out bothering their heads to decide where that
came from (except to infer a general relationship to the devil.)

These opinions are opposed by those who regard the decline of religion
as a source of satisfaction. In their eyes, it is an antiquated,
narrow-minded influence which has been allowed to interfere too long
with modern progress. The cause of its decline, as they see it, is a
perfectly natural one--due to the fact that it has long since out-lived
its usefulness, and in the present stage of civilization, people are
much better off without it. They want Sunday to be, not a holy day, but
a holiday, unhampered by Blue Laws or religious cant of any kind.

As for the so-called demoralization of the present day, this latter
class are inclined to laugh at the croakers who look at things that way.
Conventions and styles are always changing and the modern ones are more
practical and sensible than the old ones. New ways of doing things have
always appeared more or less shocking, until people got used to them.
That is the law of progress. The present age is an age of progress and
on the whole the world is more progressive and more enlightened than it
has ever been before.

These are the two prevailing currents of opinion, clashing against each
other, losing patience with each other, and attempting to get the best
of each other by means of agitation and organization, movements and
anti-movements, of one kind and another, including legislative
enactments.

It is fairly safe to assume that no effort of the religious sects can
stay the march of the modern movement. It is possible to conceive that,
through the forces of reaction, certain Blue Laws may be passed again
and that in certain communities the religious observance of Sunday may
be made obligatory. Such things, at most, would be only of superficial
consequence. They cannot stop the spread of scientific enlightenment.
And scientific enlightenment cannot be made to believe in tenets which
are contrary to facts and conclusions, as it has been able to
demonstrate them.

On the other hand, it seems equally safe to assume that modern science
and the rule of reason, if left to themselves, cannot be expected to
nourish and encourage spiritual feelings. Their tendency, as has been
quite plainly indicated, is in the opposite direction--to leave them out
in the cold.

Another conclusion, which is beginning to dawn on many people--even
those scientifically enlightened--and wh