Show RELIGION AND MORALITY THE terms religion and morality are frequently used by skeptics as different and aad even opposite terms they argue that there is no necessary connection between religion and morals morale and point to the supposed fact that there are many very religious persons who are extremely immoral this comes from an improper conception and application of the word reldon reH gion the error is not special to skeptics professedly pious people areas are as much addicted to it as althey they religion is regarded as something merely sentimental or emotional the practical in life is treated as belonging to another sphere faith praise adoration devotion exaltation of feeling mental or spiritual ecstacy or depression are deemed religions and acts and doings ex capt as expressions of such sensations are not classed in the same category but properly speak speaking ingy religion covers much broader ground it enters the domain of human action and influences every faculty of being it therefore affects every department part ment of present existence it relates not only to the spiritual world and future lift afe but to this mortal sphere and the things of today it means the duty of man to his maker it implies a system that regulates conduct it incle includes des faith and works anything less than this is not religion but rhapsody religion begins with faith in god no faith no religion faith must abide and continue or religion will depart but faith alone as a mental or spiritual emotion is not religion one must believe in god or he will not worship or pray or seek for divine guidance or do anything in a religious spirit but to be truty truly religious he must be dutiful to the being in whom he believes duty to god means obedience to his commands and these are am all moral in their nature and effected effect ia thus there is no religion ioa without morality there is no system or pretended system of religion in the world that does not in elude as a part of itself moral precepts and moral requirements therefore if a man is not moral he Is not religious the more immoral ini mork he Is 1 the less lem religious he is it does not matter how much he be may en snuffle tiffie prayers or sing psalms or glow with eca ecstacy tacy or beam with pious unction he is irreligious extent of his immorality gods commandments or if it will please the skeptics better what purport to be gods commandments relate not only to the worship of the divine being but to the acts of his creatures as intelligent and ae accountable persons and these comprehend humanity in the aggregate as well as its individual particles therefore religion includes the duties of man to his fellows and his acts to his neighbor and Inere ine rear fr ence to society all AH those moral precepts in the sermon on the mount are religious principles they art are part of toe the religion of christ so were the moral restrictions of the mosaic code part of the religion revealed to the hebrews there is more spirituality in the advanced religion of jews jesus than in the preparatory religion of moses but they are equally practical and both are assenti essentially senti ally moral religion forbids murder lust robbery lying oppression covetousness tous ness inebriety the violation of individual and social rights and every species of injustice aud and he be who is bloodthirsty unchaste dishonest false tyrannical brutal or intemperate Is 16 irreligious to the ex tent of hs of the religious lous rules against those evils evil no matter how long or eloquently he may preach or how solemn or sweet may be his bla manner or his language per for actions speak louder than words w and deeds are mightier than pw pro fess iotis lons handsome is that handsome does and he only is religious who does religious deeds the rhe spiritual gymnastics performed at revivals and the mental inebriety of so called conversions are no more religion than are physical acrobatic exhibitions and material intoxication religious thought religious sentiment anat ant religious feeling are only the gern germs 4 they are not the flower of religion noise shouting exclamations and extravagant gestures are but ebush eions of excitement that sometimes borders on insanity and are not to be classed under the name of religion of the expression of which they are only grotesque caricatures true religion regulates the whole life of man it is manifest in hl big deeds it affects him as an individual as a son a husband a father a member of society a living atom in the great body politic it imbues imbued him with the spirit of true morality and prompts him to acts of molt moral excellence there are skeptics no doubt who i regulate their lives by moral principles and they imagine that they do this independent of viny anything thing that may be called religious but bat in this they are mistaken the very principles they regard as only moral 4 have come to them from some religious system ancient or modern it does not matter mather whether they call that religion human superstition or the product of human imagination whether they deny or admit its purported supernatural athral origin the fact remains that the principles which make u up w what h a t is recognized zed as morality and which unbelievers believers un speak of as separate from religion are and have been elements of religion and have sprung from it ant and so they are indebted to religion for lip all their take any moral principle which is admired by the cultured mind or practiced by civil ived iced beings and its introduction to the world and iter he influence UP upon conduct may be traced to a religious source awl and if religion were destroyed how much morality would remain take away from mankind the belief or supposition or dread of a 9 power which is above all and 60 whom an all will be accountable and affeld how many people would there be in this imperfect world who would live moral atves or rise above the leveloff level of sheer selfishness and gross religion Be ligion works in two direction it encourages and restrains D I 1 prompts and aids aide elevation of 0 thought bought and act and curbs and checks degrading purposes and deeds there is no religious system worthy of the name which does not move in these two ways moral impulses mP pulses ulses and moral hindrances inhere in all the religions of heathendom and christendom belief in a Flu supreme Preme being who is the eternal judge dge of mortals is the central principle and force of them all and is affects the conduct of their devotees the morals of the world bave ve been regulated by the re egions of the world and the decadence of morality means the decadence dence of religion it is claimed that all religions are r human manufacture that they are ar the of products mens superstitions ions and fears and imaginings aut the religions that have swayed and lifted humanity from wrt ariam were superior to the men v first received and taught them rephey hey presented a higher standard or morality ty than anything existing them and raised those who eft braced their principles to a loftier pk plane ue than anything merely human wi then devised there are evl evi in them all of something su piar to man and adapted to the of the age and the people to hom they came and no matter 10 much they have been aged by human humain additions or subtractions enough remains jofh atte i e original orlgia to exhibit traces trace of ta we divine javine mind stooping to mortal wity for the purpose of llevat S directing and restraining men and od women and guiding all to a bet ter condition cation of existence in this orid preparatory to further ad nc ement in a future state their PO w has been proportionate to effects upon individuals and in moral directions and hen these have begun to disappear heir vitality and force as roil religions gioni bave e commenced to depart dhe he modern attempts to separate n altogether from practical 4 f y day Affa affairs irP to shut it out of aft Ou atlon cAtiOn business boess society and to make it a dreamy air airy Y day sentiment are in origin and detrimental to mory to their tendencies the yae world odd needs today a live roq ww betic falc and potent religion WW will permeate the whole nature 0 braa and influence his every acon it must be for this life first to han for another by present paw to the rules of right wa masang relating only to it beyond the stars but direct in all abat he does on this earth not a system benumbing his energies or dominating his will but quickening inspiring elligh enlightening tring and and prompting him as a an n individual and as a member of a family and of society and leading him to the perfection of manhood in the proper exercise of all his powers for his own advancement the benefit of the race and the glory of his eternal father mormonism is such a religion and it bears in its bosom the very life currents essential to a sound and practical morality |