The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1921-11-30
Faith and Fear.

/ Faith and Fear.
/ From the Indianapolis News
+ There is these days too much
rigor and vigor" and far too
little sweetness and light. All
iare not called to be guardians Of
1.-THE truth indeed, truth has "a
remarkable ability to take care
of itself.
i That, however, is something
that it is very hard for people,
particularly intensely earnest
people, to realize. In much ferc-
Ter times than these, Milton, who
certainly cannot be charged with
Iindiffe had such faith
Jas enabled him to say: Though
all the winds Of doctrine were
let loose to play upon the earth,
SO Truth be in the field, we do
ingloriously, by licensing and
prohibiting, to misdoubt her
strength. Let her and False
hood grapple. Who ever knew
, Truth put to the worse in a free
and open encounter" And our
. own Jefferson said: Error of
opinion may be tolerated where
reason is left free to combat it.
Reason, it will be noted, and not
censorship, suppression, pre-
JUDGE, or passion inspired by
fear, was the weapon on which
jefferson relied. There is such
Ia thing as taking the business
Of life, and public affairs in par
ticular, too gloomily, with the
resulting danger of relating one
self to them through tempera-
ment and temper rather than
Through the intellect. When
that stage is reached, it is not
thought but feeling that rules;
under such conditions clear and
straightforward thinking is inn
possible. One, without stopping
to think, credits the widest and
most terrifying rumors, bases
arguments on them and draws
conclusions from them. There
may even be straight reasoning
from the premises, but the result
is worthless and orse-be-
cause the premises are false. IF
all the prophets of his class have
predicted had come true and
little Of it has-there would not
be much left of the human race
or civilization. The obsessed
soul is always in peril Of becom-
ing the soul in a panic, and
where fear is the mind cannot
work well because fear hath
torment One Of the finest
verses in the Bible is that found
in the Psalms: He will not be
afraid of any evil tidings; for
his heart standeth fast, and be-
lieveth in the Lord" The words
were spoken Of 'sthe righteous,
!. who, it was said, 1sshall be had in
Everlasting remembrance" The
words Of the apostle have a very
direct application: "Who is he
that will harm you, if We be fol-
lowers Of that which is good :?
*** Be not afraid of their ter
Iror, neither be troubled
So far from faith being hostile
/ to thought, it is it's, very basis or
foundation. It is. indeed part of
the persons of thought. It is
through this power that men
"subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained prom
Uses = = out of weakness were
made strong, waxed valiant in
fight" It is from a lack OF this
mighty power that the world is
today suffering that the fear
full and obsessed are suffering.
Men talk of, discuss and think
about subjects as though they
were quite new, utterly unrelat-
ed to the past or future, existing
lin a sort Of vacuum without any
framework, such as laws, GUS
] toms, institutions and traditions,
and they think and talk with
hardly suspicion that they and
what they think and talk Of are
parts Of universe that is ruled
by law, universe that has been
Isplendidly defined as "the vlsi-
Ible garment of God" Men can
mot get along, cannot think
]soundly and sanely without
i c-sLI tfkl,, ~