Article December 23, 1905 Issue

The Passing of Intolerance

Alfred Farlow

Boston Times

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Truth in its purity meets only with the approbation of those who see it as it is and appreciate it. A true statement must of necessity array itself against every falsehood, misconception, or misapprehension concerning the same proposition. There are but two facts which will check or restrain the criticism of new, though true ideas, and the persecution of those who advocate them; namely, a correct understanding of the idea, and toleration, The chagrin occasioned by hasty denunciation of new things, which afterwards are found to be not according to one's first estimate, but on the contrary as genuine as they are represented to be, teaches one to be slow in the condemnation of the new and to deport himself according to the Scriptural admonition, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Criticisms of Christian Science have been frequent and sometimes bitter. The prophets, said Jesus, were persecuted before you. Those who have advocated anything unusual or "irregular" to their particular age have met with more or less opposition, and since mortals have not yet attained to that exalted state wherein they are willing to wait on God and allow the teachings and beliefs of those who differ from them to stand or fall on their own merits, it may be expected that opposition will exist; but the experiences of mankind, hitherto, have been of such a nature that whatever of antagonism may now exist and whatever of persecution may be instituted amounts to little more than a discussion. Men are not burned at the stake or led to the guillotine in these days because they happen to differ from others in their opinions, although one might believe that there are a few who would be pleased to imprison those who differ from them in religious beliefs. The consensus of public opinion, however, will not justify any opposition stronger than mere talk, and even that must be courteous and kind to meet with the general approbation of the people. When we take all these points into consideration we can mark great progress. So many new, startling, and seemingly improbable and impossible things have been invented, discovered, or instituted, that it is not wise to denounce hastily anything which may be offered for our consideration. We are living in an age when expectation compasses the most astounding manifestations and events, and yet it is an age when almost everything that happens is beyond our expectation.

Alfred Farlow.
Boston Times.

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