So it is difficult to say whether
humanity is more in danger from the red-handed radicalism which
destroys the precious fruit of long experience, or from the obstinate
obstructionists who by the dead weight of their apathy or the positive
pull-back of their antagonism delay the remedying of existing evils.
The ideal lies in keeping morality plastic while giving its approved
forms our hearty allegiance. Widely different ideals are theoretically
conceivable; but we live in a specific time and place and must defer
to the code of our fellows; it is along these lines, and by gradual
steps, that progress must be made. We must be on the alert for new
suggestions, but slow to tear down till we can build better. The
greatest of prophets, keenly as he saw the flaws in existing standards,
proclaimed that he came not to destroy but to fulfill. It is evident
enough to the impartial observer that our present chaos and mutual
antagonism of conflicting view-points is not ideal; we need to work
out of this disorder into some sane and stable order; when we can find
the best way of life we must discard these manifold variations, most
of which are foolish and ill-advised. The undesirability of this
contemporary disagreement, which in some matters amounts to almost
a complete moral anarchy, is enough to explain the pull back of the
conservatives. And it is precisely the purpose of such a volume as
this to help in the crystallizing of definite and universally accepted
moral principles for personal and social life.
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