Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-04-29
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THE FIGHTING CHRISTIAN.

The FIGHTING CHRISTIAN.
By Henry F. Cope.
Fight the good fight of faith. =
! l. Tim, vi, II.
OF course it is easy to criticise and
exceedingly hard to amend, easy to
paint the ideal and difficult to take
one step toward the real But there
| is not only no good, there is much
| harm to us in the habit OF harshly
condemning the wrong and facllely
| painting perfection while we ourselves
the present need.
| Of what value is all our condemna-
| ton of sin if we do nothing to stop
| its ravages? The fashion too OFTEN
seems to be that of regarding the
work of the church as accomplished
whenever she has invented some new
| phrases with which to describe iniqui-
| ty, to deplore it's existence, and to
warn of it's results, but never to take
| it by the throat and seek to throttle
! the beast.
Of what value are all our pictures
Of beautiful land beyond, Of fair
and glorious city over there, ii we
must stand idly by, waiting for that
| city and leaving our own, the one in
which we and our brothers live, to be
| foul and dark, snare to the young
and tool for the dCpraved? Is our
| piety able only to picture better things
and never to bring them into being?
If we really desire that men shall
| be holy, that the soul shall grow in
beauty, that our brothers shall come
to that moral and spiritual beauty
| which for us is the glory of our great
! Fathers face. we shall not forget that
| the features of eternity are nodded in
time, that the soil in which the soul
grows is this present environment.
A deadly apathy has crept over any
man who can see Ubiquitous condi-
| tions about him, who can see the de-
| PRAYED and the vicious working the
! machinery of lust and shame, who
can see the ways of life full of men
ace to the young and weak and still
| feel no great tide of moral passion
| or holy hatred stir within him.
The trouble is that a good deal Of
our ardor for righteousness is either
! a zeal for proselytes, anxiety to make
| sure that all men think only as we
! think and that no man dares venture
| beyond our limited capacities, or it is
desire for responsibility and COM
| fort; we would clean up the resorts
of vice because, really, you know, they
are not nice to look at and, besides,
| they give us a bad name.
| 1t is better to tilt at windmills
than to remain impressive before great
wrongs. 1t is better to be jeered at
as a fool of a reformer than to win
admiration for calmness when passion
should be aroused to hatred and swift
retribution 1t were better to suffer
from the mania of fighting the devil
| than to believe that this world will
! become really fit to live in without
any effort on our part.
We can always manage to work up
! tremendous tides of feeling at the
| least hint that some invader should
| tread on our soil or stain our nation
| al honor; yet we remain blind to the
AVA
/ greed of gain, step on and trample
under foot the hearts and souls OF
men. despoil all that really consti-
| tutes the wealth and glory Of a ma
| ton, the characters of her people.
Is there not grave danger that the
| church may miss her great chance,
| the chance to waken and fan in men
/ rnal
/ al, concrete rightness? What can re-
| ligion be for in this world if it be not
| for this-to inspire and lead men to
| the fullness of their living, to the
! best in character, and to aid to this
| by furnishing the best possible con-
! ditions for the growth of character?
The function Of the church is Meth
er legislative nor executive; it is in
| spirational But of what value is all
| the inspiration if it leads to no activ-
| itv. to no endeavor for the realiZa-
| ton of those ideals which the church
| paints? We have been singing great
songs of spiritual patriotism and then
| stunning the battle until the emo
] lions are at high tide while the moral
passion is paralyzed.
| 1t is time for all who have any re-
| lgious faith to realize that moral and
social facts are our concern, that, If
! we believe in the eternal goodness
we must actually fight the present
| evil, that if we really love our fell
lows we must make the upward way
possible for them, we must fight the
foes of the weak and make straight
paths for their feet; if we want men
! to win to a better world there we
must make as good world as it can
| be here.