T h e
May 1932
212
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
ibi n tne
e g inm n g
By ROY TALM AGE BßUMBAUGH Tacoma, Wash. THE WELL-KNOWN HUMAN RACE
A lot of people talk about “ peace.” Peace is good, but there can be no peace without purity— first purity, then peace. There is peace in a cemetery, but who desires peace of this kind ? Moral purity precedes heart rest. Doc trinal purity must go before peace in the church. So we ask the question, what is this unanimity about? In what direction is it moving? Is it a sign of life, or a sign of death? Is it a herald of-growth, or a forerunner of deterioration ? I have traveled across the country thrice in the last year, and I have been impressed with the deadening uni formity of many things. East, west, north, and south, the people of America are wearing the same kind of shoes, the same kind of clothes, and the same kind of hats. Americans are thinking the same thoughts. When I crossed the U. S. A., I read newspapers that were published in different centers, and yet I found syndicated articles that had originated in the same office. The same advice was given to the love-sick. Even news items were written in exactly the same words. We came to the Pacific Coast and turned on the radio: The same jazz and the same rad ical utterances were hurrying from the same studios in New York City. Not only so, but the whole world is affected with this spirit of sameness. Chinese now wear American hats, and the people of Africa are wearing American shoes. There is a tendency to bring all wages, all living, and all thinking down to the same monotonous level. Uniformity may be deadening. A tendency which runs parallel to that of socialization is that of consolidation. Mergers multiply. Competition ceases. Prices leap. Consolidation leads to government ownership. Government ownership will prepare the way for world dominion by that supreme world dictator yet to be, the Antichrist. Do we want government ownership? Did we not have enough of that during the war when the government took over the railroads and what not? In efficiency prevailed. Money was lost. Protests multi plied, but were ignored. Politics and the public good are not to be found together. We hear a lot about unanimity, but the question that should arise always is this: What is this unanimity about ? In what direction is this unanimity moving ? H u m a n M a j o r it ie s e n o t ic e in Genesis 11:2 that there was a majority movement in a definite direction. Majorities are not always right; majorities are usually wrong. The majority [Continued on page 216]
II t P e a r , O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord rath spoken, I have nourished and brought up chil dren, and they have rebelled against me” (Isa^J j2 ). This text was spoken to Israel. The Lord had done everything for them that God could do, and yet Israel rebelled against Jehovah. The same words could be written over the history of the entire human race. Let us consider a portion of Genesis. 11, in the light of this verse. H u m a n U n it ie s “ And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech” (Gen. 11:1). Men were speaking one kind of words. That meant that thinking was uniform. Every mind ran in the same groove. The entire human race was in a mental rut. Diversity was conspicuous by its absence. Uniformity reigned. What a dismal world it must have been! Not only was the thinking uniform, but the matter, substance, and material of language and words were the same. Today we see evidences of this same deterioration. There are some people who are continually using the word “ keen.” They talk about a “ keen” mountain, a “ keen” automobile, a “ keen” person, a “ keen” book. The preva lent use of this word bespeaks mental aridness. “ Swell” should be sent to the electric chair also. Every reader could name numerous grammatical outlaws. Death to these linguistic criminals! T h e p e o p l e were also of “ one language,” or “ one lip.” There was one form of speaking, one manner of ut terance, one mode of using and connecting the matter of speech. Linguistic area was painfully limited. The noun and the verb were put in the same place in every sentence spoken by every man, woman, and child. There was unity, but is there anything refreshing about this ? Is unanimity infallible, that it should not be questioned? Many words are misunderstood. Is the word “ sincere” understood? People talk about a man who is sincere. What of it? It is good to be sincere, but sincere in what? Saul was sin cere in persecuting the church of God, but he was sincerely wrong. Communists are sincere in their campaign against the church, the home, and the state, but they are sincerely wrong. Voltaire was sincere in his caricature of God, but he was sincerely wrong. The word “ earnest” is misunderstood. There are many people who are in earnest, but in what are they in earnest ? Infidels are earnest in spreading the propaganda of unbe lief. Humanists are earnest in sowing the seed of error. Is there merit in doing earnestly that which is evil ?
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