The national forum., 1910-05-28
RELIGION for MEN
The Present Demand 1~. =
Replenishment Of the
Churches with Masculine
Virtues.

Virtues.
I'm the shifting conditions Of mod"
ern life thoughtful minds are pom
dering the best ways of adapting
church machinery to new problems.
One of the features OF the present
4 awakening of religious interest Is the
demand for a replenishment of the
churches with the masculine virtues.
| The demand Is not premature. The
| census shows that In most of the de-
| nominations the women outnumber
| the men nearly two to one. The
Christian Scientists, naturally enough,
lead Off with the largest percentage
of women: in that communion the
! mother element might be expected
| to prevail. The highest percentage of
men is found in some of the Lutheran
divisions, which may be explained in
part by the fact that all the children,
male and female, are required to learn
| hs-ea<echigm ana be -eeRffmed; but
| 1t is doubtful whether the proportion
of adult males in actual service of the
church is larger among the Lutherans
than among the other sects.
Various explanations of this dispro-
portion of sex are offered. 1t is some
times intimated that the types OF re-
ligion presented by the churches are
more adapted to the feminine than to
the masculine mind; but If that We're
true ii would still be questionable
whether it was a cause or conse-
quence. Some light is thrown upon
the question by the fact that the
church is not the only field Of activity
in which we find large preponder-
ance of women. Public education js
largely in the hands of women; they
are giving to the fine arts far more at
tention than men, and among our phil
anthropic workers they are in heavy
majority. The spiritual side of civili-
zation seems to be committed quite
largely to their care. The reason is
that the men are so much engrossed
in the development of the material
side Of civilization that they find little
time for these higher pursuits. The
consequences of this neglect by men
of the superior interests of their
lives we have been reaping in the
appalling infdelities and dishonesties
which have recently been uncovered.
It is true that the men have been
dropping out of the churches and los
ing interest in religious matters, and
it does not look as though this were
working well. In the quarters where
this tendency has been most shown
there has clearly been a marked de-
crease in masculine morality. 1t be-
gins to be questionable whether sound
character is likely to be sustained
apart from the spiritual ideals.
IF it be evident that the men need
religion, il Is not less evident that
relgioo needs the men. God made
irankind In rlis image. mole and ie-
WIZ ald. mo sya4ln!ne qualities repres4AL
p5 side OF The diYdlty thar Is in as
and The rlssculire qualities another
and the complete revelation requires
| both. A church which is two.thirds
women cannot fully represent this di-
vine life it cannot make true inn
preston of the great realities of re-
ligion upon the community in which
it stands. There can be no doubt that
the church has been greatly enfeebled
by this withdrawal of large number
of men from active participation in its
life.
1t is the discovery of this fact that
awakened the widespread interest
now finding expression in the brother
hoods springing into vigorous life in
all the Christian denominations. The
Brotherhood of st. Andrew in the
Episcopal church has long been an
efficient organization, and the healthy
growth of that communion is due in
large part to this agency. But all the
other denominations are now rallying
their men for similar service; in great
conventions, East and West, the men
Of the churches are coming together
to envisage their tasks and shoulder
their responsibilities Some of the
most enthusiastic gatherings which
have recently taken place in this
country are these assemblies of men,
stirred by the religious motive, and
eager to find ways in which they may
promote the work of the churches. For
the most part their action has been
entirely RATIONAL they have not pro-
posed much new machinery; they
have usually sought to know how they
might apply their own power more
efficiently to the machinery already in
h-,orOttn,,