Strange Creed.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 9, 30 August 1911, Page 62

Strange Creed.

CH H <(.(»•< QUEER RELIGION. FOr.L->\\ NATURAL IMPULSES. If f]i. ie is any possible school of philosophy or cult of religion that could not gain some sort of iootnoiu. in Chicago re-Tomb-nt of the New York World ), the imagination is taxed to petute wliat it. might be. A survey of the religious cults that have sprung up and ftmiri-hed here for a time would cover .hany pages of a newspaper. An asseuTbPug of thp details of the creeds o eied 'vofild make the sane man wonder a lot about the psychology of a certain cla-s. > J'doi Alexander Dowie's religious en-teipm-e wa-. the most ambitious that over liad-Chicago f or its centre and feeding grounds. And be it said to the credit of the Dowie -nit that, whatever might be thought of its ereed_. its founder promulgated, it was without scandal, without anything that was repugnant to the moral sensy..f'a community. Dr. Dowie stood.firmly for decern v in‘a 11 things did Ins followers, and fo did his -a,., ~ or. Wii'mir Glenn Voliva. 'There is' no sham.- attaching to Zion Citv. Dowie made, the town too Puritanical to suit the., ta-te- of most moderns. Voliva is trying to do the same thing. Evelyn Arthur Sen's -absolute life’’ and “purification" cult is the latest thing in ( hi. ago s religious innovations. What Chicago i.i.'nk- of the new system is pretty wed indicated in the fact that Mr See was taken in charge by the poli -e. e I .-cig.. _nu.li of his particular brand of religion, or ethical cultivation, that he left hi- wife to give himself a better chance to propagate it. In the pro•’purification,*’ linking toward the development of perfection in the hum in }.!• «•. ><•<* could m e (no pun) where young girl- might be mop susceptible than anyone else I hat he might get the best results in achieving ‘ the absolute life,” it was essential, he -aid. that the girl.- should be eon-tantly near him to imbibe his teaching- and to absorb the religious atmosphere which he radiated. ( on-equent-Jy two girl-, one 22 and the other 17, were in-tailed in the -ame house with him. umdiaperomd. They had their mother-’ con-ent for this arrangement. Se»* admitted that this juxtaposition of the -,exe- was not m harmony with the convention- of the day. but insisted that consideration wa*. not to Im* reckoned with when, no matter what practices went on ir the apartment, there wa- no guile Udiind it. The police failed utterly to appreciate this id.al way of looking at thing-, so th<*v arrested See. See had found other- who were not so blunt and matter of fact in their mental pro -vsses as thf poli.- -men. The mothers of the girls had .rived the high and lofty motive* of See. an) )»;•<! wHlingly lent their daughter.- to promote the perfecting of the rare. The mothers believe See already in in the mart\r cUmi, il they hav« been quoted correct-

ly- The daughters also think See is a niiich abused individual. They admit they have not kept within the conventions, but quickly take up the cue of See that the conventions do not go with the See school of thought and conduct. The girls decline to go into the details of the purifying and perfecting proRevelations of the See school, called the Junior Commonwealth, turned the attention of the police to other cults that have had local vogue and notoriety in recent years. The investigators found tliat the "Spirit Fruit" colony of Jacob Bellhart, at Booster Lake, near Ingleside, Illinois, has become almost deserted .-ime the death of its founder. At present only 12 persons are living on the 250 acre farm, which is said to be for sale. Aliss Virginia Moore. head of the college, says the place does not lack communication with Beilhart. The Spirit bruit followers are said to be anxious to leave their present site and go to Colorado to start anew. Beilhart bad a following of 100.000 at the time of his death. The keynote of his philosophy or religious creed was noii-re-istance. His disciples were to follow natural impulses. He went to ( hicago from Lisbon. Ohio, eight vears ago. and established his colony. He was a harness maker by trade, became a Seventh Day Adventist, and evolved into a travelling evangelist, finally launching his creed of resisting nothing. In novel health plants (hicago has been as prolific as in its religious enterprise*. Segregated men and women—segregated by a high board fence—wallowing in a state of nature in the December and January snows, provide gossip for prim Evanston. Sun baths in the nude is another health diversion of the Evanston retreat. Police have looked over this establishment, but have found nothing to warrant their interference. The patients are all old enough to know what they wish to do. They insist the rigorous health discipline has worked wonder- with their hardiness. Boys of a near by University fraternity say that the third story of their club house afford- them some interesting glimpses of high life in the health factory.