The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-27

The maternal courage and sOlicitude
Of the wounded liOness as she seeks
to shield her cubs, unconscious of i'm
pending danger, are also admirable
traits. Both forms of service belong
to pure nature: the one human, the
other animal Both forms represent
and portray the finer qualities of the
individual: neither, however, is re-
ligiOn.
Social Service.
The great catch-word of the modern
world of religious indifferentism is,
social service. This term is made to
do yeOman duty for both body and
soul. It's aim is the betterment of
society, the promotion of philan-
thropy, the diffusion of education, the
care of the unfortunate, and the gen
eral welfare of the State at large. 1t
does not aim to reach the soul, but is
supposed to act as mild substitute
for the religion Of the spirit. Social
day, by Christian or pagan. is indica-
tive of mans progress in the cultiva-
ton of his natural virtues: in Mr..
Gliot'S form of religion it seems to be
the whole substance of his ethical
structure. For him Jesus is scarcely
of ethics, the founder, if you will, of
the principles that to-day constitute
the basis of social service. He says:
"In these days, the whole concep-
ton of one being-human or divine
suffering, though innocent, for the sins
is revolving to the universal sense of
justice and fair dealing. And
yet every member of the great Chris
tan churches is supposed to believe
that God deals in that way with the
human race; and that the victim Of
ton Of the human race was, in a pecu-
liar sense, the Son of God" The
Christian beliefs are founded on the
story of the Fall" which Mr.. Eliot
declares is an untrustWOrthy aSSump-
ton God in that story is unjust,
duct attributed to God in that story
would be wholly unworthy of any man
whose standards of conduct accorded
with the average sentiments about
right and wrong Of civilized people
to-day Truly, my ways are not
your ways" saith the Lord.
The Stock Objections.
Mr.. Eliot goes out of his way to in
form us that the Church has always
opposed science, and that it was only
i'm the eighteenth century that "the
great series of scientific discoveries"
began. The question Of the Church's
attitude towards science is we'll known
to every student of history, and it is
rather puerile on Mr.. Eliot's part to
seek to discredit the Churchs influ-
ence on science when that influence
was ever in accord with true science.
Did the Church oppose the Dantes,
the Petrarchs, the AriOstOs, and the
great artists, too? Science and art,
when representing the true and the
beautiful, are in close communion with
religion, for all truth is from the SUI
preme source, which is God.
Again, Mr.. Eliot laments the fact
that 'The Church is no longer the
centre Of social recognition, or of So
cial enjoyments for the multitude"
True, indeed, for the Church is and
should be the centre of devout wor-
ship, for my house is the house of
prayer, but you have made it the den
of thieves or the centre of social
service.
Formerly, walls the President Emer-
titus, the Church was the almoner for
the poor and the desolate. Now, secu-
lar societies administer the various
improvements for the benefit of So
ciety at large. Since when did the
Catholic Church surrender her mis-
sion of mercy to the suffering, the
weak, the unfortunate? Do the hos
pitfalls, and asylums, and charitable
homes that dot every Christian coun-
try, and many pagan ones, show this
to be true assertion? Do the count
loco educational inctffufi0nc maintain