Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-12-07
Paper read by Mrs. l.. {. Rowland
before W0men'> Board Of Missions.
Tuesday, Dec. 3. 1912.

Suuls DtNs l6i-s
II has never been given to any re-
nSIOn to max" the acts and deeds OF
It's followers the test of their belief
Every human being fails more or less,
mostly more. AMI yet he MAJ have
declared his belief in his chosen faith
and desire to keep it's prccep. s.
mere arc prescribed rules in every
rchSICn and those who. by their sub
mission 10 these rites, show their re.
gard Tor the faith and their aspira.
llon to follow its truth SO far as in
1h"m hes, shall be called the follow.
ers at tina. faith.
An outsider is apt to Judge re-
liGion as he Judges other things. Nv
acts; his only means of applais!ng its
value is by what he secs done by
It's followers. The Christian religion
would hardly stand test like this.
a person coming among us to learn
of our faith would he greatly puzzled
at the differences between the COM
mands Of the Christian religion and
ihe lille of its followers. In our Bible
he would read the precepts DO not
steal, give to every man that asketh
OF you, riches are an offence to right
eousness. Observing our daily lives
ne would find a great and continuous
struggle for wealth and each man
trying to get the best of his fellow
men.
There are two ways in which to
look at religion-from the outside
and from the inside The outside
L.,
tree by it's fruit, but to the. believer.
his religion Is the one great and pure
religion. So we must lie very eau
tlous in our judgments of other faiths
and we must see them from both the
outside and the inside before we draw
our conclusions.
What do We mean by the moral
teachings of a religion? Christianity
regards morals as the science of
duty; right is duty which has been
fulfilled, and wrong is duty ,unfui-
filled. If we Uae this definition of
morals, then by the moral teachings
OF religion we mean the preceptS
OF that religion which prescribe the
duties Of its followers, what things
they may do rightly and what things
are wrong
When we think of certain acts as
being right or wrong we approve or
disapprove of these acts. If duty
has been fulfilled, the act is right
and calls forth approval; if the duty
has not been fulfilled the act is wrong
and brings disapproval. These two
emotions, approval and indignation,
are called the moral emotions and one
of them is the natural consequence of
every act which has any moral aspect.
The first of these, approval, is
shown in the customs of a group of
men, for a custom is not merely a
habit Of group of people, but almost :
always involves a moral rule. If a
community is truthful 1t is because
the people approve of truth, and
where lying is prevalent, tru.hfulness
cannot be a sacred duty. The study
of morals, then, must be largely
study of customs.
The other moral emotion. indigna-
ton, is shown in the punishments in
fiicted by a. group of men. The acts
which are punished in a community
are those which are publicly resent
ed. SO also, by the punishments of
people, we may learn much of their
mQ'al ideals.
A kn owledge of the customs and
Tnishrnents of a people gives us a
view of their moral standards from
the outside and we may gain an in
side view of their religion ty a study
OF their sacred books.
Westermarck in his Origin and De-
velopment of the Moral Ideas" divides
modes of conduct into six groups
]. Acts which concern other men.
2. Acts which concern ones self.
3. Sexual relations.
A. Acts towards the lower animals
5. Conduct toward the dead.
6. Ideas of God.
The last of these we shall take up
first and then we shall follow the 9th
ers in their regular order. =, !. !
Duties to Gods-ln every religion
we can distinguish two elements, a
belief and a regardful attitude toward
the object of belief. Men usually re-
gard II as a sacred duty not only to
refrain from injuring their gods, but
also to positively promote their well !
fare and comfort. Sui enatural be-
ingS arc, in some religions, thought to
re subject to human needs.
Hinduism, or Brahmanism. is a pure
spiritualism. God is an idealized in !
telligence. He is the only real being
in the universe and finite things are
only aspects of this one central in /
telligenCe. Sin is imaginary. merely (
AN appearance of this life for which !
man is not responsible
The idols, commonly worShppcd by ,
the Hindus, are thought to be repre- !
sensations of the one god. merely in !
struments by which the mind may be +
raised to true Worship. But at least /
the common people really believe in .
these innumerable gods and godesses ,
and the idols are in themselves made
the objects of worship. One may we'll
say that India has gone mad in her
passion for pOpulating the world with
gods; there are images everywhere: !
all of them are hideOuS and many are