Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1912-11-16
/ DAKOTA. SATURDAY. NOVEMBER l6. 1912
MAn,s 1nHuMAr1rY TO MAN.

ing recently Of his prison experiences,
has this to say Of himself: 81 have
served four terms In prison. I was
rightly convicted of my first offense, but
never since have I been given fair
chance to become an honest citizen
again." And he goes on to relate how
he was shadowed and bounded after his
release, his footsteps dogged, and his
every act suspected. There is nothing
difficult of belief in his narrative. 1t is
the old story of Jean Vatican, "Give q
dog bad name and hang him." 1t is
hard for the fallen man to rise. What
would pass unnoticed in those of spot
less repute, Is looked upon in his case as
evidence of fresh guilt. And the saddest
part of it all is, that the people who as
sumo this unrelenting attitude toward
the down-and-out, are not infrequently
sticklers for the highest morality, aye,
and loudly protesting followers of the
gentle and forgiving Christ, Who left the
ninety good sheep in the desert to
seek the one that was lost, Who told
Peter to forgive his brother, not once,
or seven times merely, but seventy times
seven, and Who, in the case of the adul-
ferrous woman, closed the mouths of the
self-righteous Pharisees, and put them
to shame, by looking straight into their
eyes and quietly saying: "Let him that
is without sin among you cast the first
stone at her." And one by one they
guiltily skunk away. There can be little
doubt that He would act likewise if He
were present in some of our sanity CO.
teries of today when. with bated breath
and whispered tones, they utter their
solemn "Isn't it awful" concerning some
poor wretch who, in Gods sight, may
not be very much worse than them
selves. AS an illustration of this, the
reader will recall Christ's own parable
Of the proud Pharisee and the loWly
Publican. While listening to the boast
full language of the former, we scarcely
know whether to give way to indigna-
tion or laughter. His self-conceit is so
childish and silly that We both despise
and pity him. But not too fast. Per-
haps if we examine his features closely,
we may find in them some family like
ness. He is by no means a rare speci-
men. There are plenty of him in the
world. To speak plainly, there are un-
fortunately too few of us who have not
a dash of the Fharisee in our makeup.
We may not be so open and blunt and
barefaced about it, but it is skulking
there somew where, hidden in the depths,
and We do unconsciously exhibit it now
and then, and precisely in the cases to
which we are referring-in our attitude
toward the offending. When we need
lessly and unwarrantably sit in Judgment
on our fellow-men, censure their con-
duct, and impugn their motives, are we
not virtually acting the part of the proud
Pharisee-standing up before God and
the world and claiming exemption from
the foibles and follies which we criticise
in othersP Is it not equivalent to the
Pharisee's boastful prayer, 81 give Thee
thanks, Oh God, that am not like this
man?" Human observation and expert
ence indicate that those who least need
mercy for themselves are, at the same
time, the most mercful toward others;
and, all appearances to the contrary not
withstanding, we cannot help suspecting
that there is something wrong, somehow
or somewhere, with those who have
nothing but words of condemnation for
the weak and erring. 1t has been re-
marked that the temporarily reformed
are often the most severe on vices in
which they once INDUCED. We use the
words Temporarily reformed" design.
edly, being mindful of the warning
words of Holy Writ, pride goeth be-
fore destruction, and before a fall, the
heart is lifted up" 1t is as certain as
that two and two make four, that the un-
merciful are not genuine Christians, for
every page and every line of Christ's
Gospel breathes mercy. Their religion
is but sham, a shadow, a tree without
the vital sap. 1t may be fair enough to
the eye, like the apple of the Dead Sea,
but there is no substance in it. The
heart is gone out Of it. For the life and
heart and essence Of Christ's teaching is
charity, mercy, forgiveness.
Rev. FIR. MOONEY.