The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-02-28


Shall we follow the forward-looking
few, or shall we try to crowd back
into old conditions? That, in a SEN
tence, is the big social and economic
and political question of the hour.
Our heroes of the high heart and au-
dacious hardihood are returning from
France. Their vote is Go forward"
The timid are those who have not
tested themselves, and shrink from
new adventure. There is an interest
ing analogy between the worlds pres
ent crisis and that of, old Israel on
the edge of the Promised Land.
A critical point in the new nations
history had been attained. After a
bewildering variety of wilderness eX-
periences it had at last reached a.
place called Kadeshbarnea, at the edge
of the Land of Promise. The goal
was in sight. The Canaan long before
promised to the patriarchs, and the
dream and desire of their Egypt bur-
dened descendants, was before their
feet Now was their hour of oppor-
tunity to go in and possess the land.
The Preacher and the Facts.
Like a cautious leader, however,
Moses wanted first to be in possession
of all possible information concerning
what lay ahead of him. He was a
good soldier in that he valued his in
telligence department. This was a
modern enough procedure to satisfy
all those modern scholars who think
they have outgrown Moses. This Is
the day of investigation. heaven and
earth, the waters under the earth, the
innermost workings of the lowest
creatures that crawl upon the earth,
and even the corporations which rule
above the earth, are being probed in
the interest of modern science The
fact is king today-which is well. Ac-
curate data should be the basis OF
every advance, a lesson when relgion
should learn from Moses, from the
scientists, and from the Teacher who
said '.Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free
But the facts should be facts. 1
once heard a pulpit demagogue move
ten thousand persons to tears ana
laughter and handclapping, with
what he called a presentation OF the
progress of the Kingdom of heaven.
Afterwards the people thronged him,
congratulating him on his wonderful
sermon, and his phenomenal array OF
facts Concerning the latter one nearer
had been quoting to himself, 1t Is
better not to know SO many things,
than to know so many things that
are not so'' The mans missionary
facts had been, to my personal knoWl-
edge, mostly gross and ludicrous mis-
statements. He had, Willingly or UNI
willingly misrepresented conditions
abroad and at home so seriously as
to mislead utterly any person who had
not other and more trustworthy
sources of information
That sort of thing has been entirely
too common in-the pulpit and in the
religious press. Ali sorts of pleasant
fiction has been passed around as
facts, for the sake of ''the cause"
Illustrations that illustrate nothing
but religious gullibility are common.
lfas every reader knows Isolated in
stances of missionary success are
magnified until they convey a mean
| ing that is equivalent to fa1Sehood. A
| veteran Picking missionary wrote to
| the missionary magazine of his own
denomination protesting against the
misstatement in its columns that
China had ordered the observance Of
| Sunday. So loath was the editor to
| surrender SO palatable a morsel of
news that he suggested that perhaps
| the missionary at Peking did not
| know as much about conditions there
| as did the man in Boston! In the
| same class is the famous temperance
| anecdote which makes ex-President
| Harrison say that the members of his
| college class who had been moderate
drinkers had died drunkards-a cruel
! SANDER upon honorable and successful
men which President Harrison never
| uttered. This point might be enlarged
| upon to the extent of column, but
| it is enough to say that there is grave
| reason why all representatives of re-
ligion should look well to their facts
after the manner and admonition of
Moses.
Entering New Countries.
One characteristic which marks the
| western portion of North America
from the eastern is the pioneering
| spirit of the former. 1t is much on
! the move. Change does not alright
| iS To
| up stakes and start for a better coun-
try. The oldest section of the United
| States has been seriously afflicted with
| a contrary spirit. Now the pioneering
people, as the pioneering individual, is
great. Those old Pilgrims and Puri-
tans had plenty of faults. but we for
get these in contemplation of their
imperial work. Cecil Rhodes was not
exactly the sort of man to hold up
as model to a Sunday school, but
| nobody can withhold admiration for
| that splendfdly courageous and auda-
cfous spirit which conceived in world
| terms. Everybody anticipates that the
return of the soldiers will result in
new migrations and new enterprises.
| shortcomings those old Jews had in
| plenty. but they were moving on to
possess a new land; and that is what
| makes history
If study of this lesson shall in
spire some young spirits with a new
vision of daring and conquest on be-
half of the Kingdom of heaven, Joshua
and Caleb will have repeated their
success of millenniums ago. For the
Christianity of today sorely needs to
, move out and capture new countries
Even geographically that statement is
true. The sphere of missions is sim
fully restricted by the unheroic and
unimaginatiye spirit of the church at
home
Similarly, in the days social life.
there is manifestly an opportunity for
religion to dominate new and impor-
tant sphere. The powerful labor
movement should be captured by re-
Hgion. The rapidly growing move
ment toward Socialism awaits the con-
troll and direction of Christianity.
The daily newspaper press, the most