Oe 5E JI7 3 C? ANGEL JU a r CC 3E < oc < OQ J* = ^ 2 ^ o 5 5 1 If" I i/Jfi \\tt ON'IMR si ir * i/y x $ i Stack Anne* 5319060 1-3 RELIGION AND SOCIAL THEORIES I. The Isle of Dreams.' AN ADDRESS IN THE RODEF SHALOM TEMPLE PITTSBURGH, SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 1913. Scripture Reading: Joel ii. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel ii., 28, 29.) This most inspiring prophecy of Joel immediately fol- lows his assurance that God would restore to the people of Israel all that they had lost during- that period of great drought when the locust, the cankerworm, the pal- merworm and the caterpillar had destroyed the mellow fruits and the golden harvest. Before the earth is to be blessed by the outpouring of God's spirit over all flesh, the Prophet announces that God will introduce, for the people of Israel, a period of economic prosperity. All that was lost, would be restored and more. *By the Rev. J. Leonard Levy, Rabbi of the Congregation. Stenographically reported by Caroline Loewenthal. Religion and Social Theories The Promise of Material Prosperity The great drought, which had wiped out so much of the produce belonging to this agricultural people, was to be succeeded by abundant showers of the first rain and the latter rain. Where there had been want, there would be plenty. Where there had been poverty, there would be wealth. Where there had been distress, there would be relief. Where there had been wailing and weeping, there would be joy and happiness. These pleas- ant conditions were to follow from the fact that God, in lli-> me rev. lirul restored prosperity to the land. Such Promises Criticized Many of the critics of the Jewish religion and the Jewi>h Scriptures seem to be amazed at the utterance of Joel and the other Jewish writers who, in the name of God, promised the blessings of prosperity to the people of Israel. They tell us that the religion of the Old Tes- tament paid heed only to this world and attached its people to this earth ; that all its promises bear reference to this life; that its philosophy is necessarily material- istic; that its most glowing hopes refer only to material prosperity. If Israel will obey the will of God, then their flocks shall increase, their harvests shall be abundant, their silver and gold shall multiply, their possessions shall be- come more numerous than ever, says Moses ; and every Prophet in the Old Testament repeats that promise more or less. If our spiritual masters said this and nothing more, there would seem to be some foundation for the 2 The Isle of Dreams accusation of the non-Jewish critics of our Scriptures that the Old Testament would tend to make its followers "of the earth, earthly ;" to cause them to desire only economic prosperity ; and to make them yearn only for gold and silver and flocks and herds and earthly posses- sions. But the truth is that neither Moses nor the prophets confine their prophetic utterances to material conditions, as he who reads may know. Other- Worldliness Unsuccessful It is entirely true that there have been religions which have sought to attach their people to other worlds than ours; but they have always signally failed. No better illustration can be given than that of Buddhism. Wherever the spirit of non-resistance preached by Bud- dha, and the philosophy which he espoused, found a tem- porary root, the people either supinely submitted to task- masters, or became unfit for the struggle of life. Con- sidered in its last phase, Buddhism placed before man the ideal of non-resistant, meditative, Inactive piety. The man who could place his finger on his navel and permit his mind to wander into the realms of the unseen, unceasingly repeating the word "Om," while filthy ver- min crept over him ; the man who regarded the life of the vilest insect or deadliest snake as sacred as his own, soon showed that he was out of harmony with nature, and was only fit to be set aside by that law of progress which cannot be stopped in its operation. The Failure of the Nazarenes. The early Christian community, which spread 3 Religion and Social Theories throughout the Roman empire, soon failed. Based upon the beliefs that man should not marry, since the founder of that community did not marry ; that man should pos- sess no worldly goods, resent no attack, turn the cheek to the smiter and be silent, it brought a most inspiring message to the slaves and outcasts of the Roman em- pire ; but when it was adopted as a State religion, Chris- tianity ceased ; it failed absolutely. It could not be other- wise ; for a religion which is based upon the belief that marriage is not permissible, or, if permissible, it is only allowed to prevent men from doing worse; a religion which is grounded in the thought that \fie possession of earthly goods is contrary to the will of God; a religion which preaches that we should resist no evil of any char- acter, offers as fundamentals that which is contrary to the laws of nature and, therefore, to the will of God. It is. therefore, doomed to failure immediately it is seri- ously espoused. Primitive and Later Christianity. We must not confuse modern Christianity with primitive Christianity. We who are critical, who inves- tigate, and who set no bounds to the right of investiga- tion, realize thoroughly that the Christianity of today bears no resemblance whatever to the Christianity of the early followers of the founder of that faith ; for it does glorify earthly possessions; it does permit marriage and only forbids divorce; that it does resist evil; and that it has, throughout all the ages, permitted the swords of warriors to be placed upon the altars of God, and it, the non-resistant religion, has always invoked a heavenly 4 The Isle of Dreams benediction upon the instruments of resistance. It ill becomes men whose religion has failed, and whose re- ligion, as it is now espoused, ^anctifies and blesses and conserves property, to find fault with those Prophets who gave us the promise that if we obeyed the will of God, our earthly possessions should become secure, our health should be fortified, the peace of our land should be established, and prosperity should abound. Prosperity and Obedience to God's Will. In spite of the vaporings of persons uver-attached to other-worldliness, there is an intimate relation between true prosperity and genuine obedience to the will of God which is expressed in the laws of nature. The most in- teresting illustration given in the Bible is that which tells that if Israel would be obedient to the will of God, He would send the rains in their due season. It is worthy of note that modern science, through :hat branch called Meteorology, teaches that many of the terrible upheavals in nature, such as frightful land- slides and dearth of moisture, have been brought about not by the wickedness of people who do not go to church, but by the wickedness of men who, through their cupid- ity, avarice and covetousness, have denuded the forests. By this means they have brought upon themselves the curse of terrible storm, and flood, and destruction, in a word, a material condition. Not only this; but because men have robbed the earth of its means of retaining the needed moisture, they have likewise destroyed much of the surface of the earth ; so that today, the United States Religion and Social Theories Government authorities tell us, millions of tons of soil are annually carried into the Gulf of Mexico by our great central river systems. Is not the will of God apparent? It was the rule in ancient Israel, as in modern Germany, that for every tree cut clown a new tree was to be planted. But Ameri- can avarice has not been thus far-seeing; and it is only today that we are beginning to realize, as has the man- agement of the Pennsylvania Railroad, that unless we quickly plant anew, we are inviting distress upon our land, as well as robbing future generations of the neces- sary supply of timber. Is it not clear that, by obeying the will of God, we do bring upon ourselves material prosperity? God's Favor or Disfavor. 1 would not have you believe for a moment that any of the I'rophets taught unequivocally that wealth always means that God's will has been obeyed, or that poverty always means that God's will has been disobeyed. In the time of the writer of the Book of Job, the opinion prevailed that riches were the proof of God's love and poverty was the evidence of His disapproval; that the rich man by the fact that he was rich, proved that God loved him, while the poor man, by the fact of his poverty, proved that God did not love him. That was the popular belief not only in Job's day but during many thousands of years. I am not quite sure but many hold a similar, belief even today ; for the respect many pay to mere wealth, even when it is associated with no moral quali- ties in its possessor, indicates that they attach to money alone a value which surely God does not assign to it. 6 The Isle of Dreams Moreover, we know that there are men who make wealth by crooked methods, and that there are men who have amassed fortunes by theftjand roguery. We know that such possessions are generally short lived, and that, in spite of every attempt to retain such wealth in the family for the use of children and grandchildren, tainted money rarely remains in a family for more than three generations, if as long. No moral person believes that it is the will of God that man should make wealth by crooked methods and, therefore, we may reject the propo- sition that prosperity is the proof of God's love. By a similar line of reasoning we may conclude that poverty is not the proof of God's disfavor. Some of the best men who ever lived have been poor; some of the worst men who ever lived have been rich. Some of those who have rendered the greatest service to society have not had whereon to lay their head, and some of the worst men have possessed a sur- feit of gold. Therefore, there must be some other rela- tion existing between God's favor and wealth, and God's disfavor and poverty. Surely thoughtful persons ought not require to be told, at this late date, that the triumphs and trials of life must be interpreted in moral terms, and that, only in so far as our material condition ministers to our moral development, does it possess any value in the sight of God. The Meaning of Joel's Prophecy. When, therefore, Joel announced that a period of great prosperity was about to come, we may be sure Religion and Social Theories that his message bore a deeper and more significant meaning than merely to promise happy and prosperous times to a people who had been alflicted. Consulting history we find that prophecy appears only in ages of prosperity. Only when a nation is rich docs it give birth to prophets. Only when a people is prosperous, do men arise who dream dreams and see visions. This may be a new thought to many, but in- vestigation will prove the truth of it. When a nation is degraded by poverty; when its people are obsessed by the urgency of getting bread ; when bodily existence can scarcely be maintained, men are not given to dreaming dreams and seeing visions. Prophecy Appears Amid Prosperity. Man lives by bread. He does not live by bread alone, but lie cannot live without bread. The bread question is, in many respects, the most important problem of human life. For where there is no bread, there will soon be no man ; and wherever man ceases to be, the vexing ques- tions which perplex society immediately cease. In times when the supply of bread is so short that even bodily existence is threatened, there is no time for dreaming, nor is there opportunity for vision. It is only when wealth is abundant and whenever the poorest have at least bread, that we find men and women blessed in the manner in which Joel promises: "In those days, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions, and even upon man servants and handmaids will I pour out My spirit, saith the Lord." 8 The Isle of Dreams Prophecy, in the sense in which it is now employed, did not appear in Israel until a period of prosperity ar- rived. That marvelous phenomenon, known as Hebrew prophecy, which burst upon the world like a meteor in a dark night, appeared in the eighth century B. C. E., in those prosperous times when Uzziah, king of Judah, had restored the ancient limits of the empire over which Solomon had ruled, and when Jereboam II., king of Is- rael, had regained the entire territory of the Northern kingdom. Both kings were feared by their enemies and loved by their friends, and the people of both kingdoms were prospering greatly. In their day, a great earth- quake smote Palestine; but the people were not dis- mayed. They said "The bricks are fallen down, but \ve will build with hewn stone." Men do not speak thus in days of poverty. It was an age of great happiness, and success and prosperity abounded everywhere. It was in such an age that Amos appeared as the incarna- tion of the human conscience, demanding that Israel should understand that God is Justice. It was at such a time that H"osea preached his gospel that God is love. So, Elijah had appeared before King Ahab when Israel was prosperous, and Nathan had chided David, when the king was most successful. Joel's Complete Utterance. There is a close relation between such appeals made by the keen conscience and national prosperity. In the days of want and poverty, none have the time to give expression to this appeal. But when men have leisure, when thev have wealth, when abundance flourishes, then Religion and Social Theories some of us clearly see the glaring- inequalities of human life. As the abyss grows deeper between the haves and the have-nots; when the chasm grows wider between the strong and weak, the rich and the poor, then some man failed of God rises and gives expression to an en- during phase of social justice without which society can- in it lung endure. So that, when J;>el says that God will bless the peo- ple with prosperity, this was only one-half of his mes- sa.^e. I '.very honest critic should read the other half before he decides. If, then, the critics of the Hebrew Scriptures state that Judaism induces us to set great stre upon the things of this world, they tell only half <>f the truth. It is just as necessary for man to have economic resources as that he should have the holy spirit of C.dd poured out upon him. Joel's prophecy is only complete when understood to promise that God would iir-t -enee visions. Unreliable Human Nature. It is worthy of our notice, in this connection, that human nature is the most unreliable element in all the world. A machine will readily fulfill our bidding. Touch the lever and the locomotive will run as long as there is sufficient steam in the cylinders. Press the button ' and, if a supply of electric force is present, the chande- lier will be illuminated. Take any mechanism which is lifeless and, if the required conditions are met, it will 10 The Isle of Dreams respond to our will. Not so, man. The Chinese say, "White man heap uncertain." We may say, human na- ture is very uncertain. J One would imagine that, when men are relieved from the burdens of poverty and when the incubus of pressing need is removed, they would yearn for the outpouring of the spirit of God. Blessed with leisure, one would think that they would devote some time to the consideration of those elements which feed and nour- ish the spirit of God in man. Possessing abundance of time, one would judge that they would devote some part of it to stu.dy, or to- quiet contemplation, or to humane labors, or to divine service. One would imagine that with the disappearance of the greatest physical evils in human life, the lack of bread and the enslaving con- dition of continuous toil, men would long for the out- pouring of the spirit of God. The high-minded man does so; the average man, however, does not. Hence we find in these prosperous days that abomi- nation known as the idle rich, who, because idle, become "an -ally of Satan, a friend of the devil." The unoccupied rich find mischief with which to occupy themselves, and instead of devoting some time to the development of their mind, to the upbuilding within them of the prod- ucts of God's spirit; instead of reading, thinking, writ- ing, serving others, they make all things minister, not to their happiness, but to their pleasure. If the Prophet had stated that this was to" be what God promised, then had he been an outrageous teacher. But the Prophet 11 Religion and Social Theories assured his hearers that, when prosperity had come, God would bathe the people in His spirit. Joel's Dream Yet to Be Realized Universally. Joel's dream may have been realized in his day, but it has not yet come true of all mankind. Nor will it ever be realized among all men, until education is so wide- spread and common sense is so general that we under- stand that pleasure, happiness and blessing do not sig- nify the same things. For there is no blessing but leads us to God ; while pleasure, as ordinarily understood, rarely has the same effect. There. is no real happiness without God, while pleasure, indulged in forgetfulness of God can never bring blessing. The Prophet indicates this unmistakably, and he proves himself worthy of bein our teacher because he is so sane, so rational, so radical, and at the same time, so full of idealism. Prophets Fathers of Aspiration. It is to men like Joel that the world owes all that it has of permanent good. Previous to the appearance of our Prophets, true spiritual aspiration had received practically no expression. Previous to the day when our great teachers stood on the hillsides of Judea and wandered amid the fields of Samaria, no man had risen to give expression to the longings of the human soul. The- Egyptian P>ook of the Dead, the Bible of ancient Egypt, holds out to man no ideals. Its old men did not dream dreams ; its young men did not see visions ; its servants 12 The Isle of Dreams and handmaids were slaves unmoved by the holy spirit of God. The Code of Hammurabi of Babylon, which is said by some to be the source of our Torah, holds out no promise of social ameloriatfon. It contains a series of rules and regulations concerning sales of land and commodities. It gives us a glimpse of elementary justice such as is found in border communities. But there is no vision, no dream. It is a Moses who holds before the eyes of his op- pressed people the vision of "a land flowing with milk and honey," a Promised Land, whither the slaves shall be taken, and where they may be free to gain every form of liberty. Only when this great master in Israel appeared was the imagination stirred by the hope of hu- man equality. Only when this greatest of teachers brought his law from Sinai's heights did men hear that there must be one law for home born and foreigner, only then did they learn that the land belongs to the people forever and cannot justly be alienated from them. Then, only, for the first time, was a democratic ideal expressed in behalf of humanity. He was among the very first to guide his ship to "The Isle of Dreams," where, in visions by day and night, he saw a regenerated .society in which justice mingled with love should produce a truly pros- perous and blessed human state. Prophetic Promises Apply to All. When, in course of time, he was succeeded by his companions in spirit, the sublime band of idealists, the 13 Religion and Social Theories Prophets, they but took up his parable and elaborated it. They descant in tropes on the vision of the blessed future; and never forget, sons and daughters of Israel, that he lies who tells you that the great blessings, which are to be Israel's when the Messiah comes, were prom- ised only for Jews. "In those days, God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh," says Joel. "It shall come in the fullness of time, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it." Never forget that the glories of the Messianic kingdom are to be shared by Israel and the nations, as might be shown by many citations from our Scriptures. Therefore, when in the process of time, the harvest was ripe, and when the day had come when Israel was to share his blessings with humanity; when a prosperous economic period prevailed throughout the world; when the inspiring- visions of Israel had multiplied and grown miring many centuries; when Rome had built lines of communication throughout her Empire in the form of such n>ads as the Appian Way, the ancient arteries of travel and traffic; when, she had done for her day what we have (lone in our clay by building railroads and in- stalling telegraphic systems; when, in a word, Rome had. to the limit of the possibilities of her day, drawn the ends of the world near to one another, then it was comparatively easy for men to communicate with one. another and share the fruits of their toil and soul. Forth from Palestine went a handful of men who preached the coming of the kingdom of God. Whether 14 The Isle of Dreams inspired by Moses and the Prophets, or by Jesus and his Apostles, they saw visions, they dreamed dreams, and promised, in the name of God, that the day should come when man would be spiritually free, and also free from the burdens of poverty, from the inequalities of social life, from the difficulties that result from the lack of food. The Establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. They promised that the Messianic kingdom will, some day, be established, and the method of its estab- lishment presents one of the most interesting themes that has ever engaged the attention of mankind. What was it that these dreamers saw, that these seers beheld, which other men did not behold or see? What was the essence of their dreams? They saw that men were im- moral ; and they knew that immortality always brings curse, that it is impossible for an immoral man to be blessed. Now, by immorality, they meant not only the sins against the laws of sex life, which were certainly no fewer in their day than in ours. Of course, they con- demned these delinquencies. They inveighed against "a man and his son visiting the same house of ill-fame." They reproached men "who neighed like stallions after their neighbors' wives." They denounced those who were false to their marriage vow. They bitterly con- demned the harlot and her partner. They felt, in every respect, about immorality as do the most loyal, faithful and constant husbands, wives and parents in our day. 15 Religion and Social Theories Social Conditions Denounced. Hut they did not stop there. They associated mo- rality not only with sexual purity, but likewise with commercial integrity, industrial probity, social justice and national honor. Immorality, to them, meant all th<>-e adverse conditions which, obstinately persisted in, degrade and debase the life of the nation. They de- clared that it was contrary to the will of God "to grind the faces of the poor." They inveighed most bitterly, never against money, but against the shocking uses to which men put their money. You cannot read a page of Isaiah. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or of the Minor Prophets, from Amos to Malachi, but you will find that they were a unit in their denunciation of immorality in business, in their arraignment of offenders who, in the relations of the daily affairs of life, trick, cheat, deceive, misrepre- sent or rob. They placed the emphasis on the moral conditions of human life, and they insisted that without morality there could not be progress. Political Conditions Denounced. Xr did they stop there. They fiercely protested against the political conditions of their day. They saw the strong oppressing the weak. They saw, to employ modern terms to interpret an ancient situation, men buy- ing legislation. They observed how men used their influ- ence. whether their position, their wealth, their station, or what not, to prevent justice, how they "put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter," so that "where one looked 16 The Isle of Dreams for justice they found a stench," and how ''in the place where one looked for righteousness iniquity was there." They saw kings without bowels of pity, monarchs who were tyrants. In places of power they beheld despots, and they hurled against them the thunderbolt of their indignation. Economic Conditions Deplored. They also saw that general economic conditions were wrong, and they made it clear that inequity is in- iquity. They left no doubt that wherever there is an unjust economic pressure upon a nation, there cannot be peace, and without peace a nation is doomed. To repeat the aphorism already used this morning, man lives not by bread alone, but he cannot live without bread. To deprive men, by unjust methods of any kind, of their full measure of food purchased by the product of their labor, was a crime which they denounced in the name of God. It was not only a crime, but a sin. In their day some men used "diverse weights," made "the ephah small and the shekel great," depressed the .currency and inflated prices, and the Prophets arraigned them before the bar of justice and honesty as we denounce those who give a short ton for the price of a long ton, or attach lead to the side of the balance in v\ hich goods are weighed, or who use bottles with false glass bottoms. The sin, in the eyes of the Prophets, lay not only in the palpable dishonesty, but in the greater wrong of robbing men of their economic liberty. For he who unjustly withholds the "full measure, pressed down and running Religion and Social Theories over," in return for the full price paid, is no better than a clipper and sweater of coin; he is a mean thief, a de- spicable robber. How to Improve Society. lln\v, then, are these conditions to be improved? What can he done to overcome these immoral relations, exual immorality, commercial immorality, economic immorality, political immorality? Aye, what is to be done? The Prophets ascended their mountain of in- spiration and they dreamed; for forty days and forty nights they spoke with God. Or they dipped the oars of their argosies and rowed over the ocean of thought, and landed upon the Isle of Dreams. After a time they returned with their messages to society. It is charac- teristic of Moses and the Prophets, and of Jesus and the Apostles, that they have but one single reply to the questions just asked. We can improve society in no way but by religion. This is the answer of both the Hebrew and the Greek Bibles. When religion is intro- duced into social life, we shall have the improvements we desire, and not before. A Simile. Come, let us build a fire! Let us get great logs from the forest! Let us cut down for them trees, the trees which have stood for centuries. Behold, here we* have now choice wood which will kindle quickly, and all the other objects with which to fulfill our desire. 18 The Isle of Dreams Ah! But we have only the elements of the fire; not yet have we the fire. Only when we have taken our tinder box and struck our flint, or, in modern fashion, struck our match and fired our papen, will we get a fire. Only when we have converted the combustible material into living flame have we what we call a log fire. Human society is represented by these dead elements, the logs, the kindling wood, the paper, the match ; until we trans- fuse into them the spirit of God, until we have injected into the units of this vast mass that subtle essence, the spirit of religion, we have no society, no nation, we have not even man. What Religion Is. By religion, I do not mean what currently passes for religion. By religion, I do not mean church service, although so many think that they are religious if they go to church. Some of the worst people I know go to church most frequently ; some of the best people I know rarely go to any church. Some of the worst people I know wear large crosses. Some of the best pedple I know wear no emblems or insignia of their faith. Re- ligion does not mean creed and dogma. I have heard men repeat their creed with great fluency; but they had no more understanding of the true significance of religion than has a blind student of botany an appreciation of the flower he has never seen. Men must employ terms to express the spirit within them, and as long as we are human, we shall need some statement of religious prin- ciples; but between stating principles and living them 19 Religion and Social Theories there lies a whole world. Religion does not mean creed. Religion does not mean church going. Religion does not mean race. Religion does not mean membership in a synagogue or church. Religion does not mean saying long prayers. Religion does not mean any of these things. Religion means the personal recognition of God in our human life and our willingness to live as in His presence. Its expression will vary with different persons; but this is the essence of all religion ; the rest is com- mentary. The recognition of, and belief in, a God .to whom we are directly and personally responsible ; whose will i- supreme: whose law must be discovered, studied and li\ed by, since through it God will render unto every man acc" y #AHV!i ^ S 7 p '^a3Aif 'wsm ^.\m> - 1 i '^tfOJIT\ ^OF-CAl " x^" ^Aavd Ti 3 l s /\VJ U U 1 1 4 ifi&s ^ l LIBRARY V", - 1 If" Stack Annex RELIGION AND SOCIAL THEORIES II. The Failure of Communism.' AN ADDRESS IN THE RODEF SHALOM TEMPLE PITTSBURGH, SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 1913. Scripture Reading: Leviticus xix. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Leviticus xiv., 18.) The excuse for society's failure to make the actual equal the ideal often takes the form of an apology that we are passing through a transition state : that the end is not yet here; that we are witnessing great changes which portend the end of the old and the advent of the new conditions; and since the final crystallization is not yet here we must abide in faith and patience. *By the Rev. J. Leonard Levy, Rabbi of the Congregation. Stenographically reported by Caroline Loewenthal. Religion and Social Theories Changing States of Society. Transition periods are often of very long duration. Generally, only long after the flight of many decades, sometimes centuries, are we able to observe that we have emerged from one system and passed to another. We now sec quite clearly, for instance, that ownership in human bcinprs has disappeared from civilized society, al- though it existed under the British flag until 1833, when liishop Wilberl'orce successfully led the revolt which re-' suited in the abolition of the Slave Trade, and in the I'nited States until 1863 when, just fifty years ago, Lin- coln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. We see distinctly that slavery, or ownership in human prop- erty, has gone forever. So, too, a few centuries ago, men lived, even in civilized lands, in a feudal state. While property was held by a few, and while those who worked on that property were supposedly free, yet, since those who labored were entirely dominated by their employers, they were only seemingly free. Feudalism has prevailed for many centuries, and it is said by keen and close ob- servers that we are now passing from feudalism into a new social order. Transition Periods. Two or three recent circumstances make it very ap- parent that the transition period is closing and a new order is about to be born. In 1898, after the battle of Manilla, and again after the sea-fight at Santiago, the American people became exceedingly enthusiastic over 28 The Failure of Communism the idea of imperialism. Mr. Bryan became, wisely I think, the outspoken foe of imperialism; but the mass of the American people were led astray by glib and elo- quent speakers into the belief that the larger country meant the greater people. Many began to speak of "the American empire," the "possessions beyond the sea," referring to the Phillipine Islands and Hawaii and Porto Rico, as though we were another Britain. Only fifteen years have passed since the Spanish- American War; no one speaks of imperialism today. Thoughtful Americans have had their mind diverted from empire beyond the seas to the matter of social welfare. "How is it at home?" This is the question uppermost in the minds of thinking Americans. A New Order of Social Theory. In 1899 the British people entered upon a nefarious war in South Africa. After the encounter with the Boers was over, and after the glorious (?) victory had been gained in which 250,000 trained soldiers conquered 4 0,000 people armed for self-defense, the British people, under the leadership of Joseph Chamberlain, began to dream of a scheme of imperialism. No less great a man than the Earl of Rosebery suggested that, instead of the national parliament which now meets in London an im- perial parliament, in which New Zealand, Australia, India, Canada, and other British possessions beyond the seas should seat their representatives, should meet at St. Stephens. In 1906, a few jears after the close of the Boer War, the mind of the British people was turned 29 Religion and Social Theories from thoughts of imperialism, while men like Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George have brought it back to earth, compelling it to understand that empire abroad with discontent, while poverty and misery reign at home, is a vain and delusive hope. No question which is agi- tating the mind of the average Britisher today compares in importance to that of social welfare, the happiness of the average man, the contentment of the masses, the peace and progress of the dispossessed classes. Social Welfare. I am not considering persons who have a liberal in- come of, say, two thousand dollars or more a year. I am speaking of the average individual in America who makes far less than $40 a week, sometimes but a fourth of that amount, sometimes only a tenth of it. We must consider the welfare of those who are found among the weak, the submerged classes; not paupers, but poor people; people who, if out of employment for a brief space of time, must starve or beg. I shall not cite as general illustrations the comparatively few instances of employers who succeed in making vast fortunes often as a result of the low wages paid their average help ; but I earnestly invite you to consider the fact that there are in the United States con- siderably more than one-half of the population who are always within a few months of want; for this is a condi- tion most alarming. After all the toil and all the effort of man ; after all the battles which have been waged by so many millions 30 The Failure of Communism of average men without ever receiving credit, honor or glory; after all the suffering endured by the submerged tenth, "the other half" of human society, it does seem sad that self-respecting, decent men, who are willing to labor and anxious to toil, through no fault of their own except that they have too long submitted to an iniquitious social system, are compelled to live with the wolf of want staring them in the face from youth to old age, from birth to death. Man's Value to Society. A great dignity and a high value attach to human life. Each individual is born into this world with certain desires and appetites which should receive some satis- faction before he leaves it. To be a man, and of course, his companion, woman, is included in the general phrase means, to ethical individuals and to religious persons, a child of the Highest, a product of the sublimest influences in this world. To be a man means to be an animal cre- ated, uplifted and inspired by the spirit of the eternal God of justice and love. Such a creature as man, the child of God, ought not be compelled to pass a life which is marked by no high hope, by naught but drudgery of the meanest order, by nothing which brings inspiration or stirs ambition, if a change of conditions can result in improvement of circumstances. Every impulse which differentiates man from the beast should move those who can influence others to strive for social amelioration, to the end that the God in man 31 Religion and Social Theories be given opportunity to express itself. Too long have men been actuated by a blind fatalism which has accepted a changing state as a fixed condition. Whatever else may pass away, we must strive to maintain the dignity of man as the child of God. This is a permanent asset in human experience, and all social effort must be directed toward it. Something More than to Live. It is nowhere written that a man must live. It is often said by those who would justify themselves after sonic crime lias been committed, or after wrongdoing or trickery lias been practiced, "A man must live." I deny that proposition. It is nowhere written, except as a doc- trine of animalism, that a man has to live. The greatest and the grandest exemplars of mankind died as martyrs when they could have lived if they had wished. They did not shield themselves behind the false philosophy of mere animalism that man must live. A man must live true to his convictions, and if that truth lead him to a martyr's death ; or worse, he must be ready to face the issue. Until that type of individual is commonly found on earth we should not talk about "man." We may speak about monkeys in human form. We may discuss hogs in the shape of individuals, but they are not really men who are not prepared to maintain their convictions even if called upon to die in their defense. Man Dies; Mankind Lives. Man can die for an idea; that is his glory. He ought to be willing to die for that which is more than bread ; but 32 The Failure of Communism though man can die, mankind cannot. The human race must be perpetuated. The human family must continue. Individuals may pass away ; but the community must con- tinue. In the endeavor to institute a high form of civil- ized society, we have, after many, many failures and after unending struggle, succeeded in rearing for mankind a few helpful institutions. We have stumbled along the way; we have erred and we have failed; but out of the wreck of human effort, we have been able to save that most important institution, the family. The Family. In any economic discussion into which I may be led as a teacher, there lies deep in my consciousness a respect for the family which resists every attempt and argument to dislodge it. I hope you feel the same. That one man should separate himself from the rest of society for one woman, and that they, out of the reverence and love each bears the other, should be willing to rear a family; and that, out of the affection they have for the children of their love, they may be willing to toil and to struggle, to give their offspring position and opportunity, this, to my mind, is an approximately ideal state to which we have at last attained and which should be preserved at all hazards. Sacrifice what you will for the sake of economic advantage ; do not sacrifice the family ! Any movement, or undertaking, or theory, or plan, which may interfere in the slightest way with the perpetuity of the institution called the family is, to my mind, a delusive hope, a dan- gerous suggestion fraught with horror and destruction to society. 33 Religion and Social Theories Social Discontent. The modern world is out of joint. There are many things in it exceedingly wrong, and he indeed must be deaf to the appeal of justice and have a heart so fattened by prosperity that he has no sentiment, who is satisfied with today's conditions. When, as you have often heard, the princess in Paris, just before the Revolution, said, "If the people cannot get bread, why don't they eat cake.'' she deserved, for her stupidity, to lose her head. When Foulon, as you have often heard, said, "If the peo- ple cannot eat bread, let them eat grass," he deserved, for his heartlessness, to have his head removed when the Involution broke out. Not To Be Ignored. It is all very well for people who have met with finan- cial success in life, to sit at home and toast their feet be- fore comfortable fires and express satisfaction with life. Tt is all very well for those who have a high degree of abundance to look out of their windows and say how fair the world is. It is all very well for men who have been able, by their just efforts, if you will, to provide against want in old age, to say, "this world suits me first rate." T know that there are many who complain against the so- cial order unjustly; that there are many who "have brought their own misfortunes upon themselves; that there are many who, in the days of summer, forget there is to be a winter. I know that there are many who do not deserve the slightest commiseration at the hands of those 34 The Failure of Communism r who must be as flint in arranging a just social order. But at the same time, there are conditions in life so palpably unjust, there are circumstances prevailing in the highest civilized lands that are so clearly iniquitious and inequit- able, that any man who states that this is not only the best of all worlds, but that the conditions under which we live are most desirable, felicitous and seemly, deserves a fate little better than that which befell the French princess and Foulon. What is Wrong? What is the matter with the world? What is wrong with mankind? Why this social unrest? Why this per- sistence of social disorder? Why these demands? So- ciety is suffering from a disease. The name of that dis- ease no one has yet told. It has not yet been properly diagnosed although we know its symptoms ; some day we shall be able to find the cause, hidden and recondite though it now be. The symptoms are as clear as daylight, but it is good medicine never to treat symptoms. S'o many people, to their undoing, fall into the hands of poor physicians who insist upon treating symptoms. Treat the Disease, Not the Symptoms. Let me illustrate what I mean. A sick person visits a doctor. The physician feels the pulse, examines the tongue, may even be thoughtful enough to make a blood culture and to seek other means of obtaining information to discover if the kidneys and liver are performing their 35 Religion and Social Theories functions. He asks his patient, ''How do you feel?" "Oh," says he, "I have a headache." "That's nothing," says the doctor, "take a few of these powders and you'll be alright in a day or so." The headache disappears, and the patient imagines that he is cured. He forgets that it is the cause of the headache that must be treated, rather than the headache itself. We never have a headache with- out a cause. We never have a pain in any part of our body without a reason. One who is perfectly healthy, who, for instance, has sound lungs and a normal heart, is never conscious of them, and one whose kidneys and liver are healthy never realizes that he has such organs. They perform their functions without our noticing them. It', therefore, there is a disturbance, it is not the symp- toms which should be treated but the organ which is dis- eased, or whose functions are disordered. The Three Symptoms of the Disease. We know the symptoms of modern social disease, but we have not yet determined its cause. The symptoms are three. The first is poverty ; the second is prostitution ; the third is crime. In a society which is thousands of years old ; which has long had the benefit of great religious teachers ; which for ages has been upder the dominion of saints, popes, ecclesiastics, kings and emperors; which has had at its disposal all the necessary resources for the maintenance of health; in such a society there is no valid- reason why today poverty should continue, prostitution should endure, and crime should exist. 36 The Failure of Communism Where Lies the Cure? The average man will say, "These evils have always existed and therefore they are always going to exist. ' ' I do not believe that. There are many evils that used to exist but which do not now exist. Slavery used to exist ; it is never going to exist again. The ownership of human flesh was once held ,to be a means of industrial progress, but it is removed forever; and just as slavery passed away, Just so surely poverty and prostitution and crime, the three pressing social evils or diseases, are going to' pass away. Here are the diseases ! Where is the path we should follow to establish social health ? Who is the Doc- tor? What is his mode of cure? How can society be di- rected to normal health? Opponents to All Remedies. Various schemes are proposed, but before we discuss them, a few preliminary words are necessary. Whatever scheme of amelioration may be suggested will immedi- ately meet with objections by somebody; and that some- body will always be a person who has one of two char- acteristics. He is either satisfied with conditions now prevailing, and therefore wishes to maintain the status quo ; or he is too stupid, too indolent, too oxlike to bother his head. He answers as the newly-enfranchised slaves said to Moses, "Leave us alone! It is better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." The man who is quite satisfied with his- circumstances cannot under- stand that anyone can be dissatisfied. Arguing from his 37 Religion and Social Theories personal standpoint, as most people do, he sees no rea- son for dissatisfaction. Having all he desires, he asks, "Why don't people thank God and be quiet? The status quo, the social equilibrium, ought to remain as it is." Methods of the Opposition. * Moreover, we must remember that those who are satisfied employ diverse methods of assuring those who are dissatisfied and those who cannot and will not think that there is grave danger in change. One of the famous, or rather infamous, tricks to which this class of individuals resort is that of giving an ill name to new movements and their sponsors. It is proverbial that "one may as well hang a dog as give it a bad name." This, for example, is one of the contemptible means the world has used in endeavoring to destroy the influ- ence of Israel. If the ideas and ideals of our Prophets could have prevailed, long since this the questions which we are now discussing would have been settled. But the iniquitous status quo was to be maintained ; wherever the Jew has gone he has been discontented with that status quo and it was, therefore, conceived to be good policy to nullify the influence of the Jew by giving him a bad name. Wherever the Jew has gone he has made certain de^ mands for Right and Liberty which, if granted, would disturb the prevailing iniquitous and inequitable condi- tions. The party of privilege, caste and vested rights 38 The Failure of Communism -I i I ! always held that the disturber must be quelled at all odds. "You may as well hang a dog as give him a bad name," and the pulpits, the religious teachers of the world, have always, with but rare exceptions, given the Jew a bad name. If today the liberty-dispensing, the equality-pro- ducing, the fraternity-effecting ideals of Israel are not exercising the influence the Jewish movement deserves, it is because weaklings, in practically every religious de- nomination, have, chiefly at the instigation of the pulpits or the men of affairs who have seen in the Jew a keen competitor, given the name Jew a foul significance. Destroying Good by 111 Names. Now, this is exactly how they have treated these economic names given to the various movements for so- cial ameloriation. They would say "so and so is an an- archist," and immediately one would imagine that that person wished to kill someone, for it was deftly suggested that an anarchist is a person who is opposed to law and order. Or if they said, "so and so is a socialist," one was led to expect to see a grim person rise before him who was prepared to burn, slaughter or murder his fellow creatures. Or if they said, "so and so is a communist," one refused even to mention his name, such an undesirable he was made to appear. But worse yet is the mistake, common even among well-informed people, to identify the terms anarchist, socialist and communist, as if the one meant exactly the same as the other. It is as correct to consider a socialist and an anarchist as identical, as it 39 Religion and Social Theories would be to hold that thick and thin, right and wrong, straight and crooked, are absolutely the one and the same thing. Production and Consumption. In our discussion of social theories it is essential that we understand the terms we use. Therefore, a few defi- nitions will not be out of place. Society, in its attempt to maintain economic life, recognizes two main depart- ments, one is the means of production, the other is the objects of consumption. Men produce objects to be con- sumed, and this is the basis of the economic life of the world. That is to say, men have some kind of machine or tool through which they make objects which others need. For instance; the earth yields the grain from which we make bread. The bakery in which a man makes the bread, the oven in which he cooks it, the trough in which he kneads it, and the form in which he moulds the shape, these are called the means of production. The bread is called the object of consumption. Remember carefully these fundamental terms, the means of produc- tion and the objects of consumption. Tools and Products. In a nation the means of production include land, mines, railroads, telephones, telegraph systems, water- ways, factories, machinery, stores, shops, tools, businesses- and every agency by means of which we produce any- thing. The objects of consumption include food, drink, clothing, houses, furniture, books, pictures and other such 40 The Failure of Communism things. The world's commerce is conducted with a view of converting the raw material of the earth by the means of production into objects of consumption, and money is the medium through which these are exchanged. The ownership of the means of production and the objects of consumption has long been disputed. Several classes of economic theories and systems have arisen which every intelligent man and woman in the twentieth century should understand. Until we have a fair understanding of them, we shall play no intelligent part in the changing conditions which confront us. Communism and Socialism. In the first place, the communists arose. They held that the means of production and the objects of consump- tion belong to everyone in common. Is that clear? The communist held that the means of production, the trans- portation systems, waterways, the machineries, the busi- ness, the stores, everything by means of which we pro- duce, and also everything which we produce, belong to everybody in common. With them there was no such thing as private ownership of anything. Everything for which men toil, economically speaking, money, property, possessions of all kinds, had no private existence in a communistic state. This was found to be impracticable; therefore, communism underwent a change and gave rise to what we now call socialism which, in its last phase, means that the means of production belong to the State and should be held by the State for the benefit of all the people. 41 Religion and Social Theories As an illustration of the meaning of Socialism the Post Office department is usually cited. This is a public utility conducted by the Government for the whole na- tion. It operates the nation's business for the benefit of all. It costs one a penny to mail .a card from his house to his neighbor on the same street, a distance of but a few yards, and it costs no more to send a similar card to California, a distance of thousands of miles; so that all the people contribute, not equally but on equal terms, to maintain one department of the Government conducted for the benefit of all the people. Socialism, then, demands that the means of production, or the tools of production, shall be owned by the nation for the benefit of all the members of the nation. In its present phase it has noth- ing to say about the objects of consumption. Anarchism. Anarchism makes a plea like unto that of commun- ism, but with one great difference. In anarchistic society the tools of production and the objects of consumption are to be held by everybody in common; but in that society there is to be no government, or constituted authority.* Thus we have the three phases of collectivism : Commun- ism, under which all tools of production and objects of consumption are owned by everybody in common; An- archism, under which all tools of productions and ob- jects of consumption are owned by everybody, plus a so- - "This is, strictly speaking, Anarchist-Communism. Other of Anarchism will be considered in a subsequent address. 42 The Failure of Communism ciety in which there is no governmental or constituted authority; Socialism, a system under which the tools of production shall be owned by all the people through the State, which shall employ these tools for the benefit of all the people of the State. Single Tax. As opposed to all forms of collectivism, there stands in bold relief the system proposed by that remarkable economist, Henry George. He held that the sole source of wealth is the earth ; that the earth belongs to mankind and not to men ; that the products of the earth should be exchanged freely and unrestrainedly; that there should be no tax upon production ; that everything we have and use, we owe, in the last analysis, to the earth; and the earth, as Scripture says, has been given unto all men. "The heaven of heavens are the Lord's, but the earth He hath given unto the children of men." There should be absolutely no restriction in trade, holds Henry George. Trade must be absolutely free, untramelled and unre- stricted, so that all products can be freely exchanged between men and nations, while all revenues needed by municipal, county, State and national governments should be raised by one single tax placed on the value of land. Thus these economic or social theories represent, on the one hand, collectivism, and on the other hand, individual- ism; on the one hand, some form of communism, on the other hand some form of individualism. 43 Religion and Social Theories Communistic Efforts. Now, communism has been tried almost everywhere, and has failed almost always wherever tried. For cen- turies the Red Indians were communists, all property rights being vested in the tribe; we know what kind of a civilization was produced under the circumstances. The Russian "Mir" and the Javan "Dessa" are of like na- ture. Among the Jews, two thousand years ago, com- munism appeared among the sect known as the Essenes, who held that marriage was contrary to human welfare, and who believed that all property should be held in common. The Essenes, it is said, never had more than five thousand followers, but they handed over their com- munistic ideas to the early Christians who, undoubtedly, were voluntary communists. In the Middle Ages. With the establishment of the church in Europe in the fourth century, this social theory soon failed. With lingering hopes of final success many turned to asceticism and to the monastic orders which soon proved unfit to sur- vive. "Ever since there have been various communistic orders and sects appearing in the Christian church, the Humiliates; the Beghards and Beguines; the various mendicant orders of the Middle Ages ; the Brethren of the Free Spirit, in the thirteenth century; the Adamites dur-- ing the Hussite wars." All succeeded for a time, but soon went the way of all flesh. 44 The Failure of Communism In Germany, France and England. Throughout Germany, after the Protestant Reform- ation in the sixteenth century, the tendency toward com- munism re-appeared. Many economists hold that the Peasant War owed its origin to this sentiment, but com- munism was clearly manifest in Storch's organization of the Heavenly Prophets, "in the Anabaptists in Muenster, the Libertines of Geneva, the Familists of Plolland and England, ,and the Buchanites of Scotland." In France, Morelly, Mably and Babeuf advocated communism, while England's most illustrious advocate of this theory was Robert Owen. Thus far practically no success has at- tended the efforts of the followers of these leaders. In Our Own Country. In the United States communistic societies have been fairly common, but they have accomplished nothing that would lead most free men and women to yearn after them. William A. Hinds 's work, "American Communities," re- fers to 142 such societies, very few of which were over successful while fewer still have had enough vitality to en- dure for any length of time. The Ephrata Community, the Shaker Communities, the Harmony Community, the Amana Community, the Oneida Community, the Koreshan Community and the Straight-Edgers, are among the long- est lived and most successful, but their experiences have not been such that we may expect to find the mass of man- kind eager to emulate them. 45 Religion and Social Theories Reasons for Failure. Communism failed, and deserved to fail because its scheme is opposed to the best interests of humanity. A community in which one man is the supreme chief, in which all associates are subordinate, and where all submit to a rule such as "from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs," while freedom of action is necessarily denied to the members of the community, cannot long endure. Communism is, in its final analysis, the social order of the animals; among men the tenden- cies of civilization develop a division of labor and as sub- division follows subdivision, the drift is away from com- munism. Moreover, communism is opposed to nature's law, and before the natural law all must bow or be crushed. Argue as we will about nature's laws, speak as we may of their pitilessness and remorselessness, we cannot change the facts. Like a Juggernaut she will ruthlessly ride over all who cross her path. Like some terrible sphinx she says: "If you walk with me as I wish, I shall be your most loving friend. If you thwart me, I shall des- troy you. Do my bidding or die!" Terrible as seems this pronunciamento, it is the essence of loving kindness. For nature's laws are the physical expression of the will of God. They must be learned, understood and obeyed if we wish to live and prosper. There is no alternative. Nature's Law. After all, what is the value of all the mushy senti- mentality to which we are treated by those who would 46 The Failure of Communism have us believe that man can ignore the natural law? Is it not society's purpose that man should be strong, self-reliant and self-helping 1 } I thank no man who would give me morphine when I am healthy. I am grateful to no surgeon who would prescribe crutches for me if I am strong enough to walk. If sick, morphine and crutches may be helpful; but he is my enemy who robs me when in health of my free-will. It is evidently na- ture's purpose that we should not weaken ourselves, but that, by overcoming, become strong enough to endure. Her law which never changes, for it is unchangeable, runs, "Use or lose !" If change there is to be, it must be in us ; we cannot change nature. Competition a Natural Law. Clear as daylight is the natural law that the best that ever is or will be must be produced by competition. The principle of competition is universal. It cannot, it must not, be abolished. If you get the finest soil, and sow in it the finest grass seed, and provide the necessary light, heat and moisture, the grass will soon grow; but, no sooner will the green blades appear than one will com- pete with the other for the sunshine and the air. Said my gardner to me the other day, "I shall put no ferti- lizer on the new lawn this winter. " " But, ' ' said I, ' ' would not a fertilizer enrich the lawn?" "The lawn may be en- riched," he answered, "but if you use a fertilizer this season on grass which is but a few months old, the grass will refuse to send its loots downward, depending on the fertilizer for nourishment. That may work well for a 47 Religion and Social Theories short time, but next summer during intense heat the grass will wither. If you desire a permanently good lawn you must force the grass to strike its root deep in the ground." Competition Inextinguishable. This may seem as cold as charity, as frigid as the North Polo ; but there stands the law, involving the prin- ciple of competition, and under the law only the fittest to survive will survive. Let me set before you two ideas this morning ! "Why do you accept one and reject the other? Because the two ideas are no sooner compre- hended than they compete for acceptance. You can no more abolish competition and succeed, than you can abolish the atmosphere and live. There may be trade relations in which competition is temporarily thwarted and throttled, but sooner or later men will rise in their might and overthrow them. Communism failed because it was inconsistent with the laws of nature, and every system which refuses to recognize the supremacy of na- tural law is doomed to fail before it begins. Hereditary Gifts. Experience also shows that when private property is abolished an assault is made upon the integrity of the family, which points to the ultimate extinction of the family as an institution. Wherever a common re- sponsibility has existed it has been found that many are anxious to shift their share of duty. Some always de- 48 The Failure of Communism pend on others to relieve them from irksome and onerous tasks. I have no doubt but such a frame of mind has been found in the masses of mankind for millions of years. The man who was ever ready to do his duty not only blessed himself, but he proved a blessing to his offspring by con- ferring on them body cells in which lay the potential force of willing labor. The man who labored favored his child by endowing it with like ability, and thus conferred upon it a power by means of which it exerted the com- petitive force which brought it to the front. Ancient so- ciety was not necessarily founded by freebooters and marauders. Men of effort rose above men of ease by the force of hereditary gifts. Hate it if you like, but the law will continue to operate this way, for all time and among all people. The Ultimate Test. Communism failed as will every system which robs man of initiative, which renders voluntary effort unneces- sary and which removes from human life the high satis- faction which results from personal effort voluntarily ex- ercised. This is the ultimate test which must be applied to all social theories, and as we continue our discussion we shall find that, in proportion as such theories harmon- ize with natural law, they succeed and deserve success; in proportion as they oppose natural law they cannot but become a dismal and horrible failure. 49 UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES oi~ = "i g 5 ij g g ^ ' I V T ^ x' I V C? i ( U \ ^MMMM^h. 1C r ""^ % 3 *> I g r -. ^' I I 5 V _^ HBHARY^ ^v [|BRA: fJJ!7i U s ^ f GM i F 0/? 4< x- >. ' (j I I" , C Al I F ( O Ll_ 5? P. M 1 1 < ' gJJh? i 2 i _/A < Stack :/3 RELIGION AND SOCIAL THEORIES. III. The Purpose of Socialism.' AN ADDRESS IN THE RODEF SHALOM TEMPLE PITTSBURGH, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1913. Scripture Reading: Proverbs xii. The thoughts of the righteous are for justice. (Proverbs xii., 5.) Permit me, before I enter upon a brief and necessarily incomplete discussion of the purpose of Socialism, a pure- ly personal statement. Socialistic Charges Against Us. In this community, the challenge has been made that the minister of this congregation dare not discuss in an unprejudiced manner, before the members of the Rodef Shalom Temple, the issues raised by Socialism. It has *By the Rev. J. Leonard Levy, Rabbi of the Congregation. Stenographically reported by Caroline Loewenthal. Religion and Social Theories been said by those who challenge him that he is under too many obligations to certain rich men, whose support makes the congregation possible, to bring to the attention of his people the purposes of Socialism. It has been also said that the members of his congregation have no sym- pathy with the demands of the Socialist party, and are not interested in the great economic themes which are at the present moment convulsing the world and producing great social unrest. Untrue in Every Particular. For yon, my congregants, let me, your minister, say that 1 believe that it would be exceedingly difficult to find a body of people numbering about twenty-five hundred souls, men, women and children, who have granted greater liberty, or permitted wider opportunities, to a minister than you have. I believe that it would be utterly impossible for any man ministering to the needs of a con- gregation to have been given greater freedom of utterance than you have permitted your Rabbi. And, on this oc- easion, I desire to express my gratitude to the men and the women of this congregation for their uniform support and their cordial help to the minister of this congregation, although he has, on many occasions, given expression to opinions which, he feels sure, are not generally acceptable to many men and women in the congregation. Your Minister Has a Free Pulpit. For the minister of this congregation, let it be said that he feels, except in the way of friendship, under no 52 The Purpose of Socialism obligatiQn to any man, woman or child in the congrega- tion ; and that, as far as he is concerned, he knows only one master, his God. His conception of truth is that which is expressed by the living body of the House of Israel, gained through its long experience of nearly four thousand years. He is a slave to that conception of truth, but to no man, or body of men, be they capitalists, or be they laborers. In answer to specific charges brought against this congregation, you, who know how this congregation is or- ganized, can understand that a do/en or more of the wealthiest men in this congregation could leave us to- morrow, yet the income of the congregation would not be reduced by .$2,500 a year. For the richest man in this congregation pays into its funds only $174 a year, and we have been exceedingly jealous in this congregation to maintain, as far as we possibly may, the democratic or- ganization of the Synagogue. Critics Not Necessarily Enemies. I desire most earnestly to remind those who agree, or disagree, with my point of view on the matter of Socialism that he is not the enemy of the proletariat, of the dis- possessed classes, or of the workingmen, who does not al- ways agree with them; that it is not necessary for a man unquestioningly to accept every utterance of the majority to proclaim himself a friend of humanity. The honest critic of my co-religionists will always be thanked by Jews who have self-respect ; and the honest critic of any econo- mic or religious movement is the best friend that move- ment can have. 53 Religion and Social Theories History to be Spiritually Interpreted. I further desire to say, by way of introduction, that I am a believer in the spiritual interpretation of history. I do not believe that the righteous man whose thoughts are for justice, believes that justice is only just when it is profitable. I believe that history, properly interpreted, is the record, among other things, of the conquest made by the soul and mind of man over the blind and insensate forces of nature, of the victory of ideas and ideals over things. I also believe that the best friends of man were those who loved justice when it was unprofitable to be just, that the great martyrs of the human race, its saints, its seers, its prophets, were all of them, either killed, hated, abused or denied, because they revealed to mankind those great principles which the many hated, yet which they must accept ; that for instance, Moses was a moralist long before he was an economist, and that the teachings of our great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the others, which are about to affect the world, as the expres- sions of no men have ever moved the human conscience and reason, are the ideals of men who believed in righte- ousness and equity and justice long before it was to their advantage to believe as they did. Socialists Among the Jews. Furthermore, the minister, himself, is a man who must toil for a salary, which is only another name for a wage; and 1 would not willingly advocate any system which would put the bonds of slavery about myself or 54 The Purpose of Socialism my family. Moreover, let it be said, in answer to those who sometimes feel that Jews are blameworthy because many are vitally interested in Socialism and are advocat- ing it earnestly and eagerly, that, if Socialism means the overthrow of the present economic system, or the sub- version of modern society and the upbuilding of a better system and a nobler society, one can scarcely blame Marx and Lassalle, who were of Jewish birth, or the Jew who is identified with their teachings. Even if they were not moved by what they felt were considerations of economic principles, it must not be forgotten that society has never been just to the Jewish people, and even in the most ad- vanced and civilized lands lacks the essential elements of fairness toward that people. Society has not been so tender of Right and Liberty that all Jews should be will- ing to admit that the present system is the best possible; and while I am not a Socialist, and while I shall resist Socialism as long as I am of my present mind, and while I hope to prove that Socialism is not the way out of our present difficulties, yet I can thoroughly understand why many, who feel the grinding force of modern iniquity and inequity, should turn to any power which seems to prom- ise to bring them out of their present Egypt. Justice and Liberty. Society's great need is justice. The thoughts of righteous men are always for justice ; but all men are not yet righteous. I am weary of hearing or reading the statements of frenzied emotionalists, in and out of pulpits, who apostrophize love as the expression of their religion. DO Religion and Social Theories I certainly do not object to the divine sentiment of love; but experience shows that, long before we can expect men to love one another, long before we may hope to find the spirit of human love hover over mankind, (if we are to judge by the experiences of the past many centuries), we must insist upon the social virtue of justice. It is not in tin- power of men to like everyone; but we must be fair ;md just in our dealings with all people. In a word, I auree that ultimately love may become a universal ex- perience, but only the love which grows from the justice which should be the fundamental basis of social life. Liberty and Equality. Now. justice postulates liberty, for surely there can he no justice without liberty! By many liberty is taken 1o mean equality: but how many really believe in what so many call equality? I, for one, do not believe literally in llie statement made in the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal." I agree that they are horn to equal opportunity, that they are born to equal rights before God and the law; but I do not believe that all men are in every way equal, and I do not believe that we can ever make all men equal, until God institutes some new experiment hitherto untried. If God were to take all 1 he brains of all the people of the earth and mix them until Ihey were of the same consistency, and if He were then to give each child who comes into the world an equal amount of brain power, we might have equality of brkin 1 tower. The same is true of nerve force and of character; but until some such arrangement has been devised, I do not think we can have equality. 56 The Purpose of Socialism We can have liberty, and liberty means equality of opportunity, not equality of possessions, ability or char- acter. The law of equal liberty for each, bounded only by the like liberties of all. (and this is the best concep- tion of liberty of which I know), conveys the corollary that "each is free," as Herbert Spencer says, "to do what- ever his desires dictate, within the prescribed limits, that each is free, therefore, to claim for himself all those gratifications, and sources of gratification, which he can procure without trespassing on the spheres of action of his neighbors." (Social Statistics, p. 66). Justice is the social virtue most needed today; and, with the constant evolution of human society, is most likely to be introduced sooner than at any previous period of the world's history. The Aim of Socialism. Socialism is an attempt to introduce justice into social relations. When Proudhon, who was a socialist-anarchist, was arrested in Paris some years ago and was brought be- fore a magistrate for delivering an inflammatory speech, he told the magistrate that he was a Socialist. "What," asked the magistrate, "do you mean by a Socialist!" Proudhon replied, "Any man who is interested in the wel- fare of human society as a whole." "If that is Social- ism," said the magistrate, "then I am a Socialist; why, we are all Socialists." And Proudhon answered, "Yes, that is what I believe." If Socialism means the aspira- tion after a constantly improving condition in social re- lations, then are all good men and women Socialists ; for no person who thinks can believe that society has yet at- Religion and Social Theories tained perfection, that the Promised Land is already reached, that ideal conditions prevail here and now. So- cialism means this, but it means a great deal more. It means a "historic, economic and fundamentally revolu- tionary change" in the conception of society. It means an evolution, a tendency, a principle, "a social movement developed through class consciousness." What Socialism is Not. By Socialism is not meant what so many unthinking people take it to mean, Anarchism. It does not mean the overthrow of government, as so many people believe. It means exactly the opposite. It means the apotheosis of government ; it means that the government is to be su- preme controller of all the individuals who comprise the nation. By modern Socialism is not meant even the prin- ciples enunciated in the Communist Manifesto issued by Marx and En gels in 1848, for we must remember that sev- eral decades have passed since Karl Marx first propounded his economic theories. Nor by modern Socialism are we to understand the theory which was espoused by Ferdi- nand Lassalle,who urged that social improvement could be achieved only through the efforts of the Working Men's Association, founded in 1864. Nearly a half cen- tury has elapsed since Lassalle's time, and there has been a profound change in socialistic ideas between that time and this. By Socialism is not meant the principles of the So- cialistic Party of England or America, nor of the Social 58 The Purpose of Socialism Democratic Federation of Great Britain. By it is not meant the Fabian Society, nor the Independent Labor Party, nor the Labor Party, nor the Clarion Organizations, nor the Independent Workingmen of the World, nor Syn- dicalism. By Socialism is meant, in our day, the theory propounded by the International Socialist Party, a party which, apparently, renounces the hope of gaining its ends through any one nation which may recognize the party, for it now appears that no one country can alone success- fully adopt Socialism, which is international rather than national in aim. Socialism is, therefore, the aspiration of an international party which no longer seeks one peo- ple for its sphere of activity, but undertakes to convert the whole human family, internationally, to the socialist ideal. The Growth of Socialism. Has Socialism manifested signs of life? Has it ap- pealed to the imagination of men? Has it grown? In 1883, when Karl Marx died, there were but a handful of Socialists in the world. Today they represent millions upon millions of men. In Germany there are 4,252,000 Socialist voters. They occupy 110 seats in the Reichstag, and hold 2,000 official positions under the government. In France there are 76 Social Deputies in the Chamber, and 2,769 government positions are held by their com- rades. In the British House of Parliament there are 42 members who are avowed Socialists. In America, we had one Socialist in Congress, but he was recently defeated when he sought re-election. Germany publishes 159 Socialist papers; Italy, 92; France, 70; Belgium, 56; Eng- land, 12. 59 Religion and Social Theories In the United States the Socialist vote was divided at the recent election. It was not cast for the Socialist candidates alone ; for, on account of the triangular con- test between three nominees for the presidency, many So- cialists voted for or against Taft, Roosevelt, or Wilson. In spite of that contest, the Socialist vote reached nearly a million. It practically amounted to double the number cast for its candidates in 1908. Last November the So- cialists gained 12,000 votes in New York City, in Buffalo, 2.400; in Rochester, 200, while in many small cities the vote \vas twice the number of 1908. In California this party raised the vote of 28,659 to 66,350. Socialists pub- lish 13 daily papers in the United States and four more are being planned for immediate publication. They pub- lish 350 weekly papers in this country, 25 monthly maga- zines, while the number of local papers can scarcely be counted. These figures are not taken from Socialist sources. I deliberately selected them from an anti-so- cialist authority, and I have culled them from a work called "Socialism from a Christian Standpoint," written by the venerable Father Vaughan, a celebrated English Jesuit priest. The Significance of this Growth. What is the meaning of this growth and change? We might behold the germination of a new social order under our very eyes, if we only have enough vision to see it. At such a time unrest is natural. When we find social dis- content, it does not follow that the people are worse off; it sometimes signifies the very contrary. If you study 60 The Purpose of Socialism the countries in which the people are on the verge of starvation, you will find that the laboring people are silent and that they have no means of expressing their dissatis- faction. The peon of Mexie'o passes no resolutions look- ing to his improvement. But in America, in England, where the laboring people have had the widest opportun- ity; where, for two generations, they have had the ad- vantage of some education; where they now receive the highest wage ever paid to workingmen ; where the con- ditions under which they live, while leaving much to be desired, are better than they have ever been ; where labor organizations are stronger than they ever were; there is more discontent than, probably, at any period in the his- tory of the world. Where death prevails silence reigns supreme. Where there is life, we always find some expression of content or discontent, according to the degree of satisfaction pre- vailing among the various classes. It is all very good, for the few who have succeeded in life to be satisfied with their lot. It is all very good for men, upon whom there is no economic pressure, to say that "free contract and open competition" represents the best possible condition for economic evolution. It is all very good for men who can look forward to old age without the slightest dis- quietude, and for those who have been provided for by the success and forethought of their ancestors, or who are likely to be so provided for, to assert that we enjoy an economic status which is most desirable for all hu- manity. Satisfactory as such a status may be for some, it is harassing and oppressive to many. They who suffer 61 Religion and Social Theories from adverse economic conditions and who, as a result of deliberation and thought, have espoused Socialism, never blame men, who are the creatures of their heredity and en- vironment. They blame the system, while recognizing that it is the product of an evolutionary process which none could forestall. Changing Systems. This system is largely the result of changes which have taken place during the last hundred years. Many of us have surely seen unmistakable evidences of the transformation. Some of us can even remember the time when complex machines were unknown, and when, in our native city or village, there was no such thing as a rail- road, a street car, a machine shop. These changes which have been wrought through the invention of steam and electrical appliances mean vast modifications in the social status. From Slavery to Serfdom. As we review the rise of the workingman, he appears in early history, in the Bible for example, as a slave. The Pharaoh appointed taskmasters to keep the people in slavery. For thousands of years did that condition pre- vail ; the average workingman was forcibly restrained as a slave. His condition was sadder even than that of the colored people in our Southland; for the negro was, at least, provided with food, clothing and shelter. Originally the workingman had to furnish his tale of bricks, and had to collect for himself the straw with which the bricks were 62 The Purpose of Socialism made. His master cared not whether he lived or died. He provided him with neither shelter nor food ; these the slave was forced to obtain for himself as best he could. If angels came into the land of the Pharaoh and over night smote the first-born of the slaves, it mattered not to the heartless master; there were hosts immediately to fill the places vacated by the dead. For centuries this con- dition prevailed until, speaking generally, we find that, among the Teutonic family men were inspired, I believe, by the story of Israel of old, broke from their shackled hands the fetters of their Pharoahs and struck for econo- mic liberty. Serfdom to Feudalism. The slave disappeared and was succeeded by the serf. Centuries passed, and the scene changed : the serf became the companion of his employer. I remember, though I am far from being an old man, when, in England, the em- ployer and the employee were daily in close personal con- tact, when the apprentice was like a member of the em- ployer's family, when a relationship of personal friend- ship existed between the employer and the employee. But, with the introduction of the Factory System, this happy state slowly changed. By degrees, an impersonal relationship developed between employer and employee. Gradually the employee saw less and less of his employer, until today many employers live in one country while their employees toil for them in another country. Then as business developed and became vast in magnitude an- other economic change ensued : few men cared to risk their fortune in one venture, and corporate ownership evolved 63 Religion and Social Theories We can now see the slow changes which produced the slave, the serf, the workingman with his friendly em- ployer, the workingman with his impersonal employer, private ownership remaining the usual condition of the employer. The Rise of the Trust. Within the past generation a new development has taken place, organization in trade becoming less and less personal, and tending to become more and ever more im- personal. The private business has, in many cases, grown into a corporation, while corporations, deciding to produce as far as possible the maximum of gain with the minimum of expenditure, or as it is often stated, to operate with the maximum of efficiency and economy, united corporation with corporation, a step which has resulted in the larger corporation known as the trust. It is urged by Socialists that it requires no feat of the imagination to conclude that, just as the private business grew into a corporation, just as the corporation developed into the many corporations which form a trust, so the trust must, under normal condi- tions, unless competition is maintained and is unrestricted, evolve monopolies. Therefore, urge Socialists, we have our choice between a private monopoly and a public monopoly, a monopoly conducted for private gain and a monopoly conducted for the gain of all. Definition of Socialism. These steps are said to be necessary phases in econo- mic evolution ; certainly, this series of links already forged 64 The Purpose of Socialism in the economic chain of development cannot be disputed. Therefore, the Socialists, anticipating the next step which they say is inevitable, givje the following as the interna- tional definition of Socialism: "The collective owner- ship of the means of production by the community demo- cratically organized, and their operation co-operatively for the equitable good of all." This is the only definition with which we have a right to deal. The various phases of Socialism, the various demands of individual authors and parties must be ignored; for, if we wish to be fair in our contentions, we must deal with Socialism through its real representative the International Socialist Party. This party asserts that all the tools of production, as defined in last week's address, (See page 40), should be owned by all the people, i. e., through their government; that that government must be a democratic institution ; and that the operation of that democratic institution should be con- ducted co-operatively for the good of all its members with complete regard for the equities of the case. Sympathy with Aims, Not with Theory. Now whether we agree that this represents the thoughts of the righteous who are always for justice; whether we believe that such an economic transformation will work for the good of society, or not; whether we would at once admit that it is the highest economic ideal or not ; whether we believe in the economic, or the spirit- ual, interpretation of history ; whether we would be will- ing to follow the Socialists wherever they lead or not; whether we would agree that it is wise to toil for govern- 65 Religion and Social Theories ment ownership, the tools of production being possessed by all through a democratically administered national in- stitution, or not; whether we believe that collectivism is the wisest economic method and will produce the best re- sults, or not; it is impossible, if we have hearts, not at least to sympathize wdth many of the demands of the So- cialist Party, whether we agree with their economic theories or not. Poverty. Let us look about us! Just consider what society represents today! We live in a country only 136 years old, a country most favored by nature and nature's God. We have increased in wealth tremendously. But has each individual increased in wealth per capitia, it is asked ? or if so is the increase so great as to warrant free men in continuing the present system unchanged? We see, on the one hand, palaces on Fifth avenue, in New York City, inhabited by men of vast fortunes; while, only a few squares from those palaces, in this young and happy laud only 136 years old, we find dens of squalor and want. Men who cannot in a lifetime legitimately use for themselves one year's interest on their invest- ments, are here; and yet yonder, within a stone's throw, we may see children starving, men and women selling themselves for bread, fighting for mere sustenance. The Social Evil. Although the nation is only 136 years old, we are said to be under the curse of poverty. Here within the 66 The Purpose of Socialism past few years, this young nation has been called upon to pass laws in national and in State legislatures, look- ing to the uprooting of what has become known as the White Slave Traffic. Here, in America, for example, a so-called Christian country, we have all the evils of sexual immorality against which the prophets of the old- est nations of the earth inveighed. Women are sold into slavery every day of the week. We have a whole army of young women in New York City, in Philadelphia, in Chicago, in Pittsburgh, in all the industrial centers of the nation, whose bodies are polluted chiefly because "their poverty, and not their will, consents." I have heard it authoritatively stated that in the city of Pitts- burgh, there are 20,000 females working for less than six dollars a week ; and this, in a free country only 136 years old. Crime. We have in our city an institution called the Western Penitentiary. I often visit it, and I see men, created in the image of God, who have become brutalized and de- graded. Fourteen hundred residents of Western Penn- sylvania are confined in this penitentiary, and many more are placed in other jails and prisons in this community. Crime of every character is committed by many who hope thus to improve their economic condition. An in- ordinate yearning for money, an uncontrollable desire for position, a fierce but stupid cupidity leads men to be- lieve that happiness and riches are synonymous. In a word, we have in America, poverty, prostitution and 67 Religion and Social Theories crime, the three evils against which society has inveighed ever since there was a prophet who gave expression to justice. From the day on which the righteous man first realized the need of social justice until this hour, every good man has endeavored, to the limit of his ability, so to frame society that poverty, prostitution and crime shall disappear. Child Labor. During the last decade, the conscience of this nation has been stirred on the matter of child labor. In my own luunblt' May, I have urged your consideration of the ri.irhteous demands for more equitable conditions for lit- tle children. I have told you, again and again, that man is tlu- only animal whose childhood should be greatly prolonged: that, for example the bird, at birth, can help itself: that the babe at birth is helpless, and for many months after birth can do nothing for itself, as if nature preached to us, most plainly and powerfully, that the period of childhood should be prolonged as much as pos- sible. One cannot speak with Professor Felix Adler, the national President of the Child Labor Organization, or with Owen Lovejoy, without soon realizing that America is guilty of a crime worse than the Minotaur of old. He only asked a few maidens each year; modern economic life is sapping the very life of the nation by employing thousands of little children, who ought to be given the opportunity of physical and moral development now denied to them. The Loveless Marriage. Moreover, few men who know much about social re- 68 The Purpose of Socialism lations fail to remark, so it is said, the increase of love- less marriages. It is stated that more women are sold into marriage than are ever taken into marriage in love; that, because of the economic dependence of woman, many sell themselves in order to be maintained, and the sin of many a married woman is, very often, as the sin of the prostitute, she accepts a man who will keep her, although, in her heart of hearts, she hates and despises her keeper. But, it is said, the economic dependence of woman forces her to accept these terms. She has not been educated to understand that she is the equal of man, to care for herself, and to work out her own salvation; and she has been denied, throughout the ages, wisely or unwisely, the opportunity of preparing herself against that day when she would be in a position to accept the man she loved and no other man. Further Description Unnecessary. x These are some of the conditions against which So- cialists inveigh. I could continue by the hour attempting to make the picture clearer to you ; but it is unnecessary. I could continue at great length to draw many harrowing pictures of conditions in human life which would make your hair stand on your head "like quills upon the fretful porcupine;" but what has already been said will suffice. I could tell you of some things which I have seen, and many of you would never be able to smile again. I could tell you case after case which has come under my personal observation which is the direct result of the modern so- cial system and which would appeal to you with all their 69 Religion and Social Theories mute sorrow for some change somewhere. Is there not much food for thought in the words of the Socialist who said, "A man cannot be said to be economically free who, on penalty of starvation for himself and his family, is compelled to work at some manual or machine task, al- lowing of little creative action, or intellectual interest, and often more strenuously than the slaves of any age, and all for a pittance barely more than will sustain life under modern conditions?" Need of Improvement. Although I do not measure success as do Socialists, for I do not think that every man who has made money has made a success of life, and I do not believe that wealth and happiness are synonymous; yet when it is seon how, all too often, the shrewd, the cunning and the unscrupulous make fortunes; when we note, as can be observed, how very often virtue fails economically while vice succeeds; we cannot help believing that there is something wrong with the system which tolerates such conditions. Furthermore, when we consider the condi- tions prevailing in the homes of the proletariat, of the dispossessed classes, of those who have no opportunity of providing against the so-called rainy day; when we realize, for example, that a man with a wife and several children, earns, during his life of forty years of labor, little more than enough just to pay for the barest neces--. sities of life; that, if an accident occurs to him, the gov- ernment has not yet demanded that some provision be made for him; that, if he loses his life in the employ of 70 The Purpose of Socialism his corporation, the government has not yet commanded that some provision be made for his widow and orphans; when, in a word, we know ihat millions of men and wo- men must look forward to old age which must mean for them only penury, absolute poverty, the workhouse, or some other asylum, then, it is impossible for us not to be- lieve that something must be done to provide against such abnormal and inequitable conditions. The Appeal for Justice. The thoughts of the righteous man are for justice. We must remember that, in the ultimate, justice is the great social virtue for which we, as Jews, must plead. As members of the House of Israel, we have been called to be witnesses for justice, to work for ever improving moral and economic conditions until justice is established among men. Our opinions of justice may differ; our views of economics may vary according to our different disposi- tions; yet no man, in whom is a particle of moral power, but will admit that many modern circustances can be im- proved, and that it is our duty, our highest duty as Americans, and more especially as Americans of the Jew- ish faith, to see that conditions are changed in harmony with the principles of justice. Wealth Accumulates, Men Decay. It is useless to deny that great wealth is gradually being accumulated by a few men. For the present, this fact has not affected the so-called middle classes. For the present, the small or large department store has not 71 Religion and Social Theories been adversely influenced. For the present, the small manufacturer has not felt the consequences of this ac- cumulation. For the present, the bourgeois ideas can pre- vail without undue interference. But can things long remain as they are? Are the facts disclosed by the in- vestigations of the Pujo Committee without significance? Do they mean nothing to thoughtful persons? Is it pos- sible for a few men to possess such vast power as our economic system places in their hands, and the masses no* ultimately become adversely affected by it? Whether certain men have been guilty or not of entering into il- legal combinations in restraint of trade is wide of the mark. Is it not likely that abuse of power will force the masses in self-protection to demand, not government control and supervision, but government ownership of the tools of production? The Protest Worthy of Consideration. Whether we agree with Socialistic theories or not, whether we believe that Collectivism will succeed better than private ownership or not, we must be callous, in- deed, if we find nothing in the appeal of Socialism for the abolition of the oppressive features of modern economic life. That Socialism is the ultimate future of govern- mental functions I do not believe for a moment; but I do believe that its protests should, in many directions, ba heeded so that amelioration may follow. Socialism de- sires to produce such a change in human affairs that men will cease from competing for gain and will be satisfied to compete for honor. Whether such a state of affairs 72 The Purpose of Socialism can be brought about; whether such a radical change in human nature is possible; whether, as we understand human beings in their present state, we can trust our- selves to collective society; whether we are willing to re- nounce all that has been gained by the world through open competition, and resign ourselves confidently to an untried new system yet to be developed ; or whether we believe that our present system can be so modified that justice can be satisfied ; this we shall leave for next week, when we shall discuss the case against Socialism. 73 UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES ' I UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILI" A 000 072 482 3