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Speaker 1: Morality and religion. The wise man, by adding thought to thought,

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indeed to deed, in ways of good, buildeth his character.

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Little by little, he accomplishes his noble ends in quiet patience,

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works diligently daily. He builds his heart and mind, pure thoughts,

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high aspirations, selfless deeds, until at last the edifice of

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truth is finished, and behold, there rises and appears the

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temple of perfection. There is no sure indication of confusion

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and decadence in spiritual matters than the severance of morality

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from religion. He is a highly moral man, but he

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is not religious. He is exceptionally good and virtuous, but

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is not all that spiritual. Are common expressions on the

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lips of large numbers of people who thus regard religion

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as something quite distinct from goodness, purity, and right liace living.

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If religion be regarded merely and only as worship combined

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with adherence to a particular form of faith, then it

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would be correct to say he is a very good man,

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but is not religious in some instances, just as it

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would be equally correct to say he is an immoral

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man but is very religious in other instances. For murderers,

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thieves and other evildoers are sometimes devout worshippers and zealous

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adherents to a creed. Such a narrowing down of religion, however,

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would render much of the Sermon on the Mount Superlifus

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from a religious point of view, and would lead to

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the confounding of the means of religion with its end

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the idolizing of the letter of religion to the exclusion

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of the spirit. And this is what actually occurs when

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morality is severed from religion and is regarded as something

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alien and distinct from it. Religion, however, has a broader

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significance than this, and the most obscure creed embodies in

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its ritual some longing human cry for that goodness, that virtue,

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that morality which many, with thoughtless judgment, divorce from religion

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and is not a life of moral excellence, of good

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and noble character, of pure heartedness. The very end and

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object of religion is not the substance and spirit of

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which worship and adherence to a form of faith are,

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but the shadow and letter. In religion, as in other things,

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there are the means and the end, the methods and

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the attainment worship. Beliefs about God adherence to creeds. These

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are some of the means, goodness, virtue, morality, These are

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the ends. The methods are many and various, and they

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are embodied in countless forms of faith. But the end

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is one. It is moral grandeur. Thus the moral man,

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far from being irrelition, because he may not openly profess

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some form of worship, possesses the substance of religion diffuses.

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Its spirit has attained its end, and when the sweet

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kernel of religion is found and enjoyed, the shell, protective

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and necessary in its place, has served its purpose and

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may be dispensed with. Let us not, however, be misunderstood.

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The moral man does not refer to one who has

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only the outward form of morality, appearing moral in the

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eyes of the world, but keeping his vices secret. Nor

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does it refer to him whose morality extends only to

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legal limits, nor to those who are proud of their morality,

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for pride is the reverse of moral But to those

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who delight impurity, who are gracious, gentle, unselfish, and thoughtful,

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who being good at heart pour forth. The fragrance of

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pure thoughts and good deeds by the moral is meant

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the good good, The pure the noble and the true hearted.

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A man may call himself Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Mohammedan, Hindu,

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or by any other name and be immoral. But if

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one is pure hearted, he is true and noble and

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beautiful in character. In a word, if he is moral,

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then he is an inhabitant of the Holy City, in

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which there is no temple. He is, by example and influence,

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a regenerator of mankind. He is one of the company

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of the children of the Light.