Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-13
Moral Lepers Scored in Sermon|

depth Of my soul who, if YOU ask, are
YOU willing to he a, Christian. will an
Swer: MIR. Sunday. ! would like to be,
but if / tell that at home my father viii
abuse me. my mother will Sneer at me.
If / were | would have no encourage
ment TO stand and fight the battle J
pity from the depths Of my soul that
hoy or girl that has mother like that.
With a mother like that i'm home a
stepmother- would be a Godsend if she
had religion
"Unclean, suppose every young man
in Atlanta who is a moral leper was
impelled and compelled by some uncOn-
trollable impulse over which he had no
power TO make public revelations Of his
sin, Down the street he comes in his
auto and YOU speak to him from the
curbstone and he will say, 'Unclean!
Unclean" Yonder he comes walking
down the street Suppose that to every
man and woman he meets he is impelled
and compelled to make public revela-
lions Of the fact that he is a leper. Sup
pose every young woman is impelled
and compelled to molIe public reVela-
tions .of the fact taht she is living life
Of sin. Somebody else pays for her
clothes and her board.
Suppose that some Young woman
who lives a good life calls upon her
aud rings the doorbell and she comes
down and says: 'Unclean, Unclcan.
Keep away; do not come near lest YOU
be contaminated. There are lots OF
moral lepers that are apparently clean.
Oh. yes. They live in the best homes
and lots of so-called best girls receive
them and keep company with them.
They open the door to the moral leper
and he comes and sits with your daugh-
ter, and many of you know that they
are moral lepers. And many a fool girl
will mary biped like that.
These are the things we are up
against nowadays-that so-called Mod
esty'
"Leprosy is an infectious disease; it
is the germ of sin. If there is evil in
you the evil will dwell in others. When
we do wrong we inspire others-and
your lives scatter disease when you
come in contact with others. If there
is sin i'm the father there will be sin
in the boy; if there is sin in the mother,
there will be sin in the daughter; if
there is sin in the sister, there will be
sin in the sister; by your influence you
will spread it. If you live the wrong
way you will drag somebody else to
perdition with you as you go, and kim
"Supposing all your hearts were open.
Surprising we had glass doors to our
hearts and we could walk down the
street and look in and see where you
have been, and with whom you have
been and what YOU have been doing. A
great many of YOU would want stained
glass and heavy tapestry to cover
them.
Suppose l could put a screen behind
me. pull a string or push a button and
produce on that screen a view of the
hearts of the people. would say.
Here is Mr.. and Mrs. AS life as it Is
and here as the people think it is. Here
is what he really is. Here is what he
has been. Here is how much booze he
drinks. Here is how much he lost last
year at horse races But these are the
things that society does not take note
of. Society takes no note Of Irritation
on the street. 1t waits until the girl
has lost her virtue and then slams the
door in her face. 1t takes no note OF
that young man drinking at a banquet
table; it waits until he becomes a
bleary-eyed drunkard and then it will
slam the door in his face. 1t takes no
note of card-playing for some dinlly lit
tie cream pitcher or a pair of silk hose;
it waits until you become a gambler
God says: Look out in the beginning
for that thing Society takes no note
of the beginning. 1t waits until it be-
comes vice and then it organizes civic
righteousness clubs. Get back to the
beginning and do your work there
The servant of Naaman entered the
hut of the Prophet Elisha and found him
sitting on a high stool writing with a
quill on papyrus. The servant bowed
low and said: The great and mighty
Naaman, captain of the hosts of the
king of Syria, awaits thee Unfortu-
nately he is a leper and cannot enter
your august presence. He has heard Of
the miraculous cures that you have
wrought and he hopes to become the re-
cipient of your power The old Prophet
of God tells him!
" Tell him to dip seven times in the
Jordan-beat it, beat it The servant
came out to Naaman, who was sitting
on his horse.
"'Well, is he at home"
90 He's at home. but he's a queer
duck
"Naaman thought that Elisha would
come out and pat the sores and say
nominations, like an Indian medicine
man, and say: Matter is nonexistent;
it is an illusion of your mind my dear
IeilOW' w ny ulun you pllOiS me rum
Damascus and T would have given you
absent treatment Poor old cuss sit
ting away-'matter nonexistent-you
just imagine you have leprOsy.'
"Naaman was wroth, like many a
fellow today. God reveals to the sim
ner the plan of salvation and instead
Of thanking God for salvation and do
ing what God wants them to do, they
damn God and everybody else for both