Charity, Truth, and Conviction
Rev. J. Freeman Clarke uttered a timely thought when he said: "Charity does not mean indifference to truth and error . . . . In the great religious questions which divide the world, there is an essential truth on one side or the other. One is essentially right, and the other wrong. We ought, if we can, to see which is right, and say so. We ought not to be neutral. We ought to select our flag, and stand by it. It is not necessary to be sectarian because we like one side better than the other. It is not necessary to be bigoted because we have a distinct and fixed opinion. Make up your mind and then stand ready to be convinced if you are wrong. Take your stand, and if you see reason, alter it; but take some stand somewhere. For, says Lord Bacon: 'In this great theater of life it is permitted to God and the angels to be spectators, but all men must be actors.'"