The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-10

animal: in the next place he is a
m of q clam and in a later
stage Of development he Is an al
herent of a factlon. q seq, VI
party. This blind championship of
n~eighborhoo6 interests. community
feelings, Inherited prejudices. and
p~reconceived opinions, TRANSMITTED
as it is from primitive conditions,
is an Unborn bias that is hard 70
resist, and the ability to see the
other mans point Of view ana %
enter into sympathy with him VINO
holds antagonistic beliefs. is the
mark and final test of a cultivated
man. The natural tendency to clan
niShnesS, pa~rtisanShip, and separatlSm
has caused many a man III the past
to GevOte to party or sect or factlon
gifts that were meant for
and is responsible for the religious
wars and prosecutions Of q dark
ages which make up one of the sad
dest chapters in human history, as it
is also responsible for the later war
fare of science and lfgio itself
almost as destructive as the feuds OF
faith in the remOter past. 1t Is re-
spOnsible. tOo, for sectionallSm when
curses all peoples, for The d~lssldence
that sets men into warning po1tlcai
camps, arrays the country against
the town. creates social. literary, fl
nancial. and hereditary castles. breeds
intellectual Bramanism. and likes i'm
pasSable CULTS betWeen lnnumeraDie
factions that ought to stand shoulder
to shoulder III the conflicts OF
life. We have in our time lost
something Of the old ardor and IN
tensity Of other times. and these were
in themselves good, We must make
up for his loss by sympathetic and
n DoroSSiVa C0-nnar3tiOn on the part
Of all good men in every cause that
makes for progress and improve
ment. We must acquire a
and working acquaintance With men
good and true in every class and sta-
ton.
l am not here arguing for the de-
StructiOn of religious denominations
and. political parties. They will al
ways have their place, | doubt not.
But the old partisanship, bitterness.
and unfairness. now SO fast passing
away, ought to pass completely.
Churchmen of all denominations
ought to work heartily together for
the good Of their fellows; and ciui-
Zens, especially now that We are en-
tering upon what promises to be an
uncommonly bitter national cam
paign, should bear in mind that pa
triotic men of all parties are equally
concerned in the welfare Of our COM
mon Every Christian man
and every good citizen. l believe,
must have breadth Of view and COM
~prehensive s~ympathies. That these
are coming is one Of n hopeful
signs Of our time.
Close akin to the first is the second
sign of promise of which | will
speak-the tendency, in recent
times so pronounced, to shift the
emphasis from correctness Of creed
% soundness Of life. l do not mean
to intimate that sound living does rot
still rest on sound thinking. But
the erecting of an ancient confession
Of faith int the seat Of authority
has produced a false conservatism,
an insistence upon regularity of
experience and profession that have
at times made religious SectS a clog
on human progress. This insistence
too on correctness of creed rather
than vital religion is apt to breed
empty profession and orthodox
formaliSm-an intellectual and spirit
ual sluggishness that is rowan in
it's retention of outWorn forms rather
than conservative Of the simple. es-
sential spirit Of Christianity.
The shifting Of emphasis from
formal profession n correctness OF
creed to ones actual work and the
spirit in which one works has for
d SUOu Willie OCcH olcdOiiy SoiAS I'll,
and has today become almost COM
p1etely effected. And no greater in.
centive to true religion could be
given than to make universal the
standard that judges man, not by
what they profess to be and believe.
but by the amount Of Christian serv-
ice they give and by the spirit in
which they give it. h only check
I can See to the complete setting
I'D Of this standard throughout
Christendom is a blatant so-called
liberalism that decrying all creeds
makes some good n earnest men
react in the opposite direction.
OF curse dogma has its place in
religion. and the tendency of which
l speak does not make for the weak
ening of this. but for a shifting of
emphasis from creed to life. 1t is
not that we may have a new creed