Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-01-14

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A SUFFICIENT MOTIVE.
By Henry r. Cope

one Characteristic Will certainly III
variably mark the religion OF the fu-
ture. It will have, and, indeed, largely
1t will be, passion for people, love
Of humanity. It's ultimate word Will
be love, not mawkish sentimentality,
but an earnest striving after the high
est and best in condition and charac-
ter for all our fellows.
Religion will be the poetry and
tdealism Of our modern social think
ing. It Will give to the barren, dried
bones Of the science of sociology the
quickening breath of a mighty emo
ton; 1t will compel it with sweep
Of passionate feeling and convert 1t
from the dead theories and classified
data to a regenerating saving power.
The religion that is all emotion, all
feeling, Is a paralyzing delusion. But
the religion that IS without feeling is
a dead, helpless, deadening thing. 1t
Is worthless to us and to our world UNI
less 1t have in 1t those ideals and prin-
ciples which can awaken in us great
tides of feeling, can stir our passions,
klndle our enthusiasts, and claim our
unreserved allegiance.
The fact that old forms Of faith
were philosophically absurd, histor-
ically inaccurate, and even eth1cally
unsound makes little difference to the
great mass Of people so long as these
faiths move their hearts, SO long as
they hold out hopes that awaken
longing and stir up the sluggish spirit
with visions of felicities to be enjoyed
or Of present wrongs to be righted.
The weakness of the modern and ra-
that, while they are eminently salts
factory to many thoughtful persons,
especially to those Of academic dispo-
sltion, they seem to lack In vital sig
nif1cance to the many; they offer no
great appealing program of action;
they invite neither indignation, aspira
ton, nor endeavor
You will never get living religion
so long as you limit 1t to reason alone,
for, after all, reasoning Is simply the
inc, and analyzs your Impressions. We
must keep our feet on the rational, but
our eyes must see the inspiration, that
which will awaken the life of feeling
quicken the pulse, and nerve the heart,
that to which We will answer, with
out conscious process OF reasoning,
saying, this is right and nothing else
will satisfy my soul.
A new note is coming into modern
religion which meets that need. It
is the result of our social thinking.
The new faith catches its vision in a
liberated, glorified. perfected human
ity It turns from disputations over
an ancient literature to ask, how can
ought to be? 1t cares only for the his
tory that is for the sake of the hui
manity that Is TO be.
The new faith is q faith In the flu
ture. Accepting the doctrines of our
slow development from lowliest begin
ntngs, it sees in this the prophecy Of
our greater growth, the hope of the
coming man. 1t argues, If we have
come so far we may yet go much far
ther. It believes in an ideal man
and an ideal humanity not in some
distant star but with us and of us
here
When you begin to think of city
streets where no wall of sorrow surges,
of homes where no dWarfed lives,
pinched faces, and bent backs may be
found; when your religion turns to
wipe the tears from the faces of the
children, to lift the burdens from the
weak. to set the bound free, and gives
eyes to the blind and heart to the
fainting, you may be sure it will lay
hold of the deep places In man.
Such an idealism becomes a prac-
tical working creed. One man may
hold its premises in the will of low
ing God and another in the upward
dynamic of humanity The premises
are not so important as the conclu-
sion, the goal. The explanations may
differ, but the Ideal, the hope, the aim,
and the passion will be one. Men will
gladly give themselves for the new
heaven and the new earth as a realiZa-
bic fact.
Our modern theology springs out Of
our humanity. We believe in a deity
with the best attributes conceivable
for ourselves, and we believe in a uni
verse that will bear as its highest
fruitage not angels nor harps, but
man in his ripe powers and a race
living together in love, harmony, and
growth into greater glory. And we
come to believe in a law of life in
which wrong to another is the great
est sin and helpful, kindly love the
fairest virtue.