EVOLUTION AND SOCIAL 

 PROGRESS 



CHAPTER I 



SAPPING THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS 



BUT now really, tell me, between ourselves, 

 Ivan: Does God exist yes or no?" 

 Such is the question asked in a modern 

 play, a harrowing dramatization of a gruesome 

 Russian novel. The questioner himself is a sin- 

 ister old man, a repulsive sensualist, whose for- 

 tune has been wasted in unrestrained self-indul- 

 gence. Ivan, his son, from whom he seeks an 

 answer which he hopes will allay his fears, is an 

 advanced radical, whose intellectual training has 

 left him an atheist and a cynic. He is the con- 

 sistent product of a rationalistic education. 



"No, God does not exist," comes the cold reply, 

 as Ivan leans upon his elbow and stares at his 

 father in disgust. 



"Is that right?" the old man eagerly queries. 

 "And immortality? Is there such a thing?" 



Again the curt, monosyllabic reply: "No." 



