<p>IX. IS CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE?</p>
<p>HE never said a word in favor of education. He never even hinted at the
existence of any science. He never uttered a word in favor of industry,
economy or of any effort to better our condition in this world. He was the
enemy of the successful, of the wealthy. Dives was sent to hell, not
because he was bad, but because he was rich. Lazarus went to heaven, not
because he was good, but because he was poor.</p>
<p>Christ cared nothing for painting, for sculpture, for music—nothing
for any art. He said nothing about the duties of nation to nation, of king
to subject; nothing about the rights of man; nothing about intellectual
liberty or the freedom of speech. He said nothing about the sacredness of
home; not one word for the fireside; not a word in favor of marriage, in
honor of maternity.</p>
<p>He never married. He wandered homeless from place to place with a few
disciples. None of them seem to have been engaged in any useful business,
and they seem to have lived on alms. .</p>
<p>All human ties were held in contempt; this world was sacrificed for the
next; all human effort was discouraged. God would support and protect.</p>
<p>At last, in the dusk of death, Christ, finding that he was mistaken, cried
out: "My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?"</p>
<p>We have found that man must depend on himself. He must clear the land; he
must build the home; he must plow and plant; he must invent; he must work
with hand and brain; he must overcome the difficulties and obstructions;
he must conquer and enslave the forces of nature to the end that they may
do the work of the world.</p>
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