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HEART AND SOUL
BY
MAVERIC POST
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1921
Copyright, 1921, by
THE CENTURY CO.
APOLOGY
This book was not written with any idea of being published, but simply
because I could not help it.
I got thinking about various things, in the lives of people about me,
and in my own life, and, after a while, I found that my thoughts would
not let me alone. They kept coming back, to trouble and haunt me, until
finally I realized that the only way I could be rid of them and have a
little peace, was to set them down on paper.
After that, I had the indiscretion to read parts of them to one or two
who are near to me. These seemed to think that they might prove helpful
to others who felt the same way and urged me to publish them.
I cannot be blamed very much for conceiving a hope that this might prove
true. And, in that hope, I have followed their advice.
M.P.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I DIAGNOSIS 3
II THE UP-TO-DATE PRINCIPLE 43
III REASON AND EXPERIENCE 59
IV AFFECTION 83
V FAITH 109
VI SCIENCE AND THE INTELLECT 167
VII HOPE 221
VIII HEART AND SOUL 234
APPENDIX 317
HEART AND SOUL
HEART AND SOUL
I
DIAGNOSIS
Many of us, to-day, are disturbed and alarmed by the point of view and
the behavior of people about us--especially the younger generation.
Girls of good family are seen on all sides, who smoke and gamble and
drink and paint their faces and laugh with scorn at the traditions and
conventions which their grand-parents regarded with almost sacred
reverence. The young men are worse, if anything, and as for the married
people of the new era, what they are doing to the sanctity of the home
and the bonds of matrimony might seem like a weird travesty of the
teachings of the past.
What is the world coming to? Are things going on indefinitely, this
way,--or more so? If not, who, or what, is to stop the movement and turn
it in another direction? What is the meaning of it all? What is to be
done about it?
Before attempting to speculate on these questions, it might be a good
idea to consider for a moment the main, fundamental influences which
have always been at work, to a greater or less extent, in determining
the conduct of human beings.
First come the material instincts. Each individual is born with a large
number of desires, appetites, feelings, impulses, tastes. There is also
a natural wish to gratify these and the process of doing so brings with
it a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. So that if these natural
instincts were the only things to be considered, the problem of humanity
in a general way would resolve itself into preserving life and getting
as much pleasure out of it as possible. Why not follow the lead of our
instincts, accept all opportunities as they come, and make the most of
them?
Is not this point of view, however briefly and crudely expressed, the
first principle of existence as it confronts each individual to-day, as
it has confronted them in the past, and as it will continue to confront
them always?
Is it not, in its essence, the starting point--the ever-present raw
material--which must be recognized and dealt with somehow in any scheme
of philosophy or morality?
The next consideration, which follows closely after, is that certain
wishes cannot be gratified, certain pleasures are forbidden, certain
instincts must be repressed or controlled.
Why?
For various reasons. The first being force and might. Some one stronger
interferes and prevents.
Every child comes in contact with this principle at an early stage. It
cannot have what it wants, it cannot do as it wills--because the nurse
or the mother says "no."
A little later, if it undertakes to gratify a certain wish which has
been forbidden, if it gives free play to an instinct for pleasure,
against orders, it is slapped and scolded. It is made to feel that it
has done wrong. And when one does wrong, punishment follows--one must
learn to expect that.
This same principle confronts the individual in later years,--all
through life. First the nurse and mother; then the father and other
members of the family; then the neighbors and people at large; the
police and the laws. All these embody the same principle, they represent
greater force, without the individual, which interferes with its
instincts, its pleasures, its wishes, which forbids certain
things--declares they are wrong--and punishes, if they are done.
On top of this comes the church and religion. In a more exalted way,
appealing to the imagination and the inner spirit, they nevertheless
apply the same principle. Certain things are sinful and wicked, certain
instincts and desires are temptations, contrived by an evil spirit. If
temptations are yielded to, if evil is committed, punishment is sure to
follow, if not in this world, then in another, a world beyond.
In this connection, it is not a question of any particular church, or
creed, or any particular religion, but simply of the fundamental idea of
all churches and all religions,--the idea that somewhere, somehow, in a
spiritual world of some sort, good will be rewarded and evil punished.
Crudely and briefly stated, it is the same fundamental principle that
begins with the child and nursemaid, and runs up through the highest
forms of church and religious appeal. This is good, you are allowed and
urged to do it, and it will bring reward; that is bad, you are commanded
to resist it, and if you yield, it will bring punishment.
This, then, is what we have called the second consideration in the
problem of life.
There is another consideration, of a different order, which exerts an
influence on the acts of an individual; which causes it to repress
certain appetites and desires, on the one hand, and urges it, on the
other hand, to do certain things against its instincts and inclination.
This third consideration is the influence of reason and experience.
A crude example will suffice to illustrate the principle. A certain
individual eats a plate of sliced cucumbers. Their taste is delicious
and the sensation most enjoyable. An acute indigestion follows, however,
with great discomfort and distress. On a later occasion, another plate
of fresh cucumbers is so tempting that the experiment is tried again,
with the same results.
Before long, this individual will refuse to eat a cucumber, no matter
how fresh and tempting it looks. There is no question of right or wrong
here involved. There is no outside force or command, to restrain him. It
is his own reason, based on experience, which determines him to give up
a present pleasure for the sake of avoiding a future pain.
In a reverse way, a certain individual who is tired and sleepy and
yearns to go to bed, will force himself to sit up and work over annoying
papers, in order to be free for a game of golf, the following day. He
deliberately denies his desires and accepts present discomfort for the
sake of future enjoyment.
This principle, if we look into it carefully and follow it through its
ramifications and side lights, is an active and important factor in the
conduct of nearly everybody. In its essence, it is personal, its force
springs from within the individual--and in that respect, at least, it is
quite different from the orders of parents, or the commandments of
religion, which are issued from without and which the individual is
called upon to accept and obey, irrespective of his own notions or
preferences.
There is still another main consideration in this question of conduct.
It is a very great factor in the lives of many people, and in some cases
its force and influence are overwhelming. And it is totally different in
its very essence and tendency from the other principles we have noted.
This is the influence of love and affection.
A mother will give up any pleasure, she will accept any pain for the
sake of her sick child. She does not do it because any one has ordered
her, or because of any commandment of any religion, or because of any
reward or punishment in this world, or another. There is no selfish
motive of any kind involved in her thought. Any sacrifice of self, she
is ready to make without the slightest hesitation. What she does, and
what she is willing to do is for her child alone--because she loves it
and, for the time being, its little life seems of more importance than
everything else in the world put together.
Now, if we pause right here a moment and reflect we can hardly fail to
realize that we are in the presence of something strange and wonderful.
It appears to be the very contrary and contradiction of all that has
gone before. The life of the individual, as it unfolds from the first
principle, is a question of self-preservation, self-gratification,
appetites, desires, pleasures, as full a measure of enjoyment as it is
possible to obtain. This is interfered with by outside force and
considerations of reason and experience; certain desires have to be
controlled by the idea of good and bad, reward and punishment; certain
pleasures and pains have to be balanced against each other to determine
a choice. But from beginning to end, it is all concerned in
considerations of advantage--what is best for self, at the time being,
or in the long run--in this world or the next. Why do this, that, or the
other? because you will gain most by it, in the end. At bottom, the
motive is taken for granted, whether openly admitted or more or less
thinly disguised--self, self-interest, selfishness.
Then we turn and look upon a mother and her child--and we find that all
thought of personal advantage can be transferred to another.
Self-interest can be controlled and obliterated by a new and mysterious
principle--the principle of love.
There are various kinds and degrees of feeling that go under the name of
love and nothing in life is more interesting or more vitally important
to study and understand. But in this preliminary summary it is enough to
signal its existence as one of the factors in the problem of life.
It may be just as well to note, in passing, that mothers are to be found
whose love for their children is not so completely unselfish. Mothers
are to be found who care very little about their children. Mothers are
to be found who regard children as a nuisance and a disadvantage and
prefer to be without them. That will be found to be one of the curious
side-lights of the problem when time comes to discuss it.
It does not alter the fact, however, that love exists, that the true
mother's love of her child is the most complete and universal
illustration of it.
Also in many other forms of love and affection, it is easy to recognize
this same tendency toward unselfishness--a readiness to sacrifice one's
personal pleasures and inclinations for the joy of another. A father may
have this feeling for his son, or his brother, just as he may have it
for his wife, or his mother. A man, or a woman, may have it for a dear
and intimate friend, and be willing to make real sacrifices in order to
benefit them.
This, then, is the fourth consideration--a fourth factor in the problem
of life--and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion of ideas, we will
call it affection--the influence of affection.
There remains one more consideration--one further class and kind of
influence--which has its bearing on conduct. This may be summed up, in a
general way, as love of an ideal, or an idea. Although it is less
wide-spread and less potent in most lives than affection for fellow
beings, yet it is, in varying degrees, a real factor that cannot be left
out.
A sense of duty exists, to greater or less extent, in nearly all people.
In people of breeding and good family it may become pride of
race--_noblesse oblige_. A certain individual may have a strong
affection for his home town, the little community with which he has been
identified as a boy and man. Another is devoted to a cause, a political
party, a Red Cross movement; while others have a strong feeling of
patriotism, they love their country, their flag, and they are ready, at
any time, to give up something for the good cause.
Broadly speaking, and for lack of a better name, we may call this fifth
principle in the problem of life--devotion to an ideal.
As a result of these influences, the character of an individual is
formed, his conduct is determined. At any given time, in the presence of
any given question as to what he will, or will not do, the answer will
depend on the relative force, or sway, of the conflicting
considerations.
This is merely stating an application of a general law--that all effects
must have their causes. Only in the conduct of an individual, the causes
at work are often very subtle and complicated.
If the average individual at the present time is behaving differently
from the way he used to act, it is obviously because of some change in
the influences. Certain motives and considerations which used to be
decisive have now ceased to dominate. Other considerations have
superseded them. So much is fairly obvious, and very little reflection
is needed to locate these in a general way. They lie in the second group
of our summary--the control of desires from without, enforced by rewards
and punishments.
In the life of the average individual, this influence has become weaker
all along the line. It is probably less dominating and decisive to-day,
than it has ever been before in any period of civilization, ancient or
modern. And the weakening of the influence begins in the earliest
childhood, with the punishments of nurse and parents and extends right
on to the end, through neighbors and public opinion, the police and the
laws, and finally to the church and religion, with their everlasting
retribution, heaven and hell.
There has been no great apparent change in the other considerations of
our summary. People are still influenced by experience and reason, as
heretofore. They still are moved by their affections; and there are the
same class of people who will fight for their country and make
sacrifices for an ideal.
It may be that the change of character which results from the weakening
influences under our second heading, has an appreciable effect on the
force of other influences, also. But that is a delicate and subtle
subject, which will be discussed later on.
For the time being, we may stop at this point: that the startling
changes which have occurred recently in moral standards and
point-of-view are directly traceable to a corresponding weakening of an
influence that has been one of the strongest in human lives.
The nature and extent of this process are worth considering in detail,
because it is at the very root of the problem and the consequences are
far-reaching.
And before we begin to analyze it, let us be careful to avoid a hasty
and easy conclusion. Because the changes in people's views and behavior
seem startling and alarming to those of the old school--that does not
necessarily mean that the new tendency is bad and wrong. Any change in
fundamentals is apt to be upsetting, for the time being. The new way, in
the end, may really be better than the old, and represent progress. Or
it may mean deterioration and decline. It will be time enough to discuss
that phase of the question, after we have made sure that we thoroughly
understand what it is, that has been going on.
Let us take one thing at a time and start with the simplest and most
obvious.
A human life begins, with possibilities of development in all sorts of
different directions. The child is taken care of from the
cradle--guided, educated. In due time, it reaches an age where it is
left to decide for itself and its actions are determined by its nature
and what it has been taught.
"As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." This is an old adage of the
English language and the principle it expresses has been generally
accepted throughout the world. "Spare the rod and spoil the child"--is
another old adage which has been almost as universally accepted. Still
another adage, expresses a fundamental principle: "Children should be
seen, not heard."
These adages are sufficient to indicate the basic theory that governed
the bringing up of children for countless generations. What do they
imply?
Obedience, discipline, respect--respect for parents, respect for others,
respect for traditions and laws--and with it a reverence and fear of
God. The aim was to turn out law-abiding, God-fearing citizens; and the
method, as expressed in the adages, was unquestioned for centuries and
generally adhered to.
It has always been usual and natural among various peoples at various
times, to inculcate in children from an early age those qualities which
are considered worthy and admirable.
Among the American Indians, a true brave was he who presented an
unflinching countenance to the enemy, even in torture. Consequently, boy
children were pricked and burned by their parents, until they were
schooled to accept any kind of pain without a whimper.
In China, tiny feet were considered desirable in a woman--so girl
children's feet were tightly bound and kept so, for long periods, with
great suffering, in order to attain the worthy object.
In these and similar cases in European civilization, the stern methods
employed cannot be taken to mean that parents loved their children any
the less--rather the contrary. Because they loved them, they did not
hesitate to do what was necessary, according to their lights, to make
them grow up as fine specimens as possible.
That was the old school. What, now, of the new?
It is obvious that, in recent years, there has been a vast change in the
attitude of parents toward children, and perhaps an even greater change
in the attitude of children toward parents.
The rod is used very sparingly, nowadays. In America, at least, it may
be said to be no longer used at all. Among families of education and
refinement, a child may still be spanked by the mother or father, but
not very often. The significance of the proceeding is not very great,
and half the time the spanking is occasioned by the irritable nervous
condition of the parent rather than the act of the child.
A child may sometimes be slapped by a nurse, usually when the nurse is
cross and ill-humored. But in nearly all cases, if a nurse dared to whip
a child, or cause it real pain, the child would only have to tell its
parents and the nurse would be discharged.
And such trifling chastisements as do occur to-day, are confined to a
very early age of the child. A boy or girl of twelve or fifteen has no
fear of a beating from father, or mother, or governess, or
school-teacher. School-masters are no longer allowed to whip their
pupils, or even to cuff them.
The old adage is no longer in force--it has been thrown into the
discard. "Spare the rod--" yes, the rod _is_ spared, but it remains to
be seen whether on that account the child is necessarily spoiled.
"Children should be seen, not heard"--that idea, is also in the discard.
Boys and girls have as much right to their say as anybody else. At the
family table, in the home circle, the tendency is rather for their ideas
and their affairs to usurp the conversation. Their impressions are
fresher and more animated, and they are more abreast of the latest
up-to-date topics. An attitude of respect and reverence for the opinions
and notions of their parents, or grand-parents, would hardly be expected
of them. So many of the things to be talked about--motors, wireless,
airplanes, new wrinkles and changed conditions--are better understood by
them than the old people. It is easy for them to get the feeling that
the old people's ideas are rather moth-eaten and of not much account. It
is for the rising generation to tell and explain what's doing now and
for the setting generation to listen and make the most of it.
Of course, this is not meant to imply that children have ceased to have
any respect for their parents. In any particular case, it is a question
of degree, depending upon the quality of the children, the quality of
the parents, the various conditions and influences of the family life.
It is the general tendency we are looking for--the underlying
principle--which makes itself felt to a greater or less extent,
according to circumstances.
It is unquestionably true that the average child to-day is less often
and less severely punished than the child of the past. If it disobeys,
it has less fear of the consequences, so the importance of obedience
becomes a dwindling factor in its mental attitude and its behavior.
It learns to take orders with a grain of salt and as often as may be, it
disregards them, because they are not what it likes. That is the
beginning of a tendency--the first bending of a twig.
As the twig goes on growing with this slant, and the horizon of the boy
and girl opens out beyond the family circle to a larger world, existing
conditions are such as to encourage a continuation of the same tendency.
The selfish instincts and desires of the individual are opposed by the
same kind of influences and restraints that have been in force since
the beginning of civilization, but less effectively. And let us bear
clearly in mind that, for the time being, we are confining our attention
to the forces which act on the individual from without. That is the
thread we are following--the second consideration in our summary.
The influences and restraints which act on the boy or girl, as they go
forth from the home circle, are of various forms and kinds, but they may
be grouped in a few simple classes.
First: The school with its teachers and teachings.
Second: The influence of example and imitation--what others of their age
and kind are doing.
Third: The influence of public opinion, of tradition and customs--what
everybody seems to think is all right and approves, on the one hand, and
what is considered wrong and unworthy, on the other.
Fourth: Laws and regulations of constituted authorities.
Fifth: Sunday school and church--the religious influence with its
standards of wickedness and goodness.
If we consider these in order, we are not impressed by any striking
change in the school influence. In many respects, no doubt, schools are
better planned and more intelligently managed than they ever were
before. More attention is paid to ventilation, hygiene, recreation, on
the one hand; and on the other the methods employed in imparting book
knowledge are probably more enlightened.
As regards the question we are discussing--obedience, discipline,
respect for authority--on the whole, there has probably been no great
change. In the class-room and throughout the school régime, strict
obedience is still maintained as an essential requisite, just as it has
always been. The punishments and penalties for disobedience are perhaps
a little less severe and drastic, but without any real difference in
effect.
The only question worth raising in this connection is how far
school-teachers and school-rules are taken to heart by the average boy
or girl--how far they are made to apply to their notions and motives,
when school is left behind. School-books, school-teachers and
school-discipline are so apt to be bunched together and relegated to a
special corner of the mind.
Our second group--the influence of example and imitation--has probably
always been a more important factor in shaping conduct and character.
What the older boys, just above you, do and believe, makes a lot of
difference to you, if you are a boy.
It is no question here of old-fashioned precepts or theories, handed
down by parents, grandmothers or school-teachers, to be taken with a
grain of salt. It is something living and vital, which concerns you
directly. You look up to the older boys: you want to be like them; and
approved of by them. What they think and do may be at variance with the
ideas of nurse, mother and school-master, but if it is good enough for
them, it is good enough for you. It is a practical standard which you
can't help being judged by. If you fail to live up to it, or refuse to
accept it and try to act differently, there is a sure penalty. You will
be sneered at, disliked, looked down upon, or laughed at.
If you are a girl, the same principle applies. There is nothing new
about the principle. It is as old as the hills and universal.
Is the effect of it to-day on the forming character any different from
what it has been, in the past? Undoubtedly. A moment's reflection will
show why and how this must be so.
Whatever the nature and influence of the family bringing-up may have
been, in any particular case, the general tendency toward lack of
discipline and disregard for authority can hardly fail to be reflected
in the prevailing standards of the boys and girls to be found at any
school. They have no connection with school regulations or school
penalties. It is the fundamental question of instincts, desires, and
notions--the attitude toward themselves and toward life outside the
school-room which they are going to take with them where-ever they go.
The tendency begun at home finds reinforcement and further development
in the boy or girl by example and contact with others, who are headed
the same way.
Next comes the third group: The influence of public opinion--of
tradition and customs.
There is no mistaking the fact that in the present generation there have
been many striking changes in the prevailing customs, as they apply to
the behavior and conduct of individuals. The growing boys and girls see
these changes taking place on every hand.
When mother and father were young, Sunday was a day set aside for
church-going and dull and decorous behavior. Games and fun of all kinds
were laid away, everybody put on their best clothes and sat around and
talked, or took quiet walks with an overhanging air of seemly propriety.
To-day there are tennis and golf and baseball games and dinner-parties
and gambling at the bridge-table, in which mother and father
participate along with the rest.
It used to be considered improper for a girl of good family to go out at
night to any kind of party without being accompanied by a chaperon.
Nowadays, the girl who is obliged to take a chaperon with her wherever
she goes, is liable to be laughed at by her up-to-date friends.
It was not so long ago that in any respectable community, a woman who
painted her face, smoked cigarettes, drank cocktails and gambled with
the men, would have been considered a shocking spectacle of depravity
that no self-respecting wife, or mother, could accept or tolerate.
Nowadays, the growing boy and girl have only to open their eyes to see
women doing such things everywhere--as likely as not their aunts and
cousins, or their own mothers.
Examples of this nature could be given in great variety, but enough has
been suggested to show the trend. In another connection it will be
interesting to discuss these manifestations in greater detail and
reflect on their cause and meaning.
For the present, it is sufficient to indicate that the social customs
have changed and are changing very materially. Under such conditions, it
would not be natural for young people to be unduly impressed by them.
Such standards are so unstable and they differ so much to-day from what
they were yesterday, and they differ so much in different circles and
even in different families, that their force and importance are not very
compelling. The authority of past customs has undergone a process of
confusion and weakening, much the same as parental authority. There is
less respect for it on the part of the new generation.
The same thing is true of traditions and public opinion. Traditions have
been modified and lost sight of in the new movement, and public opinion
on many questions is to-day so confused and indefinite as hardly to
exist.
Some people still think that divorce and re-marriage is shocking. Other
people thoroughly approve of divorce, and believe that when a marriage
has proved unsatisfactory and objectionable, it is right and best to
call it off and look for something better.
Some people think it wrong for young people to run to the picture-shows
and see baby vampires and demoralizing examples of licence and
misconduct; others are enthusiastic about the educational value of the
movies and encourage their children to go as often as they like.
Some people disapprove violently of the way young people dance together
and of the present attitude of girls and boys toward one another; while
others accept it as a part of the new era of emancipation and
enlightenment which is all in the way of progress.
There is practically no real public opinion to-day on these, and many
other similar questions. A diversity of individual opinions and notions
has taken its place, which young people are more or less free to follow
or ignore, as circumstances may determine.
Yet it is not so long ago that public opinion in most communities was a
firmly established, vital force. It was generally recognized and
carefully respected by anybody, who wished to be considered respectable.
Certain acts, certain kinds of conduct, were considered immoral, or
shocking, or in bad taste and those who defied public opinion were made
to pay the penalty. They were given the cold shoulder, cut off the
visiting-list and made to feel the stigma of disapproval.
If a girl sneaked off alone with boys in the dark, or was caught smoking
cigarettes--if a married man was seen consorting with a divorcee--if a
woman drank highballs and gambled and broke up a happy home--if any
member of the community did any one of a number of things which were
considered improper, or unworthy, or immoral, or dishonorable, public
opinion was sternly in evidence, unquestioned and unquestionable, to
judge and to sentence.
Young people learned to take account of this consideration, just as
their mothers and fathers did. They grew up with respect for it. In the
new generation the thing itself has lost greatly in consistency and
force, and the young people see no reason to be much concerned about it.
In the fourth group, are included the laws and regulations of
constituted authorities. For the most part these find their chief
representative in the policeman, with the jail and law-court, as a
background behind him. About the only change in this influence lies in
the mental attitude of the average individual.
A generation ago, people who got arrested were usually thieves, or
drunkards, or crooks and criminals of some kind. To be a law-breaker and
in the clutches of the police was something that a reputable citizen
shuddered at. The police were the guardians of all good people,
majestic, respected and a little awe-inspiring.
Nowadays, people of all sorts and kinds are constantly getting into
trouble with the police, and getting arrested, and being hauled to court
and fined before the same bar of justice as the crooks and drunkards. It
is usually in connection with automobile driving. They are
law-breakers--they know it and are caught at it.
And since the prohibition laws have gone into effect, another crop of
law-breakers has sprung up on every hand. Deliberately and defiantly
they disregard the law and scoff at it.
In addition to this matter of the police, there is a growing tendency on
the part of the average person to question the worthiness and integrity
of officials and representatives of government, all along the line.
Aldermen, commissioners, mayors of cities--even senators of the United
States--are frequent objects of mistrust, of sneering disrespect.
Political scandals and corrupt deals in high places are commonplace
topics in any community.
So young people, looking about and absorbing ideas, under these
conditions, are inclined to have a lessened respect for constituted
authorities and the laws.
Above and beyond this, having a deeper significance and effects that are
more intimate and constant and far-reaching, is the change which has
been taking place in the influences of the fifth and last group--Sunday
school and church--the force of religion.
This is such a delicate subject, so close to the hearts of so many
people and having so many variations and degrees in different
individuals, in different families, in different communities, in
different churches, that it is extremely difficult to discuss. It is
largely a matter of private sentiment, of vague personal feelings for
which the average person is unable to find adequate expression. No
sooner is the subject broached than the individual mind takes refuge in
a defensive attitude. As it does not intend to be disturbed in its own
spiritual attitude and beliefs, it is ready to seize the first
opportunity to raise objections.
Let me reassure such minds by saying that I am quite willing to agree
with them concerning the good that is in their minister, or their
church, or any other church, or religion they may be interested in. To
the best of my knowledge and belief, the purpose and influence of all
churches and all religions has always been in the direction of higher
thoughts and more exalted motives of conduct. This is no less so to-day
than it has been in the past.
The change that has occurred is in the attitude of the new generation
toward the teachings of the church and the consequent weakening of its
influence.
Not much reflection or observation is required to arrive at a general
idea of the nature and extent of this tendency.
In most Christian homes it has been the custom to teach children to say
their prayers every night before going to bed. And in teaching them to
pray, the idea has been instilled in their minds that the all-wise Lord
is listening to them and watching over them. Mothers and Fathers have
accustomed them to the belief that no act of theirs--no matter how
carefully they may conceal it from the human beings about them--can ever
escape the all-seeing eye of the Lord.
Children have believed this from time immemorial and the Sunday school
and church have encouraged and strengthened this belief, at all stages
of their growth. And along with this, as we have observed, went the idea
of divine, everlasting justice and retribution--the punishment of evil
and the regard of good, if not in this world, then surely in the greater
world beyond. Heaven and hell have for centuries been pictured as
awe-inspiring realities, established by the Bible, expounded and
thundered from pulpits.
Children found, as they grew up, that the idea was accepted and shared
by mothers, fathers, neighbors--everybody in the community entitled to
respect or consideration. In trouble or sickness, they turned to the
Lord for comfort and help and those who yielded to temptation and
ignored His commandments were in danger of eternal damnation.
When people believe such a doctrine, when it is a living conviction in
their hearts and souls, no greater influence could be imagined for
controlling their material instincts and desires. We have only to refer
back to the days of the martyrs and saints to realize what the principle
is capable of when it is fully applied. As compared to eternal salvation
and everlasting bliss--how petty and unimportant are the temporary
experiences of the body.
The great mass of normal human beings, while accepting and believing the
doctrine, have never deemed it necessary, or practical, to carry it too
far. But always in the past, so far as we know, the average individual
has been influenced to a very considerable extent by his religious
beliefs. The more deeply and intensely he _believed_ in the teachings,
the greater their influence in controlling his acts.
If we turn to the present generation, we find on all sides, evidences of
a growing notion that many of the statements contained in the Bible will
no longer hold water, when put to the test of scientific enlightenment.
A minister of the gospel in this church, and another in that, announces
from the pulpit that it is no longer possible for him to accept the
doctrines of hell's fire and eternal damnation. Others follow their
example and preach sermons, accordingly, to justify this stand. Next the
question of heaven is brought into question by a conscientious divine,
who expounds the conviction that it should be accepted in an allegorical
meaning, not literally--that instead of being a paradise inhabited by
the souls of the elect, it should be considered rather a state of mind
of living mortals who behave rightly.
Heaven and hell, a jealous and all-mighty Being, seated on a majestic
throne, watching and judging each act of mortal man, punishing and
rewarding, through all eternity--these and many other biblical
teachings, which for centuries awed the imagination and possessed the
souls of humble men and women, have gradually been brought into
question.
Some people are inclined to lay blame for this on the churches and the
ministers. But that is superficial thinking. The causes for the change
were not within the churches, but outside, and the ministers of the
gospel, though human beings like the rest of us, were among the very
last to take cognizance of them.
The doubts and questions and misgivings evidently began, some time ago,
among practical, thoughtful minds of scientific training. Certain
statements in the Bible, in the light of modern investigation, were
found to be inaccurate. If parts of it were founded on the ignorance of
men of more or less primitive instruction, it is easy to see where this
line of reasoning was bound to lead. In addition to the statements of
fact, many of the ideas and assumptions set forth in the Bible seemed
crude, narrow, cruel--as primitive as the lives of those early peoples
among whom it came into existence.
The moral code contained in it--the essence of its religious
significance--was undoubtedly sound and eternally true and very possibly
inspired from on high, but the details, the images, the formal
conceptions were decidedly antiquated and unimpressive to the
enlightened spirit of our advanced civilization.
This growing point-of-view began to express itself quite noticeably in
the past generation, at least in America. Thoughtful men, when they
arrived at it, were inclined to keep it to themselves. They did not care
to disturb the simple, whole-souled faith of their wives and mothers and
children. But when these men went to church with the family, and had to
listen to the literal, orthodox expoundings of antiquated dogmas, they
were apt to feel mildly bored and annoyed. They began to beg off from
going to church. Then, little by little, in the various church
congregations, there was a disquieting falling off in the attendance of
men-folk.
Then some of these men began to exchange their views quietly with
others, who felt the same way. Articles were written, here and there,
calling certain dogmas into question--and women were sometimes led to
take part in the discussions and face the conclusions.
Women, as has been observed from time immemorial, are by nature more
conservative than men, more inclined to accept existing conventions and
be governed by traditions. They are also more impressionable and the
outward forms of church service mean more to them. Religious stimulant
can come to them through their feelings and imagination without greatly
involving the intellect. The same is true of children.
So it has happened that while the men questioned, lost faith and balked
at church-going, the women and children kept on dutifully, for the most
part content to accept things as they had always been.
But the contagion of advanced thought was in the air, spreading among
progressive men, reacting to a certain extent among women, and it was
probably not until this had been going on for some time that it began to
be taken into account by the clergy. Sooner or later it had to be, if
the church was to preserve any harmony with the thoughts of its
congregation.
At the present time, things have reached a point where if you ask any of
the younger women, of average intelligence and education, her sentiments
concerning hell's fire and heaven's glories, and the jealous on-looking
God who demands to be worshipped, the chances are she will answer with a
shrug that those things are no longer preached by progressive ministers.
She believes in the Bible, certainly, and considers herself a good
Christian, but certain portions of the divine word, certain conceptions
of the past, are no longer acceptable--they have gone into the discard.
And these women, holding such a view, have no hesitancy in expressing it
in the presence of their children, if it so happens that they are old
enough to be sitting by, listening to the conversation.
In the light of all this, when we come to consider the force of religion
as a restraining influence in the growing lives of the new generation,
the nature and extent of the changes is fairly obvious.
Let us suppose that to-day the average little children still have the
beginnings of their religious training in much the same way as it has
always been. And a large proportion of them undoubtedly do, because
that is one of the family traditions which almost any mother would be
loath to change.
The children, then, are taught to say their daily prayer--they are told
that God hears them and sees them--that God is all-wise and
all-powerful--that He loves good people and rewards them, while people,
who do wrong, anger Him and cannot escape His punishment. And this
teaching is continued and developed in the Sunday school, as soon as the
children are old enough to go there.
The child mind absorbs all this, accepts it with the same simple faith
with which it has accepted Santa Claus.
If we consider the period of early childhood carefully, we find that
these two beliefs, so to speak, go hand in hand--and there is much
similarity between them. Most children are also taught about Santa Claus
from the earliest days. He becomes very real and wonderfully important
in the child imagination. He, too, has a mysterious way of knowing
whether people are good or bad; he, too, loves the good ones and rewards
them by bringing them beautiful presents--and if the bad ones are too
bad, he is liable to punish them by giving them no presents at all.
Instead of praying to him at night, you can write him letters which he
has a way of getting from the chimney, so that he, too, can understand
the innermost wishes of your heart.
Sooner or later, however, the time must come when the existence of Santa
Claus is called into doubt. The doubt usually begins with some remark
made by an older boy or girl. But even if older boys and girls kept
their mouths shut, the time would surely come when a growing mind would
begin puzzling, reasoning, doubting, and by putting two and two
together, would be forced to the conclusion that this pretty idea was
only a make-believe, a myth, a humbug. A little further reflection might
tell it that the myth must have been invented by some one, long ago, and
was kept alive and carried on by people, generation after generation, on
account of the value and influence it was found to have in bringing up
children.
Even after a child has become too wise to believe any longer in Santa
Claus, when the first reaction of feeling fooled and cheated is over, it
is perfectly willing to go on pretending for the sake of little brother
and sister, and when it grows up and has children of its own, it will go
on pretending for them.
In the present generation, what is happening in the case of many people
with regard to religious beliefs, is only one step removed. At a little
later period of development, no doubt, but almost as inevitably, the
moment arrives when the childhood teachings and conceptions begin to be
called into question.
Is there really an all-wise Lord, looking on and listening when you say
your evening prayers? How many ears and eyes He must have, when so many
people are doing the same thing at the same time--hundreds, thousands,
millions--all talking to Him at once--in different languages and about
different things!
It was the same way about Santa Claus. How could he be bringing so many
presents to so many people, all over the world, and delivering them
personally, on the same Christmas eve? It would have taken him years to
get through with all the houses in New York City alone--without thinking
of London and Paris and all the other places.
In the past, when such a question came to mind and found expression, the
answer was comparatively simple and direct. Religion is a matter of
faith, not argument; the ways of the Lord surpass the human
understanding: the Bible and the church are the authority, what they
teach and ordain is to be accepted and obeyed. To doubt, or question, or
disbelieve is the beginning of sin, and the consequences may be
terrible.
When the individual was trained to the habit of obedience--when the
attitude of the spirit within was one of respect and reverence for
established authority and established traditions--that was one thing. If
mothers and fathers and neighbors and wiser heads everywhere accepted
this great mystery unqualifiedly, on faith, as the guiding light of
their lives, was it not enough for their sons and daughters to follow
their example and do likewise?
But in the new generation, as we have seen, the twig has already been
bent in a different direction. Before the time comes for the young
person to be bothered with thoughts about religion, he or she has
already acquired the notion that the example of mother and father does
not need to be followed in many things. Some of their ideas and
traditions have become antiquated and more or less ridiculous in the
light of the new movement. When one begins to make enquiries about this
question of the Bible, enough has been said and heard to indicate that
certain of its assumptions, at least, will no longer hold water and have
been discarded by the ministers, themselves. So, say many of the new
generation, when you come down to it, what is there to prove that these
religious beliefs may not, after all, be only a legend, something like
the one about Santa Claus, evolved in the distant past, kept alive and
adhered to, generation after generation, for the same sort of reason?
A far greater number find it more convenient to refrain from expressing
themselves. They may even go to church, occasionally, and they observe a
superficial deference for the established forms of religion. But they
are very little concerned in the sayings of the Bible, or the sermons of
the ministers; they don't ask, or expect, any help from the Lord--nor do
they live in fear of His punishment.
It is not to be inferred that any large proportion of the new generation
have consciously or definitely followed out the chain of reasoning which
we have indicated. Most of them don't bother their heads to think very
far about such a serious subject. Their attitude, on this question, as
on many others, is apt to be arrived at, in a more or less subconscious
way.
If a growing nature has not been schooled to obedience; if it has
learned to question and often disregard the ideas of its parents and
elders and has formed the habit of laughing at old-fashioned traditions
and conventions, there is nothing to be wondered at, if, when the time
comes, it is prepared to take a more or less similar view of Bible and
church.
That, undoubtedly, is the present tendency.
Now it is more than likely that such thoughts as these seem
objectionable to many good Christians, because they consider that every
well-intentioned person should strive to uphold the church and to
refrain from the expression of ideas that might tend to unsettle faith.
Let me assure such people that my intentions are really of the best and
I am as deeply concerned as they can be about the influences which
appear to be undermining the spiritual welfare of my fellow beings.
But for the present, my aim is to look facts in the face, and to
endeavor, patiently and simply, to understand and explain. When we have
done our best in this direction, it will be time enough to hazard
opinions and offer suggestions.
Also, let us bear in mind that in this question of religion, as in the
other questions we have touched upon, it is only a tendency which we
have been considering--a fairly general tendency, to be sure, but still
only a tendency. In some communities, in some families, in some sects,
it may be hardly noticeable.