The Social Service Program The Ethical and Sometimes Religious Overworking of Socialism, Manifest in Our Daj) B$ DR. ELI REECE
LIVE in a world 'of sorrow and gloom; brightened occa sionally, to be sure, by one and another who have re ceived grace to shine in the m idst of the darkness. We see the world, as it were, wallow ing in its own sin-poisoned blood, gush ing from self-inflicted wounds. Millions are dying in squalor and starvation while o thers live in luxury and bloated wealth. Multitudes flock to the places of amusement where frolic and fun feed beastly lust; while robbery and plotted crime hold high carnival in defiance of law and the would-be protectors of the helpless. The multiplied thousands of apprehended crim inals behind prison b ars seem to afford no d eterren t to crime. H ate, murder, bribery, corrup tion, disease, insanity, divorce; sexual vice, ignorance, and superstition envelop us with their suffocating stench. This looks dark indeed, but not darker than the reality. No wonder the Great Apos tle said “to depart and to be w ith Christ is far better.” As we behold this sad spectacle, we say, “An enemy hath done th is,” but Others say, “No, th is is simply incidental to the process of the upward climb which occasionally takes a relapse;” But, from history, we conclude th a t the relapse has continued n ear six thou sand years and surely, if this theory be ' true, it is tim e for signs of a convales cent stage to appear. Here lies the crux of the whole prob lem, viz; What caused the trouble? And surely we must come to a common understanding of this before we can work conjointly .toward a solution; for what we are seeing is not the disease
but merely the symptoms, and unless the cause is discovered, remedies are use less. Philosophers and sages of past centuries have proposed remedies, but the remedy has not reached, and often only ággravates the disease. Dreamers have pictured th is b etter day, as in Au gustine’s “City of God,” Campanella’s “City of the Sun,” Bacon’s “The New At lantis,” More’s “Utopia,” Hume’s “Es says Moral and Political,” Rousseau’s “Social Contract,” Fenelon’s “Tale- maque,” and Lotze’s ' “Microcosmos.” These, and a thousand other attempts, only go to prove th a t the race is groan ing w ith the consciousness of an intol erable burden under which it writhes with agonizing groans. Can we not do something to relieve this dreadful con dition? Surely we .are not so narrow as to condemn any theory simply because it is not our theory, nor condemn theor- izers because “they follow not with us.” No doubt there is much sorrow and gloom and home-sickness and disease in insane asylums; and much remorse and regret and sadness and tears in jails and penitentiaries; yet we would not favor throwing these doors open and turning all these inmates f re e 'ju s t be cause there is sorrow and remorse be hind these walls; for by thus doing the remedy would not be applied to the disease but to th e symptoms. Here again we come to the question for solution, viz: W hat is the disease? Why do men go wrong? Why do men commit sin? Out of the great variety of answers one, and only one can be true. God’s answer is final and H is Holy Word makes it clear. Men’s answers are false and confusing because they are based
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