Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-06-19
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rHE DUTY OF THINKING.
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By Henry F. Cope.
Think on these things. Phil. w..
8.
Prejudice is the barrier to any de-
gree of power, to any kind of progress.
| No matter how sincerely you may hold
your views, if they ere held in will
| full, determined exclusion of any other
possible views your sincerity will fur
| nish no cloak to shield you from the
/ consequences of your ignorance and
bigotry.
II there is any such being as the devil,
certainly his master stroke was exc
cuted when he persuaded men to lock
up their minds and induced them to
believe that it was a sin to think, led
them to conceptions of religious truth,
as something fixed and immutable, and
then split up the religious world into
warning camps, each fighting for its
own fixed views.
At first, when one confronts religious
prejudice he Is inclined to ask, What
e the use of it all? Why worry at all
about doctrines and creedsT Yet,
while philosophy is not the most i'm
portant thing, it is to life and action
as root to fruit. AS man thinks In
his heart regarding the great questions
of destiny and duty, so Is he in his
life
1t is Of no little Importance, then,
that there should be right, clear think
ing. In fact, the habit of clear think
ing is Of greater value than the results
of such thinking when formulated In
creeds or doctrines 1t is not only a
question as to what you are thinking
about and what your conclusions may
be; there is the deeper question
whether you have the energy and cour-
age to think through your problems
at all.
In religion, as everywhere else, the
need is that men should think deeply
and thoroughly. Intellectual coward
ice and mental sloth are serious foes
Of high character. Yet religionists are
still often ready to hurl their denuncia-
tons at those who have the temerity
to think about sacred subjects.
Intellectual stagnation and sloth fire.
quently calls itself spiritual fidelity.
They who are too lazy to step out and
conquer new territory are busy hold
ing the fort, defending doctrines long
since outgrown; instead of fighting the
foes of all mankind they are hurting
adjectives and anathemas at those who
have disturbed their mental slumbers
by daring to think the thoughts of the
Infinite in this new day.
1t is to be feared that there are self
appointed defenders of the faith who,
II they ever arrive in paradise, will
bring nothing but their lungs along, all
other affairs, such as heart and brain,
having persisted from disuse. Yet to-
day such blind unthinking mouths
would have men believe that they are
the oracles of the Most High
There never has been a time when
there were no heretics. Leaders always
must walk alone while the mob abuses
them for their temerity. The world
never has been entirely without those
who saw that each day brought some
larger light. But the declarations of
this still stirs those who love darkness
better than light to these tactics of
persecution that are as old as religion
itself.
Every man must summon up the en-
ergy to do some of his own thinking
and the courage to stand by that which
he thus obtains for himself. There can
be no living faith without freedom In
thinking, We need not only to insist
on this right for ourselves but to main
tam and protect the right of all msn
to liberty of conscience, to discover
aud hold their own beliefs.
No man can be n true man who is
afraid of the truth. No religion can
endure long that fees from investiga.
ton. Only the friends of darkness and
those who love its deeds fear the light.
The foes of religion are its friends who
would put faith into fixed forms, who
fear the futures larger life.
Religion is the art OF living in the
light of infinite relationships. Intelii-
gence is a means of knowing these rela-
tionships, What are we better than the
beasts If we do not reach out with
mind and heart to know all that may
be known of this way of life? What
are we better than broken spirited
slaves If we dare not look up and out
each for ourselves and see this goodly
universe and wondrous life of all as
the Lord of all has planned 1t?
IN THE BATTLE OF LIFE.
By Rev. George Daniel HadIev