River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-05-05
SIN APPEARS In |
NEW FORM
By REV. p. p. WOMER
Pastor of Park Congregational Church
St. Paul. Mimi.

It is doubtless true that the sinful
heart of man is ever the same, but
sin itself changes its aspect as con-
ditions change. 1t seems to me an
indisputable proposition that such a
change is one of the special character
istics of our time 1t is still true that
there is much of the old-fashioned
wrongdoing in the world, like hatred
and brutality, but it is not these old
fashioned forms of evil that the world
today has to fear. They are gradually
dying out. The blackening sin of to-
day grows out of the interdependence
of life. Under the present manner of
living we must rely upon others to
look after our drains, invest eur sa-
wings, nurse our sick and teach our
children. Instead of depending upon
our own judgment, we must. to very
considerable extent, depend upon the
public inspection of food, or gas or
tenements or insurance companies.
And this condition has laid new snares
for the weak and opened new doors
for the wicked. These opportunities
have been eagerly seized upon by a
multitude of people because the new
forms of evil have not yet come into
the same disrepute that attaches itself
to the old.
The blackening sin of today pre-
sents itself under new guise. There
is such thing as numbering with an
a 111fny.ar+ inc Of h111IUoOn
burglarizing with rake-off instead of
jimmy, or cheating with prospec-
tus instead of a deck of cards, or
scuttling ones community instead Of
ship. And sinners of this kind gen.
orally think themselves respectable
people and they pass in the commu-
nifty as such. There is kind of de.
cency that was absent from the old
fashioned forms of wrongdoing. The
slayings Of the patent medicine quack,
or the adulterer of food, or the pur
veyor of polluted milk are usually not
nearly so vulgar and offensive in ap.
pearance as the slayings of the high.
wayman, although there may be as
much depravity in the one as in the
other. And there is a responsibility
about this present-day sin that is cal
culated TO lead men astray. The old
time villain wore a slouched hat and
breathed forth curses and an odor of
gin. The present-day villain often
dresses in immaculate linen, carries a
silk hat and lighted cigar and is Sc
rene because he is miles or months
from the ruin that he causes.
A good deal of this modern evil
reaches farther and is far more dread
full in it's consequences than the older
forces of wrong. The school board
CRATER, for example, who blackmails
an applicant for teachers position,
is not only injuring the teacher but
he is striking blow at the free pub
lie school. The striking engineer who
spitefully deserts his train is not only
injuring the public but is striking a
blow at the time-honored right of man
to work when he pleases. The politi-
cal boss whose chief interest is to line
his own pocket is not only injuring
the community but he is striking a
blow at free government.
1t is these conditions today that con-
stitute the greatest challenge to the
church. We are told on all sides to
preach the simple gospel And what
is ordinarily meant by this is that the
church should keep on Illuminating
against the old familiar vices and tell
ing people how to get their own little
souls saved, while the new evils are
left unchallenged. What is really
needed is an application of the prin-
ciples of Jesus to the wickedness and
wrong which exist today.