ant masses, rarely decline to unite with their families in
bringing their offerings to, and in worshipping, the same.

Some will tell us that in idolatry people do not worship the idol
itself, but the god who is supposed to reside within it. Even if this
were true, one could not admire such a worship did he know the
character of the god which is supposed to reside therein. But their
statement regarding this is not true. I have personally inquired of
many of the common people who are idolaters, and I have never yet
found a man whose mind, in worship, passes beyond the idol itself. I
admit that the educated mind may leap in thought behind the image; but
the masses of the people do not. It is, at best, a debasing worship,
and drags the people down to the level of the hideous objects before
which they prostrate themselves.

[Illustration: TWO HINDU IDOLS, SOUTH INDIA]

A well-known Hindu writer said recently, in the _Christian College
Magazine_:--

"I do urge most emphatically that, whatever may have been the
original intention, and whatever may be the esoteric meaning, the
millions that perform idolatrous practice in this country see nothing
symbolic behind the image and take the whole show quite literally. And
can anything be more degrading to an intelligent human being? We know
that all religions are necessarily more or less anthropomorphic. But
our popular Hinduism surpasses everything else in this respect, too.
There is a famous shrine in this Presidency where the deity's _chota
hazri_ [early meal] begins with bread and butter, and he goes on
eating without respite till midnight, when he appropriately takes a
decoction of dried ginger to help his digestion before he retires to
his bedroom with his consorts; there is another famous shrine where a
cigar is left in the bedroom every night for his godship to smoke; in
another shrine, under the management of a nominal ascetic, fetters are
applied to the god's feet whenever the temple's exchequer runs low, to
extort money offerings from the devotees and pilgrims; in numerous
other shrines the deity is taken out in procession and whipped
publicly for having committed petty thefts; in one shrine the whole
process of a high-way robbery is acted out in detail during the
annual festival; births, marriages, deaths, and similar occurrences
are, of course, as common and frequent in our temples as in our homes.
Gentlemen, can any amount of esoteric whitewashing justify these
dis