The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-12-10
THERE IS NO
MIDDLE MAN
Continued from page ~

thought there ought TO be a third
class for those who are not decidedly
good nor bad, but who are both good
and bad.
The proposition with which we are
to deal is that where the king
dom of righteousness and the
kingdom of evil meet there are to be
found types of human character
which seem to be of neither kingdom
but seem to be subjects of both. that
they have lived between the two
Kingdoms until they have their citi-
zenshfp in neither. The scientist has
proved that the alpaca is neither
sheep nor goat but is a species OF
camel, thus doing away with any pos
sible intermediary class. and we
hope to prove that Christ's classic
cation of good am lnd men still
stands supported by both Indepen
dent Philosopher, Scientist and The
ologian
Agree to Classification.
My first claim-is that the indepen-
dent philosopher and the Christian
thinker both agree that the twofold
classification which Christ made still
stands. The Independent thinker
claims that man presents a mixture
Of good and evil, that he is not good
or bad, but that he is borh good and
bad at the same time, that he is a
subject of strange moral confusion
and contradiction Whether the good
simply results from a lapse OF the
bad into quiesence, or Whether the
bad IS simply the gaining strength o.
his animal nature like the rising oi
the tide after its receding into the
deep is the question which lies BE
hind the evidence which makes lis
believe that man is born good and
cad at the same time but back o.
the evidence of good and evil mus;
be found the internal power which
determines all moral action. This
motive cannot be divided. 1t must be
one. To find this motive, or maste.
assion, supreme sympathy is to find
rhe single cause OF mans goodness
and badness. The independent think
er feels that he must look back of all
acton for The motive and George
Sand, nationalist, free thinker and
liver, expresses herself of this opin-
ion. She declares Man is not either
good or bad. ne is good and bad al
the same time. And Se.ng good ans
bad at the same time he is something
more. He must possess some eternal
power which leads him to be good OF
bad" She then admits that man a
heart must be either good or bad
hat every man has mis- master pas
sion, or sympathy, or moral bias by
which he must be judged.
The Christian thinker on the other
hand declares that the human cha-ac
ter is simple, and is either good OF
5ad He j., not good and bad at. the
same time. He has a spirit which
transfuses itself through his entire
nature, making him either good o.
bad according TO the character OF ai-
spirit. Christ taught that sin was
moral leprosy. Now leprosy is dis
ease OF the blood and a man needs
only the infection of the disease TO be
Pronounced a leper. II the virus is in
the blood he is leper. Now tie
free thinker and the Christian agree
for they both look at the heart and
claim that the ethical motive deter
mines a mans classification. They
both agree that men are borh good
Or at the last analysis according 10
their elect ideal, their master pas
sion and their supreme purpose. The.
both stand together wnen they ar
rive at the heart of man and declare
man at heart is not both good and
bad, but that he is either good or
bad, that he is either a sheep or a
goat, saint or a sinner, that Christ
was right.