The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-10-16

QCOnJlnueQ from the previous lBbueJ
In view OF this broadening tendency
in theology and philosophy at the be-
ginning Of the twentieth century, 1t is
an unfortunate anachronism that the
ministers of public instruction OF Prus-
STA and Bavaria sail in the wake OF the
catholic church, and seek to instil
the spirit Of the Jesuits in both lower
and higher education. 1t is only few
weeks since the Prussian minister of
worship made a dangerous attempt to
suppress academic freedom, the palla-
dunn of mental life in Germany. This
increasing reaction recalls the sad
days of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, when thousands Of the fin
est citizens of Germany migrated to
North America, in order to develop
their mental powers In a free atmos-
pierre This selective process formed
blessing to the United States, but
it was certainly very injurious to Ger
many. Large numbers of weak and
servile characters and sycophants
were thus favored. The fossilized
ideas of many Of our leading jurists
seems to take us back sometimes to
the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods,
while the palaeozoic rhetoric Of our
theologians and synods even goes
hack to the Permian and Carboni.
ferrous periods.
However, we must not take too Sc
riously the anxiety that this increas-
ing political and clerical reaction
causes us. We must remember the
vast resources of civilization that are
seen today in our enormous interna-
tional intercourse, and must have con.
fdence in the helpful exchange OF
ideas between east and west that is
being effected daily by our means Of
transit. Even in Germany the dark.
ness that now prevails will at length
give place to the dazzling light of the
sun. Nothing, in my opinion, will con-
tribute more to that end than the
unconditional victory of the idea of
evolution. sd. sre 1884,
Beside the Law Of evolution, and
closely connected with it, we have
that great triumph of modern science,
| the law of substance law of the
conservation of matter Uavoisier,
1880, and OF the conservation of en-
ergy (Rober Mayer, 1s42). These two
laws are irreconcilable with the three
central dogmas of metaphysics, which
so many educated people still regard
as the most precious treasures of their
spiritual life-the belief in a personal
God. the personal Immortality OF the
soul, and the liberty of the human
will. But these great objects of be-
lief, so intimately bound up with num-
bers of our treasured achievements
and institutions, are not on that ac-
count driven out OF the world. They
merely cease TO poSe as truth IN the
realm of pure science. AS magma
tive creations they retain a certain
value in the world Of poetry. Here
they will not only, as they have done
hitherto, furnish thousands of the I'm
est and most lofty motives for every
branch of art-sculpture, painting, or
music-but they will still haveaa high
ethical and social value in the eduea
ton Of the young and in the organiza-
ton of society. Just as we derive
artistic and ethical inspiration from
the legends of classical antiquity (such
as the Hercules myth, the Odyssey
and the Iliad) and the story of VIII
liam Tell, so we will continue to do In
regard to the stories of the christian
mythology. But we must do the same
with the poeticat conceptions of other
religions, which have given the most
varied forms to the transcendental
ideas of God, freedom, and immortal
ity. ..-s4
Thus the noble warmth of art will
remain, together with-not in opposi-
ton to, but in harmony with--the
splendid light Of science. one Of the
most precious possessions of the
human mind AS Goethe said. q HE
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