Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-09-28

pense. proceeding which is entirely
fair to all other sects.
The article which we are asked to
publish follows:
Why should not religion be ad-
vertised? Dealers in all sorts Of COM
modities, from standard oil to soothing
syrup, are constantly spending huge
sums for printers ink. The better the
commodity and the more wide spread
its possible use, the greater the
amount of money spent to tell people
about it. No thoughtful person will
seriously question that some sort of
religion is a necessity for every indi-
vidual and still more for society. The
methods of making this known and Of
explaining the differences between re-
ligion have Jagged lamentably as COM
pared with other forms Of enterprise.
To many people it was questionable
departure when charitable organiza-
tions began to advertise their work
and solicit assistance, yet many Of our
papers and magazines carry whole
pages of such advertising constantly.
There are in the United States today
something over $50 more or less i'm
portant sects. each believing it has
brand of religion which individuals
and society needs. Why should not
the general public. which has little
time and less opportunity to study and
know the respective merits of these
organizations and their teachings, be
told the facts in precisely the same
way that they are told about other
commodities which they need. 1t is
not fair to the press to expect it to
perform this valuable service without
compensation, and indeed, the old say
ing of Josh Billings about the man
! that will work for nothing, just about
earning his wages, applies here. The
publicity that goes by favor or to meet
the need of odd filters in the less i'm
portant papers is neither adequate nor
dignified. Why should 1t not be part
of the recognized function of the or
ganic denominationa1 bodies to con-
duct a campaign of publicity? Here
and there, individuals or local organi-
cations have done it with marked ef-
feet.
A couple of years ago, a public
spirited citizen of Baltimore spent
good many thousand dollars carrying
!. half page advertisements of religion in
the leading paper of the city. These
were written by such men as Vice
President Marshall, Prof. Walter
Rauschenbusch, Winston Churchill the
novelist, and Edwin Markham the
poet. 1t was the general verdict that
they impressed the entire community
with the Importance and significance
of the questions they discussed. Now
the Universalists of Massachusetts,
have undertaken something along the
same line, and set other denominations
a commendable example of enterprise.
In all the metropolitan dailies and in
many other papers throughout the
state appears a Straightforward and
dignified announcement of the funda-
mental teachings of the Universalist
Church. 1t is a. part Of the campaign
of Universalist Evangelism which this
denomination has been carrying on for
several years, and coupled with 1t is a
cooperative effort among the Uni
versalist churches to make their par
ticular contribution to the moral and
spiritual life of the community better
known and more widely understood.
Ii all churches would do something Of
this sort, we should have a more in
telligent understanding of the great
fundamentals of religion, and they
would more definitely and positively
influence the life of the community.