The Monte Vista journal., 1916-02-26

tne Il. P.s, you are not one whit
ABOVE the Hottentot if that be the
Test OF religion, if that be religion.
LOT the Hottentot in the darkest
jungle IN Africa has always believed
as has man everywhere. in a Su-
preme Being.
q. rake some misconceptions con-
corning the functions of these two
organizations, the lodge and the
| church:
| (a) Some think the church exists
| as refuge for souls. That the
| church is repository for the ordi
| lahces and the ordinances carry with
| them a regenerating influence: that
you cannot be saved without taking
| communion, without being baptized:
| therefore that you cannot be saved
| "lInout Delng member of the
church, for you cannot participate
| IN these without becoming a mem
| per There are people in and out of
| the church who believe that YOU can
not be saved without becoming a
| member OF the church, but | deny
| TINS doctrine, and say that it is the
product of ecclesiastical tyranny.
Last Sunday morning, in my ser
mon on Lincoln as Progressive,
| | ventured to remark discussing Lin
COINS religious relationship Git
turned out that he was not a mem
Der of any church, that if God closed
the gates OF Heaven against Abra-
nam Lincoln because he was not a
| member OF any church, he closed the
gates OF Heaven against one of his
pest friends, and what is true of
Abraham Lincoln is true of others.
The church is the clearing house
| OF religion, the agency for collective
endeavor, and l believe that all
Christians should belong to the
church, not because they could not
be saved outside of it, but because
they could do more by throwing
their efforts with other peoples eff
forts than through their efforts
alone. The church exists not as a
refuge and security for souls, but as
| an tsgency for first saving men and
then seeking to align them with the
| church. The lodge exists for it's
me mbers-the church exists for 9TH
ers than its members.
OBJ A misconception that the
lodge is to function religion. The
lodge itself repudiates this In the
formation of the distinctive princi-
pies of your own lodge, those dis
tinctive principles included the state
ment that the lodge was organized
for the uplift of humanity, the down
trodden, etc, but one of your charter
| members moved to strike this out on
the basis that the lodge was not a
religious institution, that it's mission
was not to save men or redeem men,
but to take men who had been made
good through other agencies and Or
ganize them for mutual benefits.
Both in and out of the church and
| lodge you will find men who claim
that the church is a refuge for souls,
and that the lodge is to function re-
| iigion, and these men reveal their
conceptions by their attitude toward
these organizations. If they be-
| iieve that the lodge is to function
religion, they are as liable to unite
with the lodge as with the church.
Now condemnation cannot be
passed upon either of these organic
ations because they are misinterpret-
| ed and misrepresented. The facts
may be had by those sufficiently in
| terested to seek for them.
| @ The Lodge and the Church in
| their Relation to Society.
| In their relation to society, the
church generates and applies reli-
| gion, the lodge only applies it. Which
deserves the greatest credit and the
most honor, the woman who gives
| birth to a child, or the teacher who
trains it? l believe that you will
agree with me that the woman who
gave birth to the child; likewise, l
think rational thinking will compel
/ you to say that that institution
which generates religion and applies
| it to some extent is greater than the
institution which only applies it.
What about the prospects of these
two organizations? A careful study
| of statistics will show you that the
churches have increased more rapid
ly in their membership than has the
population of this country, and that
the lodges have not increased In
their membership with that of the
| population.
Because of the insurance compa-
MES putting down the price of insur-
ance to almost fraternal rates; be-
cause of the limitation of the lodges.
and because of the demands of new
organization for specific reform, l
am compelled to believe that the flu
ture of the lodge is limited as to its
members. Do not misunderstood
me. | am far from saying l believe
any of these lodges will go out OF
existence, but their rate of increase
cannot be in the future what 1t mas
been in the past while the churches
must surely increase; as surely as