Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-11-20
Try Christianity and Democracy
BY DR.. Frank Crane

TN HERE are all sorts of schemes proposed
as remedies for social wrongs. Of these
wrongs there are plenty. For instance,
the social evil the drink evil, the trust evil,
the evils of poverty, child labor, race preju-
dice, evils of this and of that. Now and
again some new program is announced, such
as socialism, philosophical anarchy Ga term
used to distinguish altruistic from criminal
ararchy), single tax, progressiyism, and so
forth.
Why not try democracy and Christianity?
For what we need to keep in mind is that
we have not tried Christianity and found it
wanting and discarded it, but WE HAVE
NEVER TRIED IT AT ALL.
We have studied it, have looked hard at
it, and have given it up as impossible The
thing to be remembered is that there never
has been country upon earth where the
people have intelligenty set about to act to-
ward one another and toward the other
countries according to the simple principles
Of Jesus.
The theories of Jesus are plain as pike
staff They imply an absolute reliance upon
the cosmic forces Of goodness and an abso-
lutte refusal to attempt to aid these forces by
any other force, physical or moral. No COM
/ munity or organization ever dared do that.
| Men have always believed that the forces of
evil were too strong and that unless resisted
by rules, arms and policemen they would de-
stroy society.
do not say men are not right nor that
Jesus was not mistaken; all / say is we have
no right to claim that Christianity has been
given a trial when we have never once made
ommOn-sense effort to put it into effect.
The same is true Of democracy There
never has been democracy, though they
called it So it was feudalism with ballot.
Democracy is not universal voting. That
is but minor fragment Democracy implies
simply thing-absolute equality of OPP
portunity for every human being. Until you
TRY this what business have you in calling
democracy a failure?
And do you call it a democracy where
the law is an >intricate mesh Of medieval
privileges: where the fright" of inheritance
damns one baby to the slums and entities
another to the possession of a million dol
lars; where the production and distribution
Of the earths goods is controlled by ire
sponsible strong men or companies; where
organized bands of interested politicians
manipulate elections. fill Offices and dispose
Of public patronage while the great body of
citizens, being entirely unorganiZed, look on,
helpless and bewildered; where children are
put in schools that are little mOnarchies to
train them for enforcement in adulthood );
where the workingmen cannot hope to get
their rights simply by virtue of being human
creatures, but must organize into a pugna-
cious union and get what they want only by
( private war; ana where the WnoIe fOOf pop
ulace are breaking their necks to get some
kind Of PRIVILEGE over their neighbors,
the women to get into the exclusive set, the
men to get into some organization where
they can have the power and prestige, not
by earning them, but by belonging" to
something.
I do not say that democracy will work,
that it is not Utopian, wiId-eyed, and revo-
lutionary also that it would not plunge
US into anarchy and ruin; but 7 do say that
you are a trife previous when you assert
that democracy is played out. 1T HAS
NEVER BEEN TRIED.
Mark Twain told the interviewer that the