
| 1T. And this aim at profit is the Same
in slavery and com1ncrcialism. They are
twin brothers. The soul of cacl, is proii,
that Is the getting of something valuable
Tor nothing. Thus if you give nine dol
lars Tor thing worth ten dollars the
tenth dollar you get for nothing-that
is profit. That is what slavery was for
the very same that commcrcialis,n is
for--something for nothing GAMBLING
| comes IN the same category. And so in
iatuatcd are the worshipers of ma,nmou
that they are absolutely blind to the in
lquIty of it. They are as blind as SnuI
OF Iarsus who verify believed he was
doing God service when persecutino tbo
church, and putting christians to death,
Although they profess to believe in Jesus
yet, when He says '.Yc cannot serve
Hod and mammOn,' it has no rncanino To
them. They are like the New Orleans
ticayune, before the war. that said the
Golden Rule was all right, but it did
not apply to negroes. SO these lnanmou
worshipers say it does not apuIv 10
trade. So to love your neighbor rs YOUR
self, that is, treat your neichbor as Won
very poor practice. InpracticabIe in
TACT And So when Socialists teach :,
system of ethics (the science of human
duty) founded on the Golden Rule. they
say 1T is impractical, it is visionary. Yea.
they even 30 so far as TO accuse us of
wanting 10 do the very thing they in
sIst on their right to do-the acouiripr
OF other mems property for nothing.
1t IS simply the game of the thief cry |
ing out stop thief to divert attention |
from themselves
Statistics published by the United /
states government show that the work /
ers, as whole, receive onc-fifth of what
they earn. while the employers receive
four-fifths. They claim that capital and
labor are equal partners in producing
wealth, but they are not equal partners
IN dividing it. Instead OF giving labor
the half of the product, they allow labor
less than onefourth of it And then
howl about somebody else wanting to
divide up while they are dividing up
the hons share to them selves To them