THE COUNTRY CHURCH 427 



some false philosophy or supercilious attitude toward material 

 wealth and economic achievement on the part of the church, then 

 this would eventually become a non-Christian country, for the 

 same reason. 



But if, as a third possibility, there should be no perceptible 

 difference between Christians and non-Christians as to their 

 knowledge and adaptability, or as to their general fitness to sur- 

 vive and possess the earth, fitness, that is, as determined by 

 nature's standard rather than by some artificial standard of our 

 own devising, the result would be that Christians would remain 

 indefinitely a mere sect in the midst of a non-Christian or a non- 

 descript population. The only way of avoiding this rather un- 

 satisfactory situation would be to force the whole population into 

 a nominal Christianity by military force. But, assuming that 

 physical force is not to be used, and that the ordinary economic 

 forces are to operate undisturbed by such violent means, then the 

 contention will hold. This is what is likely to happen if certain 

 religious leaders should succeed in identifying Christianity with 

 millinery, or with abstract formulae respecting the visible world, 

 or with mere loyalty to an organization, rather than with rational 

 conduct. By rational conduct is meant that kind of conduct 

 which conserves human energy and enables men to fulfill their 

 mission of subduing the earth and ruling over it, which enables 

 them to survive in the struggle with nature, which is the essence 

 of all genuine morality. 



But why confine these observations to agriculture and rural 

 economy? Are not the conditions of economic success the same 

 in the city as in the country? And must not religion prevail 

 over irreligion in the city as well as in the country, provided 

 religion secures a greater conservation of human energy than 

 irreligion secures ? In a certain very broad sense, or in the long 

 run with a great deal of emphasis upon the word "long" that 

 is probably true. But the conditions of individual economic suc- 

 cess in cities are so complex, there are so many opportunities . . . 



"for ways that are dark 

 And for tricks that are vain" 



as to obscure, if not to obliterate entirely, the working of this 

 law. 



