Signs of the Times

with contributions from Thomas A. Edison

[Thomas A. Edison in National Electric Light Association Bulletin]

A new order of things is emerging from the events of the last five years. Whatever may intervene, the ultimate result is going to approach more closely a square deal—for labor, for capital, for the merchant, for the farmer, for the farmer, The employer who is not square with his employees, or the employee who is not square with his employer, is going to be out of step with the times.

Demagogues may muster a following of illogical radicals who advocate injustice as a means of gaining justice, and stiff-necked reactionaries may selfishly oppose the progress which destiny has decreed as humanity's reward for the sacrifices that have been made, but in the end there will prevail a just and honest basis for the relations between capital and labor. This new relationship cannot be legislated into existence. It will spring from the conscience and patriotism of the people. The time is coming when the unjust employer and the disloyal employee will share equal odium in the esteem of society at large.

[Christian Work]

We must Christianize the process as well as the product of industry. We must give fuller, freer, finer life to all who work beside us, on whichever side of the glass door they sit. We must give fuller life, not out of benevolence, but out of justice; not as "welfare work," but as one of the costs of production. We must lift up the standards of housing, schooling, living. We must prevent the depletion of health, the exhaustion of energy, the strain and tension of fear, and must make the health and happiness of the workers the first charge upon all productive industry.

[London (Ontario) Free Press]

The world is not yet back into the place of peace and happiness. It is scarcely to be expected. The foundations of the old regime have been so thoroughly broken up. Boundaries have been shattered, old customs have been crushed, and barriers have been broken. The whole world is in a molten and moving state, waiting to be fashioned anew, and that fashioning will take place either by the orderly process of progress and growth or by volcanic eruptions and revolutionary upheavals. With these matters the Christian church is vitally concerned. There are differences of opinion as to how far the church should go, and what the church should say at this time, but we are all agreed that the church should bring us some message and some leadership that will be authoritative.

One of the perplexing problems created by the new era vitally touches the social side of the church's work. It has been advocated by many that the church should have its smoking room, its pool tables, and, if need be, its own "movies" and dancing floor; that these under proper supervision would minister to the social life of our young people. It is right here the church is in danger of being side-tracked from its main work. Christianity is not primarily a new social order, but a new spiritual life. The church's great function is not the reconstruction of society, but the regeneration of humanity. The latter rightly done will bring about the former. The church is not supposed to be a "midway," but a temple; not a home, but a maker and sanctifier of homes. The minister is not to be a "mere master of ceremonies," who can lead a dance, sing a song, or play a good game of whist; he is to be a spiritual adviser with spiritual gifts and the vision of a prophet. Such things as we have mentioned are of no value to the higher interests of either church or individual. You cannot lure the careless into spiritual traps by any such bait.

The church will make a mistake also if, at this time, it poses as an authority in sociology and economics. We have no programs, nor should the church be expected to present rigid programs for municipal governments, for matters of taxation, or industrial schemes. The is not the particular function of the church. The function of the church is to proclaim the great spiritual truths of the Scripture and the fundamental Christian principles, that if received and adhered to will inspire men in political and business life to create and foster such programs as will bring in the new social and industrial era.

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