, sure of himself.
It is coming to be that man is less hurt by {167} physical agencies
than by himself. He has freed himself from his environment; he must
now free himself from his own passions and hatreds. He must love
righteousness and peace, and flee from dissension and all forms of
injustice. The problem of evil has become a social problem. It is the
task of amelioration by intelligent control.

But science, alone, will never be sufficient to meet the fact of evil.
The most optimistic believer in the possibilities of intelligent
planning and control does not deny that tragedies of all sorts will
still be only too common. Let us hope that there will be less of
tuberculosis, less of grinding poverty, less of avoidable accidents.
But will there be less of secret disappointment with life, less of
wounded affection? More will live happy and noble lives in the
healthier society which is within our power than was possible in the
past; but there will be mal-adjustments of various kinds. Individuals
will seek to control the lives of others, and this control will be
resented; friends will fall out over fancied or real wrongs; lovers
will quarrel; misunderstandings will arise. None of Shakespeare's
great tragedies turn about sickness and natural calamities. The
motives are social and personal in character, the quarrels of rival
houses, the senile pride of an old man, the ambition of princes, the
adulterous love which leads to murder. Men will need strength of
spirit and broad sympathy to meet the situations which confront them.
And many will fail hopelessly in the struggle, in the future as they
have in the past. But, on the other hand, the rank and file will lead
vigorous, active lives with a fair measure of those rewards of success
and companionship which {168} sweeten endeavor. What more is there to
say? Life is a hazard, and men must take their risk bravely. Courage
on the part of the actor will do much; sympathy on the part of those
near him will also do much; but risk there will be always.

{169}

CHAPTER XIII

RELIGION AND ETHICS

What was the exact relation between religion and morality in the past?
Does morality any longer need the sanctions and supernatural setting
which helped to support it in other days? These are questions of
primary importance whose discussion should throw light upon both
religion and human morality. Have human values become self-supporting
and self-justifying? Do th