The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1920-02-27
cHAPT. XIX

TIE eirl listened to the exortation
of the preacher in quiet and digni-
fled manner. She was fully aware of the
Inconsistencies of his argument. She
had always considered herself to be
christian; she had read the Bible,
that is, those passages of it which
are generally referred to by preachers
AMI pious laity. She had conceived
christianity to he the expression of
the golden rule in every day affairs;
a power that sweetened the life and
ennohled the ideals of mankind;
force that purified and exalted their
educational social and political insti-
i tutions. 1t was her real, tho unexprcs-
sed ideal, so to live, that the good
people should love her and the bad
respect her for her sin Gritty. In that
she was an annomly among her kind.
Religious tenets are used for social
purposes; they flourish on Sunday;
they are hung upon the clothes rack
on the Sabbath evening and taken
down again when the church bells ring
the next Sunday.
Olive wanted her christianity to be
applicable to the problems of life; to
be for the good of the living, and
not to deal with the problems of the
dead alone. As was it existed for the
benefit of the dying. The church had
long forgotten the communal table;
the holding of all things in common.
Modern christianity in contradistinc-
tion to the primitive locks instead of
opens prison doors. She could not un-
derstand why God should want to
put us in this world to fight ain and
lunrighteousness and then command
his preachers who are to make his
will known to the world to keep them
selves unspotted from its contamina-
tiou. In short she did not know where
she was at and she told her parson SO
She told him that she was blind and
that it was quite evident that his
reverence could not see. She told
him, that it was dangerous for blind
people to follow men who could not
,oo rrbo4 q, tLo ,r,TJorroos of N cf;an
ard cruelty with which man was sor-
rounded we were in need of men who
could rise to duty inspite Of loin.
While she spoke the preacher sat
limp in his chair. To him it was a
voice that came from out Of the abyss
OF reality. It was a SOULS cry for the
real and only salvation. The preacher
i |realized it but as his stomach was
/ lqraater er-than bis heart he dared moi
lrespond. She opened the door slowly
all the while pouring her indignation
into the parsons ear. They were not
calmly spoken but with devine
earncstuess, with an abandon that
makes martyrdom possible.
The preacher answered her no
more. He only looked at her in horror
and amazement and remained in that
attitude until she had left his home.
| Then he walked over toward the little
looking glass on the wall and stood be-
fore it. "She tells the truth, said he
| to himself, "but what am 7 to do. I
have preached for thirty years. I
have never done any harm. But where
and when have I ever done any goodf
I have caused men to say Il believe.
have attacked men as individuals
for their immortality, but how am I.
to fight institutionsg Tt is ins gations
which make or break man. It's
an awful crime that is going on in
this place, when even a child can see
it, but what am to dog Preach the
forgiveness of sins, which is simply
a liscence for more SHINING. Then
justifying himself, he turend away,
saying, 81 leave it to the Lord.
can't risk my salary
Tn her room that night Olive went
over the entire jail scene. She wrote
down in little note book all that
Jack had said and beside it what ,he
lparson had said. She read it over time
and again, but could come TO but
one conclusion, and that was, the boy
had spoken the truth He would he
justified if he hated her, and all the
people like her. It did not occur to
her that Jack was but recently emerg-
ed into the working class; that he
! was hardly weaned away from tho
bourgeoisie. So profoundly hal he
impressed himself upon her imagina-
tion that she had not been aware of
Collins contemptous attitude or of
Rudolph's antagonistic spirit. To her,
right and wrong were definite things,
They were absolute standards. Her
people were doing wrong. II was
wrong now, had been wrong in the
past and would be wrong in the fu.
ture. It was double sin, sin Of
commission on the part Of the off
sials and of omission on the par:
Of the people. It had always been
, her idea that II wrong were pointed
ont people were willing to Dc right
! Now she found that such men a,
her father, Duffy, Cranston and Good
man justified crime upon the ground
/ of expedience. She had even caugh,
herself excusing the robbery Of thu
Indians upon the self same ground