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Show CRIME RAMPANT. ! , - A disptach from Talapoosa, Ga., says: "That : ' , following a quarrel over the ownership of a small ' : : gray mule, three brothers, Will, John and Whit- . ; " comh Benefield, well-to-do planters, engaged in a ' I fight with revolvers, and all three were killed. Each - " ; of the dead men leaves a widow and children." The ; ; f list of suicides, homicides and murders published in the daily press is a sad commentary on our pres- ; , ent civilization. What is the cause? Belief in God lit and the obligation to worship Him is the foundation d all morality. To doubt the existence or a Su- . preme Being is to deny all existences, since without ,' God nothing is conceivable. The three first com- "mandrnents of the decalogue proclaim His exist ence and mairs obligation to worship Him. Xo man is free to dispense himself from this obliga- j tion. As far back as we trace the history of the human race this belief and obligation have been i recognized by all nations, be they barbarians, sav- i age or civilized. As Creator, God is proprietor, ; ' whilst man, as creature, is His property. Even ; i God, who is master of all creation, could not release . i man from his obligation to worship Him, because L it rests on justice, which is an attribute of God, .and therefore unchangeable. Do the suicides, homicides, and murders, whose ; names are daily published broadcast, concede this obligation? It is to be feared not. This obliga tion, which includes all others "Fear God and I . keep His commandments, for this is the whole of ; , naan" is the foundation of all morality, and the : i courier stone of society. ' i The three brothers, who shot one another and ? lefit wives and children to mourn their loss, had to conception of morality, and were total stran- , gees to the command : "Thou shalt not kill." Eule God out of the universe and all standards of morality moral-ity cease, iloral obligations, without acknowledg- ." ; ing a Supreme Being, have no foundation. If man J" is not first obligated to God, there is no obligation : ; to fellow man. A nation that denies the existence of a Supreme Being has no foundation to rest on or build up an ethical code for the well-being and j welfare of society. There are, no doubt, many, who persuade them-- them-- j selves that there is no God, no future, yet perform good works as exacted by the moral law, but not because they are so enacted, for if there be no God .'' a moral act is inconceivable. Losing sight of this ' great truth, crime is in the increase. Religion is ignored and churches abandoned. We read of the ; millions of Bibles that have been distributed and . to be placed ih hotel rooms; but what of the tens 1 of millions of daily newspapers that go to the homes I where innocent boys and girls read them with . greater avidity than any book that may mention i the name of God. The reason of all this is given "I by Father York in the Leader: , l ''Under the guise of 'news,'" he writes, "the ;, ' ' ', young people of our large cities are learning more evil from a single copy of the yellow press than ever come from the perusal of a dozen copies of novels of the 'Nick Carter' variety. Murders, sui- cides, divorces, and other evils are depicted in language lan-guage that excites imagination, and is more directly di-rectly answerable for crimes than any other agency we know of. Sunday colored supplements with their lessons of disregard for parental authority i are doing their share also in the improper rearing "of the youth of the land; and through it all the dear people stand supinely by and declare, 'Isn't i it too bad' ? "Xo relief need be expected from the daily pa-' pa-' - pers. One is about as bad as the other. It is simply sim-ply a case of the thickness of the yellow paint. "The protest against sensational journalism . , must come from the family. Parents should see , to it that their sons and daughters are not permit- ted to read the vile accounts which the dailies turn ' out labeled 'news.' " |
