The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-11-06
THE OLD CHURCH AND NEW FADS.

Mr.. William A. Kinds has very graciously mailed
us a copy of his american Communities" which
records the beginning and the end of forty
religions and sects established communistc lines.
In nearly every instance these attempts to bet
ter the social and spiritual condition of
began with blare of trumpets and newspaper adver-
Using. The effort was successful for a time only,
when one after the other went down to ruin, or,
eliminating the religious element, became joint
stock companies under secular management.
We well remember the laudations and praises
showered. upon DR.. Dowie when he built up his
great lace and other industries and made of Zion
model city, where smoking, gambling, swear
ing or drinking" tolerated. and also the shrek
of derison which hailed his disastrous failure and
the collapse of Zion.
The capital error of all these utopian dreams
and of all Socialism is that they assume the posi-
bty of perfect and sinless nature in the abstract
masses of our
The theory of these reformers, dreamers or fa-
natics is that we will all do the right thing if af
fairs are only well managed The founder of
sect believes, consciously unconsciously that he
is sent of God has divine mission or has the SUI
preme talent to reform society. The theory of the
reformer or the dreamer is that cunning greed,
selfshness, dishonesty and cruelty exist because
of bad laws of spiritual decay in communities or
that social conditions are out of plumb. They as
sert that, if social condition were as they ought
to be- rational and women would be angels,
and that all want and misery would cease to exist.
But, as they are not, the reformer suddenly
makes his appearance in midst and cries aloud:
Behold comew
Then he delivers his message is believed trust
ed and followed by the discontinued, the restless
and the fool. They are organized into body called
congregation a community, and begin to think
they have divine mission and are an exclusive
people They believe their nature to be regenerated
and sanctifed and that they are proof against the
temptations of the world the flesh and the devil
himself.
The result is for time encouraging, and this
encouragement confirms them in the persuasion
that they are Gods people
For years there are prosperity, economy. peace
and contentment. In every such case, however,
complications are sure, sooner or later, to follow;
human nature begins to exhibit its old side and its
old faults; discussions, anmosites ealousies creep
in and, in time, they awake and find it all
dream
If this be the doom and the end of every small
religious community, of every sect, even when for
titled by religious motives and religious creed
what are we to think of national or even state So
cialism, which excludes the supernatural and is we'd
ded to materialism?
We fear, from study of the past, that the
Socialists dream of peace, order and contentment
would end in an awakening to disaster and ruin
By the time the new order was e established it
would be discovered that few smart devils had.
to use the language of Wall street, "cornered the
market" Then would follow reign of terror, op-
preston and poverty like unto that which occurred
when France went mad and in 1871, introduced ma
tional socialism and wrote on its coat of arms.
mi Dieu nj maitre" (No God, no ruler")
1t is a good thing that Chicago, the most So
cialistic city in America, should have so close at
hand the object lesson of Zion City as warning
against the madness of socialism. 1t is also de-
serving of note that the wrath of radical Social
lists passes by all the Protestant sects in its mad
rush to get at the throat of the Catholic church
the foe of anarchy and the toilers trust friend for
time and eternity.
EIDEC