Life — August 12, 1909 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

VOL. LIV, AUGUST 22, 199. No. 97 ublished by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY TAL MITCHELL, Dreet, As MILLER, Sey and Trea 17 West Thirt et, New York first Su HE Religion of the Future as out- lined by Dr. Charles W. Eliot is interesting, but not very popular, The ministers of the Uni \ and the Reformed Jews say it is about rians right. The rest of the clergy speak of \ it in terms of re ” “Oh, go ‘long,” Gor “Please a { keep off the “Gr grass.” Some f of them dor iot said t nd some know what Dr. EI of them don’t understand what he said, but these and almost all the rest “know better.” “The new religion,” says Dr. Eliot, “will not be bound by dogma or creed,” and the listening min- isters promptly bear him out by declin- ing to be bound by the dogmas and the erced that he offers. “The new re- ligion,” he says, “will not be based on authority, either spiritual or temporal,” and th yncurs by flouting such authority as he represents. John Woolman, the Quaker, whose Journal has come much to current notice since Dr. Eliot put it on his c-foot shelf, has given an account f his first attempt to speak in meet- ing. “One day,” he says, “being un- der strong exercise of the spirit, I stood up and said some words in z meeting; Divine opening I said more t required of me.” It may be thought to have happened so with Dr. Eliot, but if so, he is a veteran and a philos- will not take it as hard , who tells us: “ Be- audience not keeping close to the an was opher an John Woolman ¢ ing soon sensible of my error I was flicted in mind some weeks... even to that degree that I could not ke satisfaction in anything.” Dr. SHiot is at least entitled to take satis- aaeE te faction, is drawing the fire of the folk: who think they like religion as they think it is, and no doubt he will And yet, we guess, there is not so very much in his “religion of the fu- ture” which docs not blend with most of the beliefs of most of his critics. There are a thousand angles from which the same object may be seen and many lines of thought by which approach can be made to the same conclusion, Re- ligious disputes and differences turn a great deal on the meanings of words and the various ideas that the same words convey to the minds of various people. A man’s religious opinions can seldom be justly estimated by his state- ent of them. The really accurate (and scriptural) way to get at what he believes is to examine his blood and rd. There is plenty of scrip- cking for the opinion that it is much safer to estimate licfs from what he is and does than from his statement of them, Even his reec tural ba a man’s be- more so is it safer to judge a man's beliefs from his conduct than his con- duct from his beliefs. I’ is Dr. Eliot’s record that makes his religious views interesting. It is a record of life-long public service, and though it by no means guarantees that his religious views are sound, at least it does attest they are con- sistent with good and useful living. We suppose that they differ a good deal, and in details that seem vital from iefs of the late Dr. Hunt- ington, of New York, or the late Bishop Brooks, of Massachusetts. Yet both of these illustrious clergymen had demonstrated to th miration that their belicfs shaped won- derful lives. Bishop Brooks was thought to be a good deal of a heretic by many churchmen of his denom he be public ad na, tion, but nobody was dissatistied with his life or its service. As for Dr. Huntingt he was an ideal clergy- man—a man to whom men pointed, as they did to the late Dr. Hale, when they wished to prove that a profession which in these days seems less hon- ored and less attractive than it used to be is still a great profession when the right man enters it.“ Christi is a comprehensive word, which in- an cludes Dr. Eliot, as well as Bishop Brooks and Dr. Hale and Dr. Hunt- ington. Lincoln did not profess that it included him, but Tolstoi, who looked at Lincoln's life rather thart at his absence of stated views, spoke of him the other day as “a Christ in miniature.” More or less of a like spirit seems to be in most good men, no matter what their “views” are. With differ- ent convictions they are apt to be on the same job and stimulated by. t same influence. When divers. spires in every village and on every city street stand for difference in under-* standing of details of the prevailing faith it is a considerable solace and encouragement to observe that there is so much sameness about it when in action e "Ti28 paners report that in Los An- les County, California, the di vorce record since January 1 has been one divorce for every four marriages. Presumably Los Angeles is in the bus ness of furnishing divorces to out- siders. Is it-not ov doing that business? The natural check in divorce in this country is public opinion, and it is al- most time it began to operate. Ameri- can public opinion will countenance a good deal of divorce, and on fairly liberal grounds, but we don’t believe it will approve of one divorce to every i Once let it begin to that American divorce is too . ndant, and hurtful to pub- lic morals, and then see what will hap- pen! The enthusiastic Western State legislators will get to work and make divorce as hard to get as cigarettes in the State of Washington or drinks Kansas. The spirit of Prohibition is just as ready to tackle divorce as to tackle whisky or gambling. It will do it the moment the conviction erystal- lizes that divorce h: nee to families. When it does it it will do it with a whoop and a yell and slam the door. Therefore, let Los Angeles observe its divorce record, and slow up. Mod: eration in divorce is the price of pub: lic tolerance. suspe easy, te s come to be a nui tackle comicbooks.com