Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-02-05
For Sunday Reading
M Sorts of OAinions
From "a Double Stand ard"


tSermon by DR.. James L. Gordon.l
A double standard is a dangerous
thing for a nation or an individual.
When the Roman empire was fast fall
ing to its doom. it was said that every
man had two religions, namely, the ono
which he protested and the other one
which he believed. There is not room
in the universe for more than one God,
nor room in the heart of man for more
than one religion. A man should be
honest in his religious thinking and
sincere in his attitude toward God.
This Is the cornerstone in the granite
wall Of character.
But the double standard is going. r
is being driven out of every realm OF
human thought from the highest to the
lowest. To illustrate, there was day
ir the history of the world when there
was q double standard in theology, to
wit, one class was supposed to be pre-
destinated to be saved and another
class predestinated to be lost Thanks
TO little gentleman by the name of
John Wesley that doctrine is gone and
gone forever: since the father Of Meth
odism began to ring the changes on.
"Whosoever will" the double standard
in theology has disappeared. If you
will, God wills and if you won't the
devil villas Sam Jones used to
say OF course-John Wesley was not
a profound theologian. No practical
man ever Is. John Wesley broke the
theological letters Of a thousands years,
but Of course he was not great theo-
Logan. Henry Ward Beecher en-
throned the ideal Of divine love In the
hearts Of men and set the pace for the
American pulpit but of course he was
not a great thinker. The great thinker
of the theological type is the man who
thinks over the thoughts of so-called
Observation-Disclosures which have
been thought to death. Let US be
straight in our cogitations and clear in
our thinking, even If our chosen creeCs
crack and our fayorate doctrines de-
cline. Oh, christian, clear your mimi
Of cant. as.-
There was a time when men OF
genius like Byron, Burns and Goethe
were supposed to be above the laws,
rules and regulations which have been
ordained to govern ordinary people
but God never recognized the distinc-
ton. When our beloved Scottish poet.
Robert Burns, swept by the social dis
sipations which were sadly charac-
teristic Of the day in which he lived
when 'Bobbie'' Burns, in a drunke.
stupor, lay down one chill night in the
cold flagstones to sleep off the results
of an over allowance OF Scottish hos
pitality-nature. seemingly, failed to
recognize the fact that he was "a child
Of genius" The chilling winds of the
north swept over him just as ruthless
iy as tho he had never written a poem
, or breathed brilliant syllable, and in
less than year the great man was IN
} his grave. Nature recognizes no such
thing as double standard"
Young man, write the words OF
and read over them until they flame
emblaZoned on the inner wall Of your
imagination. Here they are:
Sow a thought and reap an act
Sow an act and reap q habit
Sow a habit and reap character
Sow a character and reap a destiny"
I
There is q double standard at work
in the realm Of international affairs
when nation goes to war with nation
concerning questions which, II they af-
fected individuals, could be settled
speedily and satisfactory in a court Of
a we'll ordered community, for two in
+. dividuals to engage in fight matching
physical force against physical force,
then it can not be fundamentally right
for two nations to engage in a period