1932 the Witness, Vol. 16, No. 22
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SELF DECEPTION by Bishop Johnson n ix i l n n XX XX u ** ** xx xx xx XX % WITNESS CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 21, 1932 Is X There a Christian Way Out of Our International and Economic Difficulties? • The question will be answered H this coming Lent in a series of fourteen articles; two each week. The names of « I the contributors you will find in this number. a M essage of th e W eek n Z3. n X* xa n n xi xx xx xx xx xx Circulation Office: 6140 Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago. Editorial and Advertising Office: 931 Tribune Building, New York City Copyright 2020. Archives of the Episcopal Church / DFMS. Permission required for reuse and publication. A.R,MOWBRAY&Co.,Ltd. # 1 5 X1 X0 0 % 28 Margaret St., LONDON, W. 1, and 9 High St., Oxford, England. H no-3 2 5 SIXTHAVENVE-NEW-YORR B k stained g la ss -m u r a ls CHURCH VESTMENTS CHOIR OUTFITS MÔSÀie-MARBLE-STOMEa Cassocks Surplices GAEyED-WöDD METAL E S Copes Chasubles Stoles Veils Burses Altar Linens Metal Work Woodwork Particulars from MR. PAUL S. BUCK Heaton, Butler & Bayne Distributor 665 Fifth Ave., &tainpft (%Iubb Artt0t0 New York City By appointment to the late KING EDWARD VII. Stained Glass Windows CHIMES Memorial Brasses, Etc. BELLSPEALS writ© for literature. Address Dept. 26 Designs and Estimates U.6UAMC r t i I FnnwnRY. BALTIMORE, MD. Heaton, Butler & Bayne (N. Y.) Ltd., MENEELY BELL CO TROY, NY a m o 1 French Building 220 BROADWAY,NY.CITY. 551 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORK Stained Glass Memorials MENEELY&C0. egh J. M. KASE STUDIOS ET I I ESTABLISHED ÆhePavjue Studios Inc 19 W. 8th St. Eighth & Court Sts O C , L i L w 8N 1826 ^•Stained—G lass New York, N. Y. Reading, Pa. W ATERVLIET, N V Established 1888 Çüemori<als CHURCH BELLS, CHIMES AND PEALS o Raters on-Re-w Jersey o Booklet sent on request Unequaled Musical Qualities ST. HILDA GUILD, Inc. ^ r .g e i s s l e r .in c T< 4 j 0 SIXTH AVE. NEAR 10 «> ST. NEWYORK 131 E. 47th St., New York CHURCH VESTMENTS Cassocks Church furnishings ECCLESIASTICAL EMBROIDERY For the Clergy and Choir IN CARVED WOOD AND MM Conferences with reference to the adornment VESTMENTS MARBLE-BRASS-SILVER n IH o f churches Altar linens, embroideries FABRICS * W IN D O W S \J \J Telephone EL-dorado 5-1058 materials. Clerical and lay tailoring J. M. HALL, INC. 174 Madison Avenue THE D’ASCENZO STUDIOS Bet. 33rd & 34th Sts.. N. Y. Philadelphia — 1604 Summer Street Designers of HISTORICAL WINDOWS MEMORIAL TABLETS JWIPPELl Washington Memorial Chapel “ of enduring worth Valley Forge, Pa. and attractiveness” 8-COMPANY-IE Chapel Windows, in genuine cast bronze St. John’s Cathedral, Moderate in Price - Booklet on Request Denver, Colorado ELLISON BRONZE CO., INC. JAMESTOWN. N. Y. Stained Glass, Mural Decorations Glass Mosaics Craftsmen in M. P. MOLLER ORGANS Em broidery The Pride of the Church Over half a century of success Wood 07 ful organ building have estab Stone Hartford, Conn. lished the Moller reputation for quality and workmanship. M eta l Designers and Builders 350 Moller Organs in Episcopal of Churches alone and Stained Glass PIPE ORGANS EXETER. ' Cathedral Yard. L O N D O N ■ „ Tufton St S. Wt. noted for their superior tonal qualities M A N C H E S T E R - szVict-oriaSt and mechanical reliability Correspondence Solicited Copyright 2020. Archives of the Episcopal Church / DFMS. Permission required for reuse and publication. Editor Associate Editors Irving P. Johnson Frank E. W ilson George P. A twater Managing Editor THE WITNESS John R. Oliver W illiam B. Spofford Irwin St. J. Tucker A National Weekly of the Episcopal Church Vol. XVI No. 22 _________________ JANUARY 21, 1932 Five Cents a Copy THE WITNESS is published weekly by the Episcopal Church Publishing Company* 6140 Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The subscription price is $2.00' a year; in bundles of ten or more for sale at the church, the paper selling at five cents, we bill quarterly at three cents a copy. Entered as Second Class Matter April 3, 1919, at the postoffice at Chicago, Illinois, under act of March 3, 1879. S e l f D e c e p t i o n An Editorial by BISHOP JOHNSON PR O M IN EN T doctor said to me recently that has adopted his conclusion as his major premise, and A many people today are “ kidding themselves that all of his thinking is merely persuing a vicious circle they can indulge in intemperate and immoral practices of assertion, based upon his own personal bias. without being penalized in health and morale.” St. James made a similar statement nearly two thou OW someone may say that the man who believes sand years ago when he spoke of those who “ deceive in God goes through the same process. It may their own selves” . The laws governing physical health N be so but not necessarily. If I assert that there is and our social relations are .just as inexorable as the no such force as electricity I have closed the door to laws governing chemical reactions. I think that the any further investigation. The statement is final. But first thing we need to absorb is that God is no respecter if I state that there is such a force as electricity I of persons; that he plays no favorites; that none of may not know much about it, yet I am still able to us has either a physical or spiritual anatomy which investigate and to reason. is exempt from the penalties which follow the abuse. Why does the atheist get so wrought up over my It is so easy to rationalize, which means that we being a believer in God, and why does he seek to dis construct our arguments to meet our wishes. For suade me from pursuing my investigation? If I am example, as Dr. Hart points out in his , “ Psychology a collector of postage stamps you may be persuaded of Insanity” , the man who always votes the Republi that it is a silly habit, and yet you do not interfere can or the Democratic ticket will do so again next with my folly. Moreover if, as a collector, I invite fall. But in doing so he will deceive himself into you to look at my collection I have some excuse for my thinking that he has arrived at the conclusion by a zeal. But if you, who scorn collecting, invite me to process of reasoning, whereas he wishes to vote that your room to see that you have no postage stamps it is ticket, he proposes to vote that ticket, he is going to rather absurd. vote that ticket, and what he calls reasoning is really The anger of atheists is like the wrath of a savage the same sort of thing that dominates the mentally who resents being put to work because it interferes unbalanced. Your voter goes through a process of with his hunting and fishing. After all it is the inter logic in which his conclusions determine his reasoning. ference with some cherished desires that prompt the In the same way your insane person desires to be a negative rationalist to become excited over his negations. very rich man. Therefore he is a very rich man and It is because religion opposes immorality that the sen the fact that he asks you for ten cents with which sualist hates it. His major premise is found in sex to buy some tobacco has in it no element of inconsist relations. Anything that interferes with his passion ency. He has determined before hand what he is and is not only false but also irritating. therefore no unfavorable circumstance can alter his In Russia the Christian religion is hostile to the conclusion. theories of Karl Marx because those theories elimin The psalmist says that “ the fool hath said in his ate human sympathy. The state, when administered heart there is no God” , and the Russian Soviet is so by disciples of Marx, is supreme and its decisions are confident of this rather impossible explanation of the to be accepted without question. As one Russian ex universe that it actually legislates God out of the pressed it, “ If religion is an anaesthetic, communism heavens. There is no argument which could possibly; is more so” , because in religion you are permitted to influence either the fool or the Soviet. Each of them think, though under certain ecclesiastical dominions Copyright 2020. Archives of the Episcopal Church / DFMS. Permission required for reuse and publication. Page Four THE WITNESS January 21, 1932 you may not be permitted to act, but in Russia you they can live without God in the world. However are damned if you happen to be the child of a thinker, plausible the arguments may sound it is not working even though you do no thinking yourself. out in these United States. As Judge Kavanaugh The only difference between the old imperialism and intimates, “ when the churches are full the jails are the modern communism lies in the group who will do empty and conversely when the churches are empty your thinking for you. the jails are full.” Possibly we are deceiving ourselves by our ration TN OUR own country the muckraker occupies the alizing tendencies. JLseat of the scornful. He specializes in pointing out the inconsistencies of decent people and the people lap it up because, not being remarkably decent themselves, they find comfort in proving that others are not so decent as they supposed.