The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-07-19
ARE METHOD|sTs CIVILIZED?
THEIR PROJECT ITO RAISE CIVIL
IZATION TO A HIGHER LEVEL"
BY MONEY AND PURITANICAL
PRINCIPLES ATTEMPTS THE I'M
POSSIBLE.

The Methodist Episcopal Church has
| undertaken to raise a centenary fund
of $14O,0O0,000 to be used "to take
advantage of the present remarkable
opportunity to raise civilization to a
higher level" Late in May they had
| already raised 5,673,197 Tin subscrip-
| tions), and were going strong to get
the balance. They will raise the
money-no doubt of that; they have
got it and they will give it.
| But how about the rest of their
undertaking? asks E. S. M. in Life -
Can they raise civilization to a higher
level? Have they the facilities
Have they the liberal spirit? Do
they know about civilization? Do
they themselves circulate in it's high
er levels, and do they hope to haul the
world up to their perch, or do they
aspire to boost it up from where they
are, and then, maybe, climb up after
it?
| Money, even a lot of money, will
not do much to raise civilization to
a higher level. If a hundred and
forty millions would have hoisted it
appreciately, Mr.. Carnegie would have
raised it several pegs, and Uncle John
Rockefeller several more. Probably
the Laird has raised it a little, and
Uncle John little also, but the great
way to raise the level of civilization is
to become civilized and live the civil
lied life, and how far the MethOdists
do that or can do it, is really ques
ton for experts.
They strike the contemplative mind
as fairly wild and rampageous lot oil
people, with contracted ideas of hui
man life, and an urgent disposition tC
pare down their fellow creatures tc
the dimensions of that restricted
model. Most of them would regard as
a joke the intimation that MethOdists
are laggers, rather than leaders iT
civilization, but lot of strong enthu
siastic support can be had for the sug
gestion that these centenary millions
could not be better, spent for civiliZa
ton than to finance great move
ment to civilize the Methodists.
That they are excellent raw ma
terial of civilization there is no doubt
they are shock troops of religion, anC
religion is the basis of civilization
but the materials need a lot of pa
tient labor before the rest of the world
will contemplate it without anxiety
For the world fears that the Method
lists true aim is to make it Methodist
and it does not want to be that. Il
will take to the woods first. 1t may
easily like Methodists, for many OF
them are good, and lots of them are
useful. But it will never like a Meth
odist civilization, and it never ought
to.
| Methodism is too Puritan, too much
given to salvation by legislation, toe
narrow in it's notion of what is wrong
too inventive of new sins and toe
rash about providing legal penalties
to punish them. So long as Method
lists provide, and submit to, discip
line for themselves, there is no quar-
rel with them, but when, grown
strong, they seek to impose their dis
cipline on other and unwilling peo
pie, they loom up at once as a for
midable and tyrannous force, of which
account must be taken.
Writing about Puritanism, Albert
Mock once said:
ct had energy, militant honesty
strenuousness; and, according to its
lights, made a great specially of the
square deal. But it tried to foist this
on mankind as the whole Of life-and
it is not the whole of life. There are
many other vital human claims that a
civilization must satisfy if it would
win permanence, and Puritanism did
not satisfy these, did not even recog
nize them Man is a creature of a
large discourse" He looked unmoved
on the very virtues of the Puritans
and decided that they were not
worth having at the price.
will twentieth century American
Methodism repeat the errors of the
Puritans, and ride presently to reac