The New Religion

The Daily Journal of Salem, Ore., had the following to say editorially regarding Judge Ewing's lecture delivered in that city.

Those who went to the Salem Opera House expecting to hear in Judge Ewing's lecture on Christian Science an airing of any new or irreligious fad, or any sensational departures from orthodox views held by believers in the theistic conception of the universe, as promulgated by such men as Dr. B. F. Cocker, formerly of Michigan University, and other tolerant, progressive thinkers all over the world, were doomed to disappointment. They heard instead a restatement of the old landmarks of spiritual Truth that any man or woman, familiar with the evolution of religious thought, could not differ from, and the extent to which they might accept what was presented and apply it to themselves was exactly in proportion to their readiness for the truth itself.

The simplicity of the discourse, its freedom from controversy, its toleration for the views of those holding other forms of belief, was also a surprise to the audience. In the garb of a plain American gentleman, with no affectation of being a reverend or evangelist, the evening's service being free from any stage effects, even illustrating his points with homely humor, Judge Ewing went through his talk as he would have appealed to an average jury of his fellowmen in a court of justice, except that he employed no petti-fogging methods. He did not beg the case, not even "for Jesus' sake," as the revivalists phrase it.

The "sweet reasonableness" of the presentation struck the minds of many thinking persons. It was so flatly devoid of any intention to wound the feelings of others, to slap any one in the face, to claim a monopoly of truth for his viewpoint, so unclaptrappy, that it set a higher standard for religious discussion, and it is a pity all the ministers in the city could not have heard it. It put an end in the hearts of many to the cross-eyed attitude that makes the religion you don't happen to have adopted as yours wear the look of everlasting hostility and wrongness.

There is room in the world for any amount of the sweet disposition that Judge Ewing displays, the winning, helpful, human-Christianlike way of looking at those who have accepted or been born into other ways of thinking and believing. In a country where the state forces or propagates no particular religious cult, where there is no state church and where the public schools teach no religion, the broadest basis of love and toleration must be kept alive in the hearts of the masses, and if we caught the drift of his whole argument rightly that is what Christian Science stands for. A pretty complete report of the address, which is the second public lecture ever delivered at Salem on this subject, will be found in this edition of the Journal.

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