Article November 9, 1918 Issue

From the Press

with contributions from B. E. F.

[Lieut. B. E. F. in Nation, London, England]

"Lieut., R.N.V.R.," in his vigorous and refreshing letter voices the dislike and irritation which the clergy inspire in so many of us besides himself. The causes which inspire this feeling are many, among the principal being a sort of serene cocksureness, which is common to so many of them, and is probably caused by the habit of expressing their own opinions, in the pulpit and elsewhere, without ever having the salutary corrective of being argued with or disagreed with. The consequence is that these discourses frequently descend into abysses of vacuity which seem almost bottomless. But there is more to it than that. There is inherent in the clerical mind a fundamental disability to seek honestly after Truth. The words "The Truth" are always on their lips, but there is no such thing as "The Truth" in the sense in which the clergy use it.

There is Truth; it is whole and complete. The conception of a religious truth at war with a scientific truth is preposterous; and of all those who seek it seriously the clergy are perhaps the least qualified to find it themselves or to show it to others. And it is just this assumption that they are specially qualified above all others which is so exasperating to anyone who is in the habit of thinking for himself.

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