The Safeguard of Shame by H. L. Hastings

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 25, 1911

The Safeguard of Shame

By H. L. Hastings

THERE are those who look upon sin as a light and little thing, and who insist that society shall take little notice of the faults and sins of those who have gone astray. They condone dishonesty, they pass over wrong-doing, they make light of vice, and they complain bitterly of those who are not ready to overlook the sins of those around them.

Of course there is much hypocrisy in the world, much condemning sins to which persons are not inclined, and tolerating others which are more agreeable and consequently more respectable. But there is a difference between right and wrong, and society must protect itself against the incoming tide of evil. All persons, and especially the young, need to know that sin is an awful thing; that criminal acts carry with them direful consequences; that men or women who have gone down, or have suffered themselves to be dragged down into the depths of sin, can not instantly and easily regain the position, the confidence, and the character which they have lost.

God, who searches hearts, may forgive the sincere, while he condemns and abhors the hypocritical. But society is not always able to discern between the two, and must feel its way carefully, not allowing any to perish for lack of sympathy, and yet not allowing the innocent to be again imposed upon by the artful and designing. Hence society builds her walls, and an enlightened public sentiment utters its warnings, against sin. Those who refuse to heed such warnings will find, when it is too late, that they were meant in kindness, and that the neglect of them constitutes a fault and a sin which carries its terrible curse through this life, and often into the life which is to come.— H. L. Hastings.