Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-06-02

posed to Manluon; and Eot in E9itf
as opposed ie Caesar t51N IL y
of its enormous Lsembersl4p. i5aa
bounded wealth, us d4s}Ie ,~ut1lr
| fty, this present az, is. appATeI.i :
/ far from realizing the Gkiisu&n *
as ever. The simple truta - TIE
matter is, the church MS not eo27
its duty-it hos not seized It's e.al %
/. tunity and used its power SEEING
evil, it has 4leeljned to iE1-r4e'-a;
loosnE upon eorInntion it has -usS.'
| 10 assal it; gazir s I'LL upon p2lle I.
and business dishonesty, it has
avoidedaattacking it; tpding men, ap-
parently Respectable, gul,ly q al
manner al greed, it has hesn nrwil-
ling to rebuko theIp enc sa.l49on
them to repentance; seeing the. to-
Die of Cod p0lluTed by H. morley
changers, lit has Qeclinea IN, 2s.I
them from the sancrnary. BIZ n IS
turn for their tainted ls1aAeJ, ia CIV.
en- them the first places in 1ze syn
a gogue. And all o. t2a whole "a !
church, thus -recreant 10 1s5 a2Eeint7G
task of establishing upoa the NHTt-'
that Kingdom of God Aich means
love to God and love to man, has
soothed its conscience by fullding
splendid catbedrals, reciting long
prayers, singing loud hymns OF praise
and alteration, preaching long SER
mons. remembering the Sabbath day
to keep it holy, and shifting the ira
ditional sins of drunkenness, adultery
and atheism.
But is this the business of relf-
gion? Not so thought the ancient
prophet, when he oeeIlred,. What
dotn the Lord desire Of thee, but to
do justice, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God" Not so
thought the modern prophet, when
he asserted, Rituals, creeds, litur-
gies, hierarchies; all this is not re-
ligion. The use of religion,
past, present and to come, is this
only: To keep the moral conscience
or inner light of ours alive and shin
ing to remind us OF. the
infinite difference there is between Il
good man and bad; to bid US love
infinitely the one, abhor and avoid
Infinitely the other-strive infinitely
to be the one and not to be the
other" Not so thought Jesus when
he gave to men his two great com
mandments of the law. And what
If the church had been faithful to
this true conception of its task
what If the church had resolutely,
unf1inchingly preached this prophetic
gospel? Would not the world be a
better and lovelier place than what
we actually see it today? Suppose,
for example, that the churches OF
America, in the great epoch preced
ing the Rebellion, had one and all
steadfastly set their faces against the
iniquity Of human slavery. Suppose
that, instead of quoting old Levitical
laws or Tauline epistles in defense of
this monstrous barbarism, these
churches had all quoted Jesus gospel
Of brotherhood against it. Suppose
OF excuse this social crime, these
thousands of churches throughout
the land had done nothing but as
sail it, denounce it, curse it. Sup
pose that, instead. of trying to avoid
the issue, these churches had tried
constantly to meet it. Suppose that
every preacher, to the extent OF his
ability, had been Theodore Parker;
that every pulpit, to the extent of its
influence, had been plymouth Pull
pit; that every member of Chris
tian church. just because of that
membership, had been, to the. extent
of his intellectual and moral power,
a Garrison 4or q Lovejoy. Suppose
as opposed to the institution OF
slavery upon the one hand there had
stood upon the other hand. in solid
phalanx, the great institution OF
Christianity. and how long, think
you, would human slavery have en-
dured? And if, as is literally true,
the Christian church, had it been so
minded, could have smitten this n.y.
dra to its death, is it unfair to hold
the church responsible for its long
continued life?
Or, to take a modern instance, sup
pose that the churches of America
should here and now unite upon a
great crusade against the barbarism
of child-labpr.. Suppose that all the
organized religious bodies IN this
great land should dedicate them
selves to the proposition that ut is
not the will of the Father. that on |
of these little ones should perish.
Suppose that every church should or
ganize itself into subcommittee oil
the National Child-Labor Committee |
that every minister should make
himself representative of that COM
every individual mem |
Der of every church should become !
a contributing member Of that com
mittee. Suppose if nothing more.
that, on the special ChiId-Lalor sun
day of each year, every pulpit III the |
land should ring with deunnciatlon
of this great evil and summon its
people to the fight against it. Sup
pose, If you can, such united cru
sade as this against this one great
social iniqulty- and how long, think
you, would it DO possible for cruel
parents and greedy employers to
drive little boys and little girls to
daily labor? And if the
churches thus have it today right in
their power to destroy this frightful
barbarism, root and branch, why
should we mot indict these churches
90 rorpopcik1n FOR tho continuance of |