The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-04-16
By THOS. II. FRANKS

By THOS. n. FRANKS
kiwanis does not propose to tell
the churches what to do or how to
do it. The average kiwaniS club
is composed of members of
churches Of many crGcds includ-
ing Catholics and Jews. There
fore, Kiwanis clubs could not very
well put on definitely religious
programs. The Kiwanis program
OF helpful services cannot be con-
sidercd a substitute for the work
of the churches. In the matter of
religion the churches arc and will
continue to be supreme. kiwanis
international has long underworld
to emphasize the fact that human
and spiritual values are superior
to merely material values. In its
work with underprivilegcd chill
drcn, in it's sponsorship of Boy
Scout and Girl Scout troops and
in many other ways kiwanis has
shown its interest in people as hu-
man beings. However, programs
to help people to become better
human beings are by themselves
inadequate. Therefore, in 1885
Kiwanis International adopted as
one of its special detectives the
support of the churches in their
spiritual aims. Kiwanis thus took
a definite stand sQuarely behind
the churches in their religious
work.
But by religion Kiwanis means
real religion. 1t does not mean
the kind of religion which divides
people. II does not mean the KIND
of religion or sectarianism that
people argue about. 1t means the
kind Of religion that changes
mans life, the kind of religion
that makes man try to live right
and to treat other people right. 1t
means the kind of religion which
the Hebrew prophet had in mind
when he said land what doth the
Lord require Of thee, but to DO
Justly and to love mercy and to
walk humbly with thy God" 1t
means the kind Of religion which
made the Psalmist say Let the
words of my mouth, and the medi-
tation of my heart, be acceptable
in thy sight, o Lord, my strength
and my redeemer." 1t means the
kind of religion which Jesus ex-
planned more fully and more per-
fectly in the Sermon on the
Mount, and what Saint Paul
meant when he said "and now
abideth faith, hope and love, but
the greatest of these is love"
Recently there have been fire.
ouent assertions by prominent lay
men that only religion can save
the world from chaos. But the,re-
ligion that can save the world IS
different from the man-madc,
creeds, doctrines, bigotries and
preiudices which all too frequent
~ have masqueraded under the
name of religion. The religion
that can save an Individual or
save the world is so PLAIN ana
simple that "wayfaring men
though fools should not err
therein" 1t is as plain and au-
thoritative as the ten command
ments. 1t is as plain and benevo-
lent as the Sermon on the Mount.
II is as plain and trustful as the
23rd Psalm. 1t is such a religion
which the church at its best Is
proclaiming to the world, and that
is the reason why Kiwanis Inter
national is supporting the church
in its spiritual aims.
Recently some English status
tician stated that in another TWO
hundred fifty years there would
not be a sane person left IN bu-
rope. This prediction, ! assume,
was based on the rate of increase
of insanity in Europe. wen IN
This country there is also an
alarming increase Of the percen-
tage of insanity among our peo-
ple. If the percentage of increase
continues at the present rate, 1t IS
only a question of a few genera
tions before the majority Of our
people will actually be insane.
Now in this matter of the diseases
of the mind real religion can OIL
ten perform wonders. do not
mean that religion is all that IS
needed in treatment of mental
diseases. In most cases it is a
matter for specially trained physi-
clans and psychologists, but 1t is
also true in a great many cases
that after. the experts have done
ali they know how. to do, there IS
something yet required to be done
in order to restore health to the
diseased minds. In many such
cases religion is the one other
SSNo, 1904 81 nnal,lo cnch ner-