Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-11-25
SERMON ON THE MARK
OF THE BEAST"
4 Universal Enemy Which is
Enslaving Humanity.
REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN.
The Beloved Disciple Shows The
Cause Of Modern Social
Troubles.

Win Deautl1ul gdTuen scenery aS
a background. embellishsd by a large
American flag, three Christian min
listers led the patriotic-religious meet
ing at the Colonial Theatre on Sun
day afternoon. The hymn America
was sung by the entire audience, with
MIR. Charles A. r. Wilkins IN, pian-
ist, and choir boys leading. Prayer
was offered by the Rev. Walter G
Mcneil, after which the Rev. James.
L. Smiley introduced the speaker
for the occasion, the Rev. Edward Ell
lis Carr, eiitor of The Christian So
cialist, Chicago.
DR.. Carr based his discourse
chiefly upon the thirteenth chapter of
the Book of the Revelation of st.
John the Divine. That chapter de-
scribes peculiar symbolic beast ris-
ing out OF the sea, t. whom the devil
Tor dragon) gave power and author
ity. The account states that the
beast has universal dominion and wor-
ship, even overcoming the saints.
What is there in human history that
answers this description? No church
no state, nor any such institution has
ever attained absolute universal
power. But this beast" has.
Where then shall we find the beastf
Not the liquor traffic, nsr in IL
centiousness, for these are not uni
versal tyrants. And, indeed, the
Jrunkard and the libertine sink lower
than beasts. 1t is an insult to the
lower animals to compare corrupt
men to them. But the beasts have a
mode of living which will at once
explain the text. They get their
livelihood by bloody tooth and claw.
They pounce upon their prey, crush
out its life and drag its quivering
flesh to their cubs. This is tragic
and horrifying. And yet it is their
only way. They have no hand-tools
nor machinery; their only imple-
ments are tooth and claw. Let us
say, in passing, that this mode of
death is mercy in disguise, because
il is almost instantaneous.
Man, likewise, gets his livelihood
as beast of prey. He pounces upon
his fellow-creatures and sucks their
life-blood in the form of rent, inter-
est and profit. fhe word Interest"
in the Bible is derived from a He
brew word which means to "bite. F."
1t describes the action of the eagle
bouncing upon the helpless rabbit
and carrying its blee ding form to the
eaglets in the lofty aerie--a bird of
prey. Or the tiger springing upon
the timid deer, sucking its blood and
dragging the warm flesh to the cubs
beast of prey. Or,again, the high
way robber hiding behind large rock
and suddenly jumping out and strik-
ing down the unsuspecting traveller
to carry away his money as spoils-
the man of prey. All these are the
associates OF the word ''interest.
And yet it is a universal custom to
take interest, rent and profit as
usury. "Usury,' is a very easy
word to understand. it means use
money or money for the use of q
thing. And yet this custom, so uni
versal. s vicious and beastial one.
IL is the fundamental cause of our
social sins. 1t is for use-money that
the liquor traffic fiourishes, the white
slave tr 4ffic does its awful work and
all forms of commercial and political
corruption are trace able to its greedy
nature.
"Some years age, said DR.. Carr,
with touching pathos, 81 was stand.
ing near cotton mill. A woman worn
with long hours at the machinery was
returning in company with her small
children-child laborers-to their
home. She took up her infant and
held it to her barred breast land imme-
diately fell asleep from exhaustion.
But she suddenly awoke, aroused by
the piteous cry of the babe because
it could find no milk in her dry
breast. Then / swore to God that I
would dedicate my life to the cause
of industrial liberty. | will aid the
movement TO establish the co-opera-
tive Commonwealth and save women
and children as well as men from
brutal system which converts human
beings into beasts Of prey.
The commercial system Under which
we live, known az capitalism is based
upon the extortion of rent. interest
and profit. 1t makes men devour
their fellows, just as Jesus accuse d
the capitalists in His day Woe
unto you, Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocriteI for We devour widows
houses and for a pretence make long
prayers; therefore ye shall receive
the greater damnation
Likewise the Old Testament
prophets, Moses, Ezekiel and Nehe-
miah. &c well as the PsaImist uni
formly condemn interest-taking as a
cardinal sin. 1t is easy then, for any
unprejudiced mind to see that capi-
tslism is the beast TO whom Satan
gives pre-eminent power. II iF today
making war with the saints. It kills
its victims, not instantaneously like
the tiger, but by slow torture.
Lastly, q second beast arises out
of the earth. The description Of this
beast as q lamb, suggests innocence
and yet it promotes evil. This is
clearly a prostifute church When