Life, 1914-12-31 · page 17 of 41
Life — December 31, 1914 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece targets **Reverend Bouck White**, a real activist who had been jailed for disrupting services at John D. Rockefeller's church and was founding his own "Church of the Revolution." The article's central joke: White is attempting something logically impossible—a church dedicated to a revolution that hasn't happened yet. The writer argues churches exist to legitimize the *existing* status quo and promote acceptance of one's lot in life. A church promoting *future* revolutionary change is therefore a contradiction: churches are inherently conservative institutions defending what *is*, not what might be. The crude cartoon above depicts street chaos—children and adults in disarray outside tenement housing—illustrating the social disorder the establishment feared from revolutionary rhetoric. The moral caption sarcastically warns: "If you are in favor of the Kaiser, keep it to yourself"—a WWI-era reference suggesting radical speech is dangerous, even as the article ironically critiques White for trying to merge radical activism with religious respectability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Church of R. BOUCK WHITE, famous for spending six months on Black- well's Island for disturbing the serv- ices in Mr. Rockefeller’s church, is going right ahead with his own church, which he calls the Church of the Revo- lution, and which, as we understand it, has no connection with the Daugh- ters of the Revolution or other similar organization. Mr, White's reference is to a revolution that hasn't come off yet. And thereby hangs the inex- plicability and incongruity of Mr. White's activities. A Church of the Revolution is a contradiction in terms unless the revo- lution has already taken place, for the reason that only past revolutions are the Revolution orthodox and respectable. The object of a church is to spread the doctrine of the righteousness of what is, be- cause it has been so ordained by a Higher Power. A church is nothing if not orthodox and staid, and if it does not preach contentment and hum- ble conformity with one’s lot, what- soe’er that lot may be. No, no! Let Mr. White go ahead and start a new church if he will, or let him get up a stirring revolution, but let him not try to do the two things at once. Boxe PAPER—The marriage cer- tificate. The Lightning-bug: You TIPSY OLD THE KEYHOLE! FOOL, HEY, I'M NOT comicbooks.com_: