The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-02-28

I'oh' II Is true. But that nation has
40, 40 SeuSo Whatever OF divine relation
ZIP OF divine purpose. 1t does not
eYen calm 10 have. How much car
cEeh 'his nation mean 10 millions
%no are born Into it? So little docs
II touch their lives In any moral OF
spiritual way, that In our public
9vnoolS we arc trying TO produce ar
uuclaliy n feeling of patriotism in
tuesc millions of children by drilling
'meIh IKE antomat0 to salute OF swear
aileSlance 10 piece OF cloth, a mere
sSmDoI-a procedure that is morally
| on parallel with the attempt TO gal
! '"ulEe corpse Into life. What I'M
| preston must the world make upon
tnese human beings who come into
| II 'oday by shoals? A boy or girl In
iSidel was not born into a bare world.
Out INTO nation, into something that
"oS all athrill with the sense of sa-
credness. something that was felt to
nave religious meaning and value
HOW is IL with uS2 Most OF us, to
the end Of our days. have no sense
OF membership in nation even-no
vital, living sense of IL If we say;
our nation" We but talk like par
rots. We have no sense of personal.
not to say moral, stake in the ma
ton. Rarely or never arc we remind
ed that we belong to any sort OF po-
lltical brotherhood Neither the ma
ton nor the city nor the state is
brotherhood at all. In the total
absence OF this sense OF brotherhood
from tho whole spirit OF political So
ciety, men have sought fulnllment of
this innate longing for brotherhood
Itself a thing Of highest religious
simultaneously organizing lodges
and fraternities and unions. Not
only arc these millions not made
sensible that they are parts of the ma
tion In any fraternal way, but they
early and that they have been born
into a soulless, heartlesS, commercial
struggle. where the dominant and ma
tural law is tho law of the Jungle;
every man for himself. and the devil
take the hindmost. That is what
they find life to mean. And they find
the city and state and nation TO be
nothing but expressions of that spirit
Can you think It possible for human
beings 10 find anywhere In the opera
tlon of this commerciallsm the feeling
that there is God? Can you i'm
aglnc It?
is there anything about this com.
mercialism that makes men revercnt.
religious. worshlpful2 Are We not
frequently reminded that we must
not mix religion with business or with
politics? that business Is business?
Doesn't that mean that the two
things are utterly different? But re-
ligion isn't n cloak to wear on Sun
day and lay aside the rest of the
week Religion Is the sense of Cod
the sense OF supreme worth. II is
God.copsciousness. It Is finding div
inc meaning and worth for life. not
for a little part of It, but for all of
It. for all the days and all tho years
and all the occupations and exper-
fences of life. God can't be 1T
tie thing. and stTll be God We don't
think we can keep God in little
corner of the house. in a chest, or
a drawer. OF a locket. Neither can we
have God in some little bit of our
life. God must be all-enbracing, or
he cannot be at all We cannot have
religion unless it be the noble world
in which we live.
II Is I1kul Itlc ludI lht
significance OF democracy may he
seen What is democracy 1t is
not party bearing that name. Such
party hasn't the remotest conncc-
ton with democracy as a spiritual
manifestation In this human world.
1t is not a government or nation.
even Democracy is a human move.
ent It is the oral uprising OF the
soul 1t Is humanity becoming con
scious of itself and Its functions.
needs, right.
We sometimes speak OF this form
of government which We have in the
United States as democratic form
of governmeht. as a democracy. 1t is
a mistaken use of terms You can
understand why birth of life
in this nation, under this government
has no such sacred meaning as it
had undor the government OF in the
nation of Israel. Our national con-
sciousness comes to US. largely. from
the philosophy OF the 18th century.
The political philosophy OF the 18th
was an utterly goddess phil
osophy. II Is not TO be wondered at
that 1t was so. 1t could not be any
thing else. Religion had for go
long actually meant oppression, en-
5laycment, superstition. alliance with |
an utterly corrupt and vicious mon
archy, that when the human mind At |
last rose in revolt againse the OPP
preston OF its rulers. It could do
nothing less than repudIate the whole /
system and all that went with it I,
And the time had not arrived when |
It was possible to understand what /
the world means. The philosophy OF |
evolution. which affords the great |
clue to knowledge was still far in |
he future, So. the notion of 4 social 1
contract, which Rousseau formulated /
md gave as sufficient basis of gov .
was n notion without any
whatever In natural law
u in reason and without any possible .
relation TO religion. 1t eliminated .
rom the thought of human society all .
of what the word God
stands for II was an attempt TO Gre
ltc out of hand the laws of human t
lie and relationship. not to discov-
IT those laws In the evolution of the /