An Indication of the Times
By Editor
An Indication of the Times.—This is what the Examiner of December 1 says of the élite crowd which witnessed the wonderful display of our modern college education in football between the teams of Stanford and California Universities:— Eighteen thousand people went mad yesterday—stark, staring, howling mad. They went out in a drenching rainstorm, sat in it for from two to three hours, and shrieked all the time. . . . Bedlam would have been a quiet resort for invalids compared to the Haight Street grounds, while all these super-heated partisans were roaring at their maniacal best. We have no desire to say aught against the right of these eighteen thousand to enjoy the day in this way if they so elected, but such gatherings may be taken as a fair test of this "Christian nation." Where are there any twenty-two preachers of the gospel that could hold men even well pleased for three hours in the rain, though they might have the most weighty and important message? Where is the congregation that does not grow weary in cushioned pews over an hour's sermon? Perhaps these things are not indications of the state or trend of the nation's sentiment, but their name is Legion. This muscular exercise may be the Christianity of the day, but it is not the Christianity of Christ and Paul. Mark, we are condemning not one of the eighteen thousand; they have as clear a right to play or witness football as have their neighbors to go to church; nevertheless, it is true that "bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness with contentment is great gain."