The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-01-25
nv WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
Tho rodern ideal of a fair world
in which men should be as brothers.
free from envy and seltlsh strlN ING ,
and abundant in helpIulles9,
really the original program OF ~
The spirit which cam ~ onIv
when all has been said the IL :,
shirt that can avail as successi u
program for the social order. De
fore we can hope to drive ouC -
sWeat-shop and the tenement anu -.
den of vice, we must flrst ullNI 80,
the avarice, jealousy and rutnleSs
seIfishness in human hearts OF WliGli
these are merely the fruit: hlsll LIS
above all detailed charges OF hurtl q :
ness against the nalign lnStllutloI9 "
our time, looms this comp el. $50
indictment that they are unorotnerly.
They have been false to the hlSher
law. the law which God laid doWI,
for the first family, even as II VIII
abide for the last Co.. oil
orr social ills. 1t is a thrilling thing
to find the president-elect OF the
TTnited States announcing as his pro-
gram nothing less than TINS prolher
law of the gospels. His utterahce 10
but typical of the tremendous u IN
that we are to find new spirit TOT
tbe human order in the old teachings
of the Scripture.
The First Religious Strife.
With a shocked feeling we confront
the clear fact that the first recorded
quarrel of mankind was over rehgloll'
This paradox would be more Incredl-
lie if it did not so thoroughly square
with our own knowledge. Men have
been fighting over their faith and its
Interpretation ever since the beginning
of time From the rival monks OF
Thibet down to the latest church
0uarrel in an American village, TINS
spirit of rivalry and jealousy and
strife over the things of religion mas
run its hurtful way. 1t ramlfies INTO
the most unexpected places a young
man in n Pennsylvania boarding
house. at time when the Evangelical
church was divided into factions as
"Dubsites" and "Esherites," found
himself so scantily fed that he hao TO
move, and all because he had spoken
flippantly of some Esher contention.
Perhaps one reason why dispute
nver religion is so virulent is that re-
Hgion searches the deeps of life ana
reveals what is there. Tolerance IN
religion is virtue of maturity. me
undeveloped in character have II not
That this spirit of tolerance. which
is sometimes interpreted in terms of
federation and Christian unity, looms
large upon the present horizon, IS
notable fact about our day without
abating one jot of devotion or loyalty
to truth. it still is as possible as it is
desirable to look upon neighbors
religious conceptions with tolerant
mind. Brothers of mankinds best
brother should not be unbrotherly.
The Unbrotherly Brothers.
''You may grind their souls in the
self-same mill,
You may bind them heart and brow;
But the poet will chase the rainbow
still,
While his brother will follow the
plough"
This mystery of the diverse tenn
peraments of the sons of the same
parents is one of the inscrutable facts
of our everyday life. 1t surprises no
body that Cain and Abel should nave
been different. There is a higher law
than hereditary, and that Is the law
of personality. A soul is itself before
1t is son or a daughter of brother
These two boys who had drawn their
sustenance from the same breast, ana
had been reared by the same parents
were wholly different in their char |
acteriSticS.
Abel was a quiet, meditative man;
he loved the solitude of the shepherd
ing; the long spaces OF the days Wneh
he dwelt apart from man, communlng
with God. To him the spiritual llfe
was the real life. He was the first
mystic When he came to make sacrI-
flee to God of the best of his flock, 1t
was a Joyous offering, free, generous
and adoring. 1t symbolized the spirit
of the man. The smoke that rose
from the altar was no more truly IN
cense of worship than the medita-
tions that ever arose from the heart
of this son of God.
His brother, Cain, was of another
sort. He was the type of practical
man. He loved action; to wrestle with
actual conditions, and to struggle with
the soil suited his temperament He
looked upon life an adversary to
be watched and fought and overcome.
But he was cured with sullen, sus-
Lone ton srNfa--a mo Tlf mo
who was his own worse enemy They
who know real life understand the
prevalence and power OF the spirit of
jealousy among men. Cain was Jeal-
Gus of his serene and spiritual brother
He was resentful of the others reh-
cious joy. His own troubled heart
knew not the peace of fellowship
with God. Though with logged obedi-
cnce to the letter of the law of wor-
ship he made offerings to Jehovah,
there was Oblation of the heart
Connected with it.
Religions First Martyr.
The first argument that occurs to !
the primitive mind is blow. The
small boy. worsted in discussion, says, !
but [ can lick you, anyway" SO it
is with nations. The irrationality of
force is only beginning to take hold
of the mind of the world. Jealous
Cain had given way to a petty passion.
He had not realized, any more than
have the rest of us who have quarrel
ed in the name of religion, that this
spirit of selfish strife and the spirit
of religion could not both abide at
the same time in one breast. To the
person who hates his brother, all the
fine sentiments of worship are mere
delusion. Nobody has any more re-
ligion than he shows in human rela-
tionships "Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer''-though his
affairs be piled to high heaven with
offerings and his ceremonial worship
be punctiliously correct. The rivalry
and envy which, unfortunately, some
times exists among Christian workers
is a denial of Christ quite as absolute
nf rr-In L.