El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-31

~ ELIGION is considered the con-
serving and conservative force
- in modern lie. It has been de-
Tended before the tribunal Of public
opinion on this ground alone And be-
cause religion is naturally conserva-
tive many believe II TO be static, i'm
movable, inelastic- The great funda-
mental truths OF religion were pro
claimed many centuries 90 and these
truths are incapable OF compromise.
Truth is truth. morality Is morality,
and therefore these remain uncomprO-
misable. Woe to him OF TO her VINO
would doubt the fundamentals Of faith
and Of life; woe 10 him or TO her who
would cast the shadow Of doubt upon
the organic truths which led the faith
ers in safety through the trials OF life
and should lead the sons and the sons
sons through the same vicissitudes-
What was good must ever remain
good. nav, more than this, what was
good enough. must remain good enough.
To those VINO reason thus, doubt is
destru tive principle in life To DOUBT
is TO uproot: TO doubt IS 10 lose faith,
and these have ample reasons for the
conclusions they adopt Ihey know
faith as the most tender OF all plants,
easily withered by the smallest wait
Of doubt: they see young men, JuollanL
in the faith Of their fathers ana nloln-
ers. SUDDENLY lose all interest in the re-
ligious heritage Of their parents To
them doubt means ruin on the rocks
Of intellectual progress
The bible for our elders was the re-
vealed word Of God. true to the very
letter. every contradiction was false
conception Of the human intellect ana
not the divine decree No doubt as TO
its authenticity ever entered their
minds and because doubt crushed the
faith Of the children they would nave
Many Scott and Sheer.
In the every day affairs Of life they
met many men who SCORED and sneereu
and whose soothing and sneerlng was
horn of doubt Because the bible con-
tanned miracles. cortradicting the well
known laws of the physical world,
therefore the bible must be thrown
into the trash heap Of literature and
no longer permitted to sway the minds
of men. Because the bible began with
n magnificent creation epic, telling the
embodiment Of the world process in six
DAYS and the Investigations Of science
DrOclafm a gradual creation covering
a million years, therefore the bible
was useless and religion based on the
bible fallaey- Because the bible gives
instance after instance where bitter
conflict was waged at the direct com
mand Of deity and modern endeavor
strives for universal peace, therefore
this book OF books is valu sless and its
grandeur the machination OF priest
lDOUS-
such doubt leads to false conclus-
ions and skaters all faith and there
fore the past generation would have
none of it.
New Generation Realizes Value of
Doubt.
But a new generation has arisen
which recognizes the value OF doubt
which believes doubt is wholesome and
opposes this destructive doubt with
honest doubt" These men declare
I'VE doubt in order that we may be-
lieve," and they recognize in the
working out Of manhood's highest well
fare. I'VE are saved by doubt as much
as by faith"
Doubt, according to this newer con-
ception, is simply a temporary prepar-
alton for faith. We doubt now that by
the clarifying process OF research and
examination we would reach truth, and
truth is always constructive, always
positive Such doubt has no patience
with the soothing critics. who decry
and find fault but use not their ability
to cure and correct. Destructive
doubt" and honest doubt" are never
to be ccnfounded.
Miracles Should BE Studied.
Because the bible contains miracles
which are contrary TO the established
laws Of nature should not be an ex-
,use for soothing but an invitation TO
study these miracles, the times in which