TaÌˆgliche Omaha tribuÌˆne. [volume] (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926, 1915-09-27
IS BILLY SUNDAY SINCERE2


(omaha Unionist.l
II modern evangelism we're 10 be
pat on trial. we would demand as evil
denee motives, methods and effects.
We would endeayor to measure mo
uves by the degree Of sincerity of
the evangelist, and the degree OF
sincerity can only be determined by
his unselfshness. Can any preacher
the result Of whose methods is the
amassing of a prineely fortune, be
said to be unselhsh Can any Preach
er who uses obscene vulgarities to
attract his crowds be said to accom-
plish a real moral uplift?
An eloquent preacher, who is also
a clever actor, seldom has much diff
fculty in creating the impression Of
sincerity. Eloquent demagogues are
the greatest danger of U political
commonwealth, because they are able
to impress their hearers with a SEM
blance Of sincerity. Good actors
know how to live their parts, A great
actor was complimented M day by
a lady adrnirer telling him: @You act
ed the part of KingLear beautifully"
He replied: MADAM, / did not ACT
King Lear, / WAS King Lear"
Savanarola, Huss and Luther were
.divinely inspired and sincere because
they we're ~unselfsh; the first two
were burned at the stake. Their
names viii be guiding stars for hui
manity to the end Of history. The
modern hysterical evangelist acquires
notoriety and dollars and . genera
ton hence win be considered a mon
strosity.
ANY preacher who viii shout after
a poor woman in his audience who
rises from her seat and makes for the
door because the baby in her arms is
restless and crying: "See that heifer
and her calf; she is going to hell"
cannot be sincere and pure at heart.
That the audience tolerated such an
insult to motherhood, that it did not
rise and leave the tabernacle, merely
proves that il was hypnotized. The
good people who are carried away
by the preachers eloquence and APP
parent fexvor and sincerity, see in
him only the reflection Of their own
deyout souls.
Circus side shows employ barkers
or spielers who have the faculty of
bewildering and hypnotizing the null
titude until they eagerly crowd into
the tents, although in their sober
they know the wonders they
contain are but sorry fakes. Political
and religious spellbinders understand
how to make people believe something
for the time being which they must
know cannot be true, ard unfortu-
nately often make them act while
under such spells.
Eyangelists proclaim Christianity
as the foundation on which rests the
progress Of civilization, but always
with the provisO that their own par
ticular doctrine Is the only keystone
for the structure; and how often does
such a doctrine become an agency
of reaction rather than progress when
used in the interests Of the classes
the masses, The supersti-
tons Of the Old Testament are used
as a means Of soaring the masses i'm
to being good, and To be satisfied with
conditions Of poverty and mis-
cry, rather than to lead them forward
to relief from their misere and to a
betterment Of their lot, or to scare
the classes into yielding a larger
Of their wealth to the laboring
man. The slave owners of the South
fully understood the value Of such re-
yigals in maintaining submissiysness
amongst their slaves, and always
welcomed evangelists.
The system and the perfect BUSH
mesa organization Of Mr.. Sunday Is
admirable as 3 money getting special
ty. That he reaches a few people who
be reached, perhaps, in any
way, may be admitted. But
that the public at large will stepd for
grsssv system aad respond %