The story of Judas casts a dark shadow through the sunlight of twenty
centuries. His deed was more than a betrayal of friendship. Lady
Macbeth, coming from the chamber of death into the candlelight and
beholding her lily-white hands stained ruby red with the blood of
murdered friendship, and fearing to wash them, lest the ocean’s flood
should tell to every rock-bound coast the blushing secret of her guilt,
was not half so bad as Judas. This deed was more than the betrayal of
friendship; it was the dark hand of villainy, reaching from behind
the dark curtains of selfishness, that with the keen blade of greed
he might pierce the unprotected breast of innocence. It was a tragedy
that, with each decade’s growth in love, becomes more atrocious in the
eyes of men.
Named after Judas Maccabæus, one of the most illustrious characters
of Jewish history, good enough and gifted enough to be chosen as a
disciple, and possessing such integrity of character that he was chosen
treasurer of the group, Judas began his public career auspiciously.
For three years he had been associated with Christ in the most
intimate manner. He had entered cities and passed through country
places, preaching and performing miracles, until returning with radiant
face he said with the other disciples, “Even the devils are subject
unto us.” Having been lifted out of his old self, he rejoiced in the
delights of noble living. Within a few weeks he would have been able
to stand with Peter at Pentecost and take his place among the world’s
beloved immortals. Then came the awakening. He had followed Christ
through the fragrant fields of the Beatitudes and under the clear
sky of the Sermon on the Mount; he had seen Christ, at the sacrifice
of rest and comfort, change barren lives into beauty, as the sun
adorns barren branches with clustered fruit; and now, as his life was
approaching the crisis, Judas could see where the road was leading,
and he became frightened. He saw that the end of the Christ-journey
was not toward worldly triumph, but toward sorrow, not to a palace,
but a bleak mountainside, not toward a throne, but a cross; and he
began to think of himself. “What shall I do?” Like one facing a panic
he stood petrified with terror. Seeing the investment of three long
years trembling in the balance, he did not think it businesslike to
follow Christ any further. His love for money so blinded his eyes
that he could not see the moral grandeur of Christ’s program. Angered
and disappointed, he deserted his post, sought the seclusion of the
night-time shadows to complete his plans. Well does the inspired writer
add, “And it was night.” Of course it was night; dark, starless,
moonless night, for he had allowed his love for money to eclipse the
Light of Life.
From then on there was only one light attractive to Judas, and that
was the luring light of avarice and greed. Seeking for it, he found
it. Like the red fires of hell it burst into flaming stream from
the high priest’s windows, where Arrogance and Lust for Power were
plotting against the innocent. Rushing toward it, out of breath, his
hands clutching his garments, his brow wet with perspiration, his eyes
staring madly with greed for gold, he demanded: “What will you give
me?” Shrewd and crafty, these unscrupulous leaders of men knew that the
language of love and friendship could not be understood by this grasper
of gain; so they used the only language he could now understand and
wanted to hear--the language of the market place; and “they promised
him money.”
This is one of the darkest pictures in history, its black shadow
reaching through the centuries, but it does not hang alone in the
galleries of death. There are others still making the awful bargain of
Judas, and gladly sacrificing the innocent for the sake of financial
gain.
Behold the unscrupulous real-estate dealers who force houses of immoral
character into clean, residential sections of cities, betraying the
cause of righteousness, injuring homes, and damning the souls of
hundreds. Because immorality promises a more handsome and immediate
return for the investment they become partners in the exploiting of
sin and crime. As Judas went into the quietude of the Mount of Olives
and brought wreck and ruin, so these men insidiously lead marauding
bands of immoral workers into the best communities, well knowing that
their deed means the betrayal of youth and maiden, but refusing to give
it a thought, their attention fixed only on the increasing volume of
business. The good name of a city or community, the value of innocence,
and the sanctity of the home are nothing to these modern Judases.
Behold the employers of child labor, who, under the disguise of
charitably giving employment to the poor, are reaping revenues that
provide them with luxuries at the cost of blasted lives. Many of our
shops, stores, and factories are but presses where the life, hope,
vigor, and vision of childhood are crushed out in order to fill to the
brim the intoxicating cup of extravagance for people whose own lives
are too foul and unfit to be used as grapes in their own presses. Daily
the bright-faced boys and girls, the hope of the nation, are crowded
out of the public school into the vats. Hour by hour their lives are
pressed out until, broken in body, dwarfed in intellect, incapacitated
for works of social service, falling far short of the requirements made
upon their later years, they are thrown aside as useless pomace. The
uncontrollable spirit of greed that places money above the value of
life and happiness and goodness is the spirit of Judas.
Behold the owners of tenement houses, those breeding places of filth
and sin, where little children are compelled to live and die, or live
and curse the world. Their only memories of childhood will be those of
the crowded alley, foul hallways, and darkened corners in which they
hide in fear. The memory of a mother’s face will be vague, ever hidden
in the darkness and gloom in which she spent her days. Why do they
not have fresh air? Greed. Why do they not have fresh water to drink?
Greed. Why do their buildings not have good sanitation? Greed. Modern
Judases are they all.
Behold the men who are commercializing amusements. Men and women need
recreation, and children must have places to play. The human body
is not made of harder material than the locomotive, that requires
rest between its trips, or, growing tired, refuses to carry its load.
Therefore it is necessary to have places of recreation and exercise.
But where shall the children go? The best bathing beaches of ocean,
lake, and river bank are owned by money-making syndicates, and the
people are compelled to pay for privileges which are their own by the
right of birth and citizenship. More than this, since money is the
objective, and the people must patronize their places, having no other
places to go, they offend decency by catering to the coarse and vulgar
element of the community, thus becoming places of moral contamination
instead of places of recreation. This is also true of our theaters,
moving picture houses, and amusement parks. That which is presented is
very often so uncouth that modesty must hide her face.
The deadening influence of the modern movies, their teachings of sex
and treatment of marriage, is clearly shown in their effect upon the
actors and actresses themselves. They have enacted these parts so
often, and lived in the atmosphere where these things are discussed as
the predominating tastes of the people, that the unnatural teachings
have become their conceptions of real life until the story of their
divorces and remarriages has scandalized all decent society. Beside
the colonies of moving picture celebrities, Salt Lake City and other
Mormon strongholds seem quite tame. If the moving picture has such a
demoralizing influence over the actors and actresses, who are matured
men and women, what will be the effect upon the growing generations?
Already the atmosphere of school and playground is vitiated. The evil
effects are already manifest to every conscientious Christian social
worker. To silence the protests of a righteous guarding of the morals
of the young, the moving picture corporations have set aside large
amounts to prevent the needed legislation regulating censorship.
The work of these modern Judases does not end here, but they insist
upon the prostitution of the Sabbath day for their ungodly enterprises.
For the sake of making money they are endeavoring to lead America in
the same direction Europe has been traveling, and to the same tragic
fate. Childhood and the Christian Sabbath are being desecrated every
hour by these Judases whose one question in life is, “What will you
give me?”
It is time for an aroused citizenship to enter protest against these
evils. We cannot prevent Judas from having base desires, nor giving
his traitorous kiss, but we can compel Pilate, the officer, to render
righteous judgment. Jesus was crucified, not because Judas kissed
him, but because Pilate was a moral coward. Pilate washed his hands,
declaring himself “innocent,” but every man in the mob knew that he was
guilty. We cannot prevent Judas betraying, but we can create public
sentiment which will compel officers to reach protecting hand against
the greed of our modern Judases.