The Washington herald., 1921-09-03

entanglements of a dominant and
autocratic ecclesiasticism.
He is given a catechism which
asks. DO you believe that Abra-
hams old COW jumped over the
moon? Do you believe that God
wanted His children to return to
Him SO much, that He made the way
back to Him so narrow that but
few could find II? etc. II this home
sick hobo Is an American he will
grid up his stomach and will smite
this tOllgate keeper with q smote
of great potency. Indeed. he will
tell this petticoated prelate that he
is a legitimate son of this Father.
and is heir to the earth and the
fullness thereof. He will tell this
pious pretender to go and soak his
head. ] say, IL he is an American.
But IL he is a subservient for
eigner. who has spent his early
life under the heel of European
autocracy. and has never heard OF
the Declaration of Independence he
will doubtless come across with the
price. "As my tongue panteth for
the water-brook, so my soul thirsts
for thee, o God" This is the tes-
timony of man from everlasting to
everlasting. The soul turns to the
teachings. and promises Of the Car
penter's Son, as naturally as the
flower 70 the sun.
Now. don't you think for one
moment that l am against religion
or the churches. Not on your life.
I am most happy to admit that our
Christian civilization under, the
care, guidance and labors Of all
Christian denominations. have done
about all that has been done to
make this country what II is. 1 am
not a Catholic: not on your life.
But do admire their thorough
ness. their fidelity to what they
think is right. Their schools and
many institutions of learning are
among the best and il l had
daughter to educate and wanted
her to be a useful member Of So
ciety, thoroughly equipped for the
duties OF life, ] would put her un-
der the care and instruction Of the
Little Sisters.
them to make this world a better
place to live in. And thank God
they have done it. Now all this
may seem irrelevant to the question,
but it is inseparable from il, be-
cause the soul requires the real
things, and not the superficial. What
the soul demands is the truth. What
is truth? Webster says it is the
constant fidelity TO order and law.
But what do we understand by the
term law" Law is the sequence
between cause and affect: so that
l. ~
things as they are.
Here the soul. or man. drives his
stake. for he knows there Is m
deviation from his standard. In
other worls. man will see the desire
of his soul. Cor himself) and be
satisfied. Please let me drop a word
right here. by way OF parenthesis,
! realize 1t will cause a howl Of
protest, but we may just as well face
the facts right now as to postpone
it till our attitude makes us alb
solutely ridiculous.
Speaking of the Immortality of
the soul, II we ignore the prin-
ciples, for which our modern Spirit
ualistic brethren stand, viz: The
between the seen
and the unseen world OF manifesto
tion, then our whole Christian su-
perstructure falls into a mass Of
disgusting rubbish. Understand I
do not mean the mediumistic frauds,
and 80 per cent of them are
fakirs of the blackest hue. Still
the 10 per cent has given us a
demonstration, that death is only
a name. a night of rest. thar must
proceed another dawn of truth, Be-
ing a Christian myself, ]. refrain
from throwing any stones.
Now let us get down to first prin-
ciples-The soul, and its relation
ship with God.
God lives, yet the interpretation
of Him. made by man, has ever
worn a various garb. Al times sur
youthful minds were taught 70
think OF Him as some strange be-
ing. who with mighty voice. spake
10 a troubled waste of chaos, when
this earth was but a whirliny blur
upon the dark background Of in
.finitude; who laborcd six long days
20 fashion the hsh, fowl, the beast.
n nd Ia 81 0f ALI thN ma Sfer man And