The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-06-30
Bishop Brown Addresses Defense Conference

So far, at least, no one has ac.
tualJy been put in Jail for presenting
the theory of evolution in geology
and biology. 1t is only when you pre-.
sent the theory of evolution in social.
ogy that there is much danger of g
prison term. q
Theories about god are still fairly
safe, but theories about human labor
are extremely hazardous. Lot of peo-
pie think that would not have been
tried for my theological theories, bui
for the economic ones. gs
Must Honor E,l Liberty.
That is just one phase of the situa-
ton which calls for this conference,
and the Inauguration of a national
movement for labor defense do not
need to tell you that my heart is with
you. l do not know, in all America,
of any holier work than this. For la
Dor is human life; and unless we have
full liberty to face the problems of
human life, no politics, no religion, INC
prayers and no god in the skies, can
possibly be of any use to us. qias.
l shall not presume to advise you
as to what this conference should do
1t is my hope only that you face the
facts: for when man once discovers
the facts Of his existence, he can not
help acting intelligently.s asa.
You may believe in human rights,0
but that will be of small help to you
UNLESS you discover what human
rights are. There is utter confusion
upon this question today. Preachers
will tell you that you have no right
to do wrong: which means, if it hab
any meaning at all, that you have no
right to do anything which they think
is wrong.
Lawyers will tell you that you have
no right to disobey the law. That
does not mean much, either, for law
yers seem to be the last people on
earth to understand what law is. They
think that legislature makes laws,
but every scientist knows better than
that. Men can not make laws. All
that men can do is to find out what
the laws which actually govern hui
man life are: and if the statutes they
devise are in accordance with these
real laws, then it will do very we'll to
call them laws. But If they are out
of harmony with natural law, it must
presently be discovered that they are
not laws at all.
Water expands when heated. That
is doing OF nature, a natural law:
and il the United States congress
should enact to the contrary, nature
would not be seriously embarrassed.
Neither would you engineers and fire.
men, After one or two experiments,
at least, you would quit trying to run
your engines on ice instead of coal.
Can't Balk Natural Laws.
Water has right to expand when it
is heated, and no legislature can take
that right away. II has right to run
down hill. II has alright to be wet.
IL has no right to stretch its legs be-
cause II has no legs. That is not a
right which II can exercise: and the
only rights which anything has are
the rights which II can exercise--the
rights which nature gives II as the re-
suit Of the evolutionary processes to
which II owes its being.
That is about all ! wanted to say
In order to find out what our rights
are, we must consult the doings of
nature which are the laws that ac-
tually govern us. But those laws, we
must remember. may or may not be on
the statute books. am a law abid-
ing citizen. | stand, as every man of
science and scientific philosopher
must, for utter obedience to law but
| am not fool enuf, when want TO
know what the laws are. to examine
the proceedings OF some fool legisla-
ture. observe human nature instead
for know that the human being has