Mind, I do not say the spirit
of the people in the institution. Strong people, Dan, sometimes manage
to live in mighty sickly climates. The best people in the world are
sometimes held by evil circumstances which their own best intentions
have created. The people in the church are the salt of the earth. If
it were not for their goodness the system would have rotted long ago.
The church, for all its talk, doesn't save the people; the people save
the church. And let me tell you, Dan, the very ones in the church who
have done the things you have seen and felt, at heart respect and believe
in you."
Dan broke forth in such a laugh as the Doctor had never heard from his
lips. "Then why?"
"Because," said the old man, "it is their religion to worship an
institution, not a God; to serve a system, not the race. It is history,
my boy. Every reformation begins with the persecution of the reformer
and ends with the followers of that reformer persecuting those who would
lead them another step toward freedom. Misguided religious people have
always crucified their saviors and always will!"
Dan was silent, awed by the revelation of his old friend's mind.
Presently the Doctor continued, "There is no hatred, lad, so bitter as
that hatred born of a religious love; no falsehood so vile as the lie
spoken in defense of truth; no wrong so harmful as the wrong committed
in the name of righteousness; no injustice so terrible as the injustice
of those who condemn in the name of the Saviour of the world!"
"What then, as you see it--what can I do?" demanded Dan.
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