Tolerance

of civilization. One is physical heredity and the other is social heredity. The size and form of the body, the texture of the skin, the color of the eyes, and the functioning power of the vital organs are all the result of physical heredity; they are static and fixed and cannot be changed, for they are the result of a million years of evolution; but by far the most important part of what we are is the result of social heredity, and came to us from the effects of our environment and early training. Our conception of religion, politics, economics, philosophy and other subjects of a similar nature, including war, is entirely the result of those dominating forces of our environment and training. The Catholic is a Catholic because of his early training, and the Protestant is a Protestant for the same reason; but this is hardly stating the truth with sufficient emphasis, for it might be properly said that the Catholic is a Catholic and the Protestant is a Protestant because he cannot help it! With but few exceptions the religion of the adult is the result of his 13 religious training during the years between four and fourteen when his religion was forced upon him by his parents or those who had control of his schooling. A prominent clergyman indicated how well he understood the principle of social heredity when he said: Give me the control of the child until it is twelve years old and you can teach it any religion you may please after that time, for I will have planted my own religion so deeply in its mind that no power on earth could undo my work. The outstanding and most prominent of mans beliefs are those which were forced upon him, or which he absorbed of his own volition, under highly emotionalized conditions, when his mind was receptive. Under such conditions the evangelist can plant the idea of religion more deeply and permanently during an hours revival service than he could through years of training under ordinary conditions, when the mind was not in an emotionalized state. The people of the United States have immortalized Washington and Lincoln because they were the leaders of the nation during times when the minds of the people were highly emotionalized, as the result of calamities which shook the very foundation of our country and vitally affected the interests of all the people. Through the principle of social heredity, operating through the schools (Amer