Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-11
Freak Religions
Boldly Attacked
and Vanquished
Modernism. Theosophy and
Other Substitutes for Chris
tianity Condemned.

/ disciplinary pains.
| Young men. always in fear Of their
health. unable to digest except by
the aid of mineral waters and eamo-
mile, open their mouths only to eriti-
else and disparage. They praise
nothing, like nothing. want nothing
Their energy Is SO negative that it ap-
/ pears as if their life-blood were of
the constitution of that of a fish
The modern woman shirks the pains
Of childbirth, while all are infected
| by timidity, fear of poverty, fear Of
being bored
The se1hshness, brutality and cal
| loueness of modern life arise from this
all-pervading fear of living. And
this characteristic Of human nature
today is reflected in the various So
the religion of revelation Most OF
creeds which are formulated to take
J the place of the religion of Christ
the religion of revelation. Most OF
these religions are freaks. Some OF
| them are not new. though those who
| profess them declare that they are
| Others of these modern cults are
! ridiculous. but every one of them
| such as theosophy, new thought, etc.
has some germ of truth IN It thai
makes an appeal TO the universal
| human heart.
Hope TO Escape from Pain.
Not only this, but these religions
have a cardinal tenet which III all o.
them offers a hope of an escape from
pain; pledge that death-"And moth
I ing can We call our own but death"
1 is only a transition, a change o.
scene, and that the shore ready fol
us when we take 1.-The leap in tbs
dark" is as pleasant as the beautiful
beach of some South Sea Island
paradise.
These thoughts about the --latest
fancies in mans efforts TO construct
a religion of his own, one suited tc
the neurotic soul of one bound in the
neshes of latter-day civilization, hac
their origin in meditation over a book
called Modern Substitute for Ira
ditional Christianity" written by DR.
Edmund Mcclure. canon.
DR. Mcclure admits that in almost
every one Of the favorite cults Of
the hour there are ideas which an
swer to a fundamental human desire
but he says that such truth as il
found in them is only a skillfully-
! made part of the beliefs discarded
long ago in favor of true Christianity
1t may. declares the Saturday Re-
view. seem waste of skill to make
an intelligent assault on Christian
Science or theosophy. yet If musi
be admitted that Mrs Eddy and
Nine. Blavatsky set certain tempting
4 bats for their nets.
1t is, for example, more than doubt,
| full whether theologians or philoso.
pliers will convince the majority o.
men and women of the excellence Of
pain. The idea of a luxurious pain
a pain that lulled the senses while /
stirred them not unpleasantly, wal
known to the Greeks. and its infu
ence plays part in one Of the Greel
tragedies, but such a pain is TN
known To the sordid, practical wori
as it is in this era.
None Wants Pain Himself.
We may discourse with mora
equanimity on the salutary effects o
pain, but for ourselves we are no
willing to experience II. The feal
of living, combined with the anxiety
for life, is far greater than oul
anxiety for standing room on {
planet where the death rate does no
Operate
There are few who would not lik.
to be convinced by Mrs. Eddy's argu.
ments and her gospel, but her cul
gives us nothing new that is worth
having.
worth attack than Christian Science
! but its doctrine Of earthbound souls
ats astral vibrations. its hfth-rooi
races, it's lure, offered by such gifted
\ and eloquent women as Mrs. Besant
is made acceptable TO humanity b,
it's specious presentation Of the idea
of the transmi grafton of souls.
Here, again. is the universal desire
of living and the formulation of q
al that vii
soften at the same time the haunting
fear of living. Though in theosophy
the promise of life is conditioned By
death as a preliminary, there is still
the pledge of an existence which Il
not strange, but one with which We
are still familiar. Theosophy, how
ever. affirms DR.. Mcclure. is essen.
TALLY a corrupt belief, and he thinks
that ehose who strive to become
adopts would better strive to become
orthodox Hindus.
But while, as one believer saye
these and other freakish religions
! NAV stand condemned through the
follies or knaveries of their mos
notable professors. there still re-
mains to deal with many other sub
stitutes for the tradition of Chris
tianity.
Canon Mcclure writes learnedly and
ably of Modernism and the many
attempts TO give what is known al
"a liberal Interpretation TO tbs
Scriptures. Here he is fighting fos
7 at least respectable, and his mighty
arguments admirably meet the case
NiefEchs q Destructive Peril.
But the chapter of his book per.
haps deserving of the most attention
is the one devoted to Niet1che ant
the cult of the superman. Here W.
have to meet q real danger to the
race. Here we have not an adapta,
ton but an absolute negation Of
Christianity. 1t is not a religion o.
conscious followers, but II is implic.
lily accepted by multitudes, though
the name of it's founder to most o.
these deluded beings is nothing NOR,
than a sound something like Z
sneeze.
Nietzche's doctrine proclaims JUST
iication by success and its corolary Il
slavery. Long before Nietzche wrotI
/; it was the creed of the conqueror Il
arms, and II may quite aceeptably be
come the religion of politics and bust
ness. 1t is well that attention shoult
be called to its cynical aspect o
brutality, the Indictment to crime
such as that which has recent,
thrilled the civilized world and cause,
the destruction of one filled with
desire to do justice to the exalted
position TO which he was heir.
Nietzche himself said: "Almos
every genius knows as one phase o
his development the catilinary ex
istence.' so-calied. which is a feelinl
of hatred. OF vengeance, of revolution
against everything that is, which NJ
longer needs to become cataline-
the form of Caesars existence
Again this destructive philosophe
snid: MY trust in nothingness
placed and in his "zarathustra'' h
, declares. From the widest. mos
conrsnxa beasts he hath. by hi