testimony of first-hand information, that a large proportion of them,
at the present time, have come to regard passing pleasure and acts of
immediate self-interest as the chief object and motive of their lives.
It is the pleasure of eating and drinking which concerns them and not
the needs of hunger or thirst; the appeal of sex solely as a source of
pleasure, far removed from any thought or aspiration to create new life
and care for it; the pursuit of money for the pleasure of gain, and the
pleasure of out-witting others, and the gratification of vanities and
luxuries, far removed from essential needs; meaningless distractions and
entertainments, which tickle the wit and nerves of the material senses,
but by which neither the heart feelings, nor the soul feelings, nor even
the deeper esthetic feelings, are stirred or stimulated; jazz music,
bright colors, lively movement, jokes and snappy ideas, seasoned
preferably with spice and sex--this is the state, apparently, to which
modern methods and the rule of reason have led them.
To judge from observation and various information, which is only too
available, this tendency is steadily increasing; while, to judge it by
the light of the underlying causes which we have attempted to trace and
make plain, there is logical reason to expect that it will keep on
increasing.
What, then, of the future? Is our civilization, like that of the Roman
Empire, destined to decline and decay? If the present condition is
indeed an effect of modern science, either directly or indirectly, how
can it fail to continue? Modern science and the enlightened intellect
were never in fuller ascendency than they are at the present moment.
They are the proudest boast of our time. The very people who are
lamenting the demoralization in our standards of living, are at the same
time applauding the triumphant march of science. Could they ever be
convinced that there is any connection between the two--that the
downfall which they deplore was brought about by the rise which they
applaud?
Self-determination, as a modern principle of enlightened reason, was
established and expounded by no less an authority than the
scientifically educated intellect of our distinguished ex-president--in
its application to the smaller and weaker peoples of the earth, as well
as to the large and strong. If self-determination is the proper thing
for each nation, should it not be an equally proper thing for each
individual? And, as it is hoped and assumed that in this advanced age
each nation will be guided by the rule of reason, why may the same
assumption not be applied to the individual?
If all the nations in the world were to follow the lead of Russia and
respond to motives not approved by the intellect of our ex-president, he
might conclude that a large proportion of the world's population was
still unreasonable, without being convinced of the unsoundness of a
principle which was, and would remain, in his mind the correct answer of
enlightened reason.
If the rule of the majority, in any thickly populated community, was
found to result in the election of demagogues and grafters and
unscrupulous politicians, who are clever enough to take advantage of the
private selfishness and prejudices and indifference of the individual;
and if you considered it a reasonable and enlightened principle that
every citizen should have equal rights and the majority rule, the
unfortunate results might lead you to have a very poor opinion of the
majority and resentment for the corrupt politicians, without convincing
you of the unsoundness of the enlightened principle.
If the system of compulsory education--of enforced attendance at the
high school--of all manner of children from the humbler walks of life
were found to result in filling their simple heads with extravagant
notions and worldly ambitions for which nature did not intend them,
which breed discontent with the kind of work for which they are suited,
which separate them from their parents and their congenial inheritance,
and impel them in mistaken paths to learn bitterness and revolt--if this
were found to be the tendency in a large percentage of cases; and if
your reason considered that all individuals are entitled to equal
opportunity, and that the education of the masses is an enlightened
modern principle, the tangible results, however unfortunate they might
appear, would not convince you of the unsoundness of the principle.
As a matter of fact, very few people may be convinced of anything which
is contrary to their liking, or in opposition to their preconceived
notions. An open mind may be helped to form an opinion, and people may
be confirmed and enlightened by ideas which are congenial to their way
of thinking, but that is as much as may reasonably be expected.
This phase of the subject has not been my concern. I am merely trying to
find expression for what seems to me the truth, as I feel it and see it.
And the truth is, obviously, that the aim and effort of modern science
has been to build up rather than to tear down. It has been striving,
with all the means at its command, to discover the true facts and the
true principles with regard to all things and to utilize them for the
benefit of mankind.
It may be its attention has been chiefly occupied with the material
things of life, and the material principles which apply to them, but
modern progress, in many ways is a splendid thing. As applied to the
life of the individual, it is a splendid thing to improve the health and
strength and condition of the human body. And as for the intellect,
anything that science has done or could do to develop it to the highest
degree, must be regarded as a step in the right direction. The body and
the mind are essential parts of a human being and, as we have had
occasion to observe, it is a fundamental aspiration of man to make them
always better.
If science, in investigating the true facts of existence, has been led
to conclude that many old-time traditions and beliefs were largely
composed of imagination and ignorance, and the indirect results of such
a conclusion have proved unsettling and disconcerting, should blame be
attached to any effort which seeks only the truth?
The present condition, however unfortunate it may appear to us who are
experiencing it, may be no more than a passing phase of development. The
dawn of better days and finer standards, may lie just ahead of us, and
when they come, it may be found that the enlightenment of the intellect
by modern science was a necessary step in preparation for them.
I, for one, am by no means without hope. Upon what grounds that hope is
founded remains to be considered carefully.
VII
HOPE
If we admit, or assume, that the ideals and moral standards of our
civilization are on the decline--that materialism, selfishness,
pleasure-seeking and dissipation of various kinds, are tending to
supplant the finer feelings; and that this movement has been gaining
ground rapidly in recent years--the question that naturally arises is:
Where will it lead to? Who, or what, is going to stop it?
A distinguished gentleman has lately been delivering a lecture in
various nearby cities on "The Break-down of Civilization," and from the
brief reports I have seen of it, he is thoroughly convinced that things
are going from bad to worse. I quoted a while ago from an English
author, whose summing up is to the same effect. Newspaper editorials and
magazine articles and the private conversation of various people, are
constantly expressing similar views, and I have just come upon the
expressed opinion of the eminent writer and thinker, H.G. Wells, that
unless something is done very soon, civilization is facing "the greatest
wreckage yet known in world history."
As the present "demoralization" was well under way before the World War
began, that may be referred to, at most, as an accelerating influence,
but not as the underlying cause. It is more intelligent, and more to the
point, to recognize frankly that among a large and increasing proportion
of our people there has been a crumbling away of religious belief. As a
result of that, the fundamental feelings of the soul--faith, conscience,
aspiration--are being neglected and starved.
So much ought to be fairly obvious to any one who is willing to observe
and enquire.
When we go one step deeper and look for the cause why religious belief
has been crumbling down, there is more room for confusion of ideas and
differences of opinion. Many people blame the churches and the ministers
and the lack of proper training of the children by their parents. Others
blame the automobile and sports and recreations which are being indulged
in on Sunday, through the laxity and insufficiency of the law-makers.
Still others attribute it largely to the pernicious influence of the
alien population. Finally, there are some who blame the vain, selfish
spirit of the age, without bothering their heads to decide where that
came from (except to infer a general relationship to the devil.)
These opinions are opposed by those who regard the decline of religion
as a source of satisfaction. In their eyes, it is an antiquated,
narrow-minded influence which has been allowed to interfere too long
with modern progress. The cause of its decline, as they see it, is a
perfectly natural one--due to the fact that it has long since out-lived
its usefulness, and in the present stage of civilization, people are
much better off without it. They want Sunday to be, not a holy day, but
a holiday, unhampered by Blue Laws or religious cant of any kind.
As for the so-called demoralization of the present day, this latter
class are inclined to laugh at the croakers who look at things that way.
Conventions and styles are always changing and the modern ones are more
practical and sensible than the old ones. New ways of doing things have
always appeared more or less shocking, until people got used to them.
That is the law of progress. The present age is an age of progress and
on the whole the world is more progressive and more enlightened than it
has ever been before.
These are the two prevailing currents of opinion, clashing against each
other, losing patience with each other, and attempting to get the best
of each other by means of agitation and organization, movements and
anti-movements, of one kind and another, including legislative
enactments.
It is fairly safe to assume that no effort of the religious sects can
stay the march of the modern movement. It is possible to conceive that,
through the forces of reaction, certain Blue Laws may be passed again
and that in certain communities the religious observance of Sunday may
be made obligatory. Such things, at most, would be only of superficial
consequence. They cannot stop the spread of scientific enlightenment.
And scientific enlightenment cannot be made to believe in tenets which
are contrary to facts and conclusions, as it has been able to
demonstrate them.
On the other hand, it seems equally safe to assume that modern science
and the rule of reason, if left to themselves, cannot be expected to
nourish and encourage spiritual feelings. Their tendency, as has been
quite plainly indicated, is in the opposite direction--to leave them out
in the cold.
Another conclusion, which is beginning to dawn on many people--even
those scientifically enlightened--and which is likely to be more and
more generally recognized, is that the life of man without the
inspiration of a faith of some sort, and the other inner feelings which
attach to it, rapidly tends to materialism, selfishness, demoralization,
corruption and decay.
That, in brief, is the situation which confronts us all collectively,
and upon the solution of which the future of our civilization, to a
large extent, undoubtedly depends.
Suggestions of one kind or another, tending toward an alleged solution,
will presumably keep making their appearance at intervals and a
perfectly reasonable question is whether a sufficiently inspiring and
sufficiently compelling solution will emerge in time to prevent the
threatened chaos.
For the moment, let us be content to defer consideration of the possible
solutions and turn our attention to the predicament which, in the
meantime, confronts the average individual.
Let us suppose that such an individual, whatever may be the status of
his religious belief, or unbelief, becomes convinced in his own mind
that the selfishness and immorality and lack of sentiment, which seem to
be spreading in all classes, is a bad thing. Suppose he is willing to
admit, after due consideration, that our diagnosis and explanation of
what is taking place is relatively correct. As most minds of the present
day have a practical turn, the thing which interests him most, the thing
he asks at once and really wants to know is what you have to propose as
a remedy. How are you going to make people less selfish and more
considerate of others? Less mercenary and more honorable? Less immoral,
or unmoral, and more virtuous?
That is the main thing which counts, from a practical, personal
point-of-view: "How am I to benefit by your conclusions and how are you
going to make others benefit by them? Unless you have something tangible
and useful to offer, your observations, though curious and instructive,
are not of much account."
Let us try, therefore, to reply, in this same spirit, and hazard some
suggestions which may prove helpful to those who want help.
In the first place, let us call attention to the fact that after an
individual has reached maturity, and his character and habits are
formed, it is extremely difficult to change them to any great extent.
The motives and point-of-view which determine most of his acts have
become, so to speak, a part of his second nature. This second nature is
something of slow growth and development. That is the obvious meaning of
the old adage--"As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." To change the
inclination of a full-grown tree, requires a great deal of
determination.
In the case of human character, it may occasionally be done, through a
great inspiration of the heart, or the soul. For a deep, ennobling love,
or a new-born, exalted faith, the spirit and will are capable of almost
any transformation. But usually good intentions, whose origin is
confined to the reason and which are at variance with an established
inclination, don't persist very long.
The natural inference and expectation should be therefore, that most
people of mature years, however much they might approve of other
people's mending their ways, or even of mending their own, will be found
to limit their effort principally to talk.
In the absence of a great inspiration, the chief influence which keeps
acting on them is the example and standards of their associates--the
prevailing style and custom. Most people are very susceptible to
this--women especially. For the sake of being in the fashion--or for the
sake of not being considered out-of-date--many a nice woman may be led
to do things which her instincts tell her are not nice at all.
To a slightly less degree, the same thing may be said of men.
But as the people who set new styles and establish new customs, in a
selfish, materialistic age, are not apt to be guided by any great
reverence for the finer traditional feelings, there is little help to
be looked for, from this kind of influence. The immediate tendency is
all in the opposite direction. A woman's own reason might tell her that
it is more becoming to pencil her eye-brows and paint her lips and face
and yet, if left to herself, an inherited instinct might keep her from
doing so. But as soon as she finds that has become the fashion, she
hesitates no longer. Women of innate modesty are to be seen, exposing
their legs and bodies in public, drinking, smoking, gambling and dancing
in a sensual manner with sensual men--things which they would revolt at
doing, if it were not for the style. It matters not that the people who
set the style were devoid of modesty and prompted solely by material
considerations of self-indulgence and immorality.
Under such conditions, how can people who are headed in this direction
be prevailed upon by any amount of advice, however well-founded and
helpful it might be? They may feel that they would like to see others
doing differently, but until that takes place, their brains will not
give them sufficient inspiration, or sufficient determination, to make a
lone fight.
There may be exceptions, of course, and in time these exceptions may
become fairly numerous; but as long as the main issue lies between a
return to old-fashioned religious beliefs on the one hand, and the
dictates of enlightened self-interest on the other, individuals who can
have no real enthusiasm for either, will be left to mark time or drift,
more or less reluctantly, with the current.
This is what may be reasonably expected to happen for some time to come,
unless a great and fateful thing comes to pass, which will alter the
entire course of modern civilization. As this great and fateful thing is
purely a matter of conjecture, and may have no bearing on the conduct of
people now living, we will defer the discussion of it until after we
have finished with more immediate and practical considerations.
There appears to be one way, at least, in which a clear understanding of
the moral situation may result in practical benefit. The little children
of the present day may still be bent and guided, their second natures
may yet be helped to grow and their characters to form, in any desired
direction. If we feel it is too late to bother over much about trying to
change ourselves, or the people about us, that feeling does not apply to
our children.
That is a hopeful and helpful thought, and thoroughly practical. If all
the mothers and fathers of the present generation wanted their children
to be better and finer than the demoralized people so much in evidence;
and if they set about it in the right way, all might yet be well for
the future. And as a matter of fact, nearly all parents do want their
children to be better and finer. All that they ask is to be shown the
right way and they are ready, or think they are ready, to follow it.
This is not only a question of good intentions, prompted by reason,--it
also involves, as we have seen, the most fundamental feelings of the
heart and soul.
It is a wonderful and beautiful thing--the depth and strength of this
feeling of parental love, especially the mother's. Nothing seems able to
kill it, or corrupt it, in the vast majority of cases. The exceptions
are infinitesimal. Even in those communities, and classes, and
individuals where materialism and self-indulgence have become most
pronounced, it is extremely rare to find a mother who does not love her
child; who does not hope and strive, in accordance with her lights, for
its welfare; who is not willing, if occasion demands, to make a real
sacrifice for its sake.
Many mothers have not over-much deep feeling of any other kind; many
mothers have little understanding of the problems of life which confront
themselves, let alone those which confront their husbands, or their
children; very few mothers have more than a confused idea of the
influences at work in forming character, in developing ideals and
generous impulses, on the one hand; or self-interest, self-indulgence,
and the rule of reason, on the other.
Hardly anything could be of more help to the future of our race than a
clear and settled realization on the part of every mother of one simple
truth, which so many of our observations, in the preceding pages, have
tended to bring out. The body of your child and the brain of your child
are beautiful things, worthy of careful attention; but they are not
nearly so beautiful, or so deeply significant, as the heart of your
child, or the soul of your child. A strong and healthy body and a highly
educated intellect do not make a fine character; they may belong, just
as well, to a mean and selfish man, or an immoral woman,--a crook, or a
profligate. A warm heart and a sensitive, dominant soul, do make a fine
character, and they cannot possibly result in meanness and immorality.
Those sides of your child's nature are entitled to the most loving care,
the most constant attention, it is humanely possible to give them.
In the average family of to-day, how much thought, or time, is devoted
to the observance of this essential principle? How many mothers are
consistently striving to watch over every tender requirement of the
heart feelings and soul feelings of their children?
The bodies are well enough cared for, as a matter of course. The modern
rules of hygiene and the advice of doctors may be relied on for that.
The same thing is true as regards the education of the intellect.
Kindergartens, primaries, high schools, boarding schools,
colleges,--relieve parents of all anxiety on that score. These two sides
of a growing life, the physical and the mental, are so well taken care
of, more or less impersonally, by the modern scientific system, that
even if the mother neglects them entirely, they still receive adequate
attention.
Is this equally true of the heart and the soul, the development of
character, so vitally important in the life and worth of every human
being? If, in spite of her love for her child, these considerations are
neglected by the mother, through lack of understanding, or the demands
of her own self-interest, is the remedy for this neglect also to be
found in the modern system? Unfortunately not. And right there is the
source of a great measure of the present demoralization. If the truth of
this could only be brought home to every mother, would not many a loving
mother, for the sake of her child, be willing to sacrifice some of her
own selfishness? If not, then indeed there is little hope left for the
future of our civilization. But the beauty and wonder and endurance of
that God-given mother's love, in all ages and in all climes, ought to
convince us that the only difficulty lies in clearing away from the head
of the up-to-date woman the confusion of ideas, the materialistic
theories of sexless intellects, and the force of pernicious example,
which have been brought to bear on her self-interest, and obscured, for
the time being, her intuitive and eternally right understanding.
VIII
HEART AND SOUL
As the heart of a child naturally begins developing before the soul
feelings, let us talk about that first. And when we speak about the
"heart," it is, of course, understood that we are not referring to the
physical organ which pumps blood, but to that part of human nature which
responds to affection and sympathy.
The heart of a child--what a mysterious, wonderful, sensitive, beautiful
thing it is! How much it gives and how much it is capable of receiving!
And the one thing it wants most--the one it craves and hungers for, as
an essential of its nourishment and growth--is love, tender, devoted,
unfailing love. From the earliest babyhood, straight on to the years of
maturity, and still on, that is the greatest need of the human heart for
its full and happy growth.
In early childhood, where is it to get that tender, devoted love, if not
from its mother? Will it get it from a well-paid nurse or governess,
whether Swede or Irish, French or English? In the vast majority of
cases, the nurse or governess hasn't it to give. Love is something which
can't be bought with money. Many a governess is a discontented person,
who thinks she is worthy of better things. Many a nurse is thick-skinned
and bad-tempered. A large proportion of both have much more tender
feeling for their wages and their selfish interests, than they have for
the child entrusted to their care. Should anything different be
expected? It is not their child. In a few months, or a few years, it
will pass out entirely from their existence.
Plenty of people can be hired to take care of your child's body and its
physical needs--nurses, governesses, doctors; plenty of people can look
after the education of its intellect; nurses, teachers, tutors,
professors--but no one can be employed to take your place in feeding it
devoted love, because that love is God-given and God has not given it to
the others, but has given it to you.