Evening star., 1926-11-29

0r.stions from readers are answered. uai ah y
hy hysDrs', Dr', 1,,ouIcfI of Churches of Christ IN IN
America. Dr.. Cadman feeks krso,rosentatiye to of
SuaritS Sa trends . of thought in the many letters
which he receives.
DAYTON, Ohio.
Our preacher is always accusing
.omethinC or somebody. 1T is really
depressing to listen to his sermons
Is It helpful for him to be SO ueliuli'
ciatory? ,;,
ton is as useless as contlnual eulosy'
rrha minister who reminds one OF
iudc,nent dav come down in breeches
usually misses the mark. He cries
wolf so necessarily that when the
wolf comes the flock takes little or
No notice of the professional alarnlSt.
The minister who initiates his Mes
ter blends mercy with judgment. ne
brings no railing accusations against
life or society. because the constralnl
of charity induces him to belleVe III
and hope for the best. BUT Wnell
brazen iniquity rears its baletul front
he wages war upon II WIN every ie'
source at his command.
His warfare is the more forclble
because legitimate, unstained by con-
te1npt. generous toward the weak ana
erring. and appreciative of the posi-
hilities of good in the evil doer. lie
loves humanity without too much
softnesS or too much sharpness, ana
views il with the wisdom and tender
ness that characterize the faithful
nsstor. When such a man thunders,
the social atmosphere is purified.
But he is never a chronic cyclone.
Hartford Conn.
M ,-o,, thjuL- that motion nlCtureS
or pictorial newspapers will have any
marked permanent effect, injurious or
otherwise, on the reading habits OF
the people?
Answer.-The social, like the indi-
vidual organism, adjusts itself to new
situations. Moving pictures and pic
torial newspapers have introduced
such a situation and the readjustment
process is in full swing.
Do we not read to create mental
picture and find in it mental satisfac
ton? A movie" or an illustrated
sheet IS but a more rapid means to
the same end. In each case the psy-
GEOLOGICAL machinery is not so differ
ent as many suppose. Both print and
pictures, whether stationary or in mo-
lion, require the use of constructive
Imagination.
The real danger in the novelties
YOU name is not that they lessen the
amount of serious reading. but that
they may give a false conception OF
life. and books are exposed to the
Identical peril. A good picture Is
simply a good book in a different
form. and the opposite also holds
true. Not how you read, but what
is the important issue, and TO read
life from picture or see ii enacted
in a. drama may be as instructive as
to read it from the printed page.
The pictures you describe have
oorne to stay, because they break up
isolation and minister TO the crowd
which intellectual snobs call the MOB
The wise policy, therefore, is not to
lament their crowding out of worthler
things. but to bring them up to the
iatter's standards and by their more
efsectiye Instrumentation make the
best there Is a more common property
Brooklyn. n. Y.
A rather staggering statement was
made the other day that large ma
1ority Of the young men who went
into the war from Christian homes,
and who were either active or pro
fessing Christians, or both, when they
enlisted, came out of the war with
arnoetic or atheistic beliefs.
DO you think that this was true?
Inswer.-That would depend large,
" upon the meanings attached to
these words ''agnostic" and "athe-
,etic." Some who hold to outworn
,k.o,.ias of relir~iOr, brand rs 3CuoS-