Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-03

Los Angeles Fellowship.
1.-The Remedy for the Divorce Evil'
was the topic of a prelude by Reynold
e. Blight, minister of the Los Angeles
Fellowship at Blanchard hall, yester-
day morning. He said:
Legislation will never solve the di-
vorce problem, nor win denunciation
of divorces help matters. For GEN.
turies churchmen have Illuminated,
statesmen have legislated, and society
has frowned, yet today we find the
number of divorces growing at an
alarming rate, and the sacred institu-
tion of the family menaced The land
is full of broken lives, ruined homes
and children worse than orphaned
THE trouble with most of the rem
edies offered is-they are applied too
late, or at the wrong place. 1t is an
absurd thing to tell a mismated couple
who are married, yet hate each other
and to whom the association is veri-
table hell, that they have been Joined
together by God and the bend is in
dissoluble. In all Gods universe there
is only one true foundation for mar
riage and that is love. Under any
other conditions real union is impos-
sible, and the intimate association of
marriage reprehensible When awaken
ing and disillusionment shock cou-
pie into a realization that they have
made a dreadful mistake. ana that love
between them is unthinkable, the re-
lationship is q menace to the moral
health of the community. All the
law in the country and the authority
of the church, cannot make such
home sweet.
Three Remedies Suggested
"The remedy for the divorce evil
-,
First, the young people must be
educated to the responsibilities and du
ties of marriage. The sex question is
the most momentous in life, and there
is no vital subject upon which our
youth are so woefully ignorant. False
modesty on the part Of parents and
sdueamish attitude toward the funda-
mental facts of life, send our children
out into the world to gather their
knowledge in dark corners, in the pur-
lieus of vice, or through the perilous
paths Of emotional impulse and ex-
perience No wonder that ere they
know it they are caught in the tan
gle of impure thought and habit. The
whole ideal of marriage becomes cor
rupted and debased. Unnumbered young
people stand before the marriage altar
b1ase, diseased or perverted, and the
blame rests primarily upon the parents.
"The curse of modern society is the
double standard of virtue. The bride
groom should be as chaste and clean
souled as the bride. Your divorce
courts will be thronged just so long
as society receives smutted young men
as pampered darlings while the
wronged woman is kicked into the
gutter.
Only One True Basis
"Our youth must be taught that there
is only one true basis for marriage
and that is love. Marriages for con-
venience, for a home, for comforts, to
please parents or friends, or for any
other reason is a crime against ma
ture, against society, and against each
other. And love is not the passing
flush of emotion, it is deep recogni-
ton of character, that quick percep-
tion of inherent eXcellencies, that sub
tie sympathy, that melting of soul into
soul that defies exact definition, but
of which every true lover is conscious.
There must be a union of spirit, as
we'll as of financial interest, sexual
emotion, and intellectual companion
ship.
"The ideals of society must be lifted
also. A frivolous society will hold
a light conception of marriage. A sor-
did society will view the marital re-
lation through it's eyes of greed. When
public opinion looks upon marriage as
a sacred obligation willingly assumed,
not for personal advantage, but that
the highest interests of both contract
ing parties and of society may be
served, in the spirit of purity, of love
and unselfishness, divorce laws VIII
be unnecessary. And the reformation
must start with our children.