--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Petersen, Elmer G. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 24 number: 12 published: 1921-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Elmer G. Petersen, "Religion of Body and Mind," *Improvement Era* 24, no. 12 (October 1921): 1115–16.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24012unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera24012unse start_page: 1115 end_page: 1116 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1921-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24012unse publication_year: 1921 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1921, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Religion of Body and Mind Religion of Body and Mind By Dr. Elmer G. Petersen, President Utah Agricultural College Many people desire only a "nice" religion, a religion which will not interfere with their whims and pleasures. They en- joy such a religion much as deliberately childless women enjoy a lap dog which they bathe, perfume, beribbon, and fondle. They resent child bearing and child rearing because of the dis- comfort which they entail. Likewise they resent a religion which says what they should eat and drink, how in a measure they should clothe their bodies, how they should employ their time and what shall, within reason, be their social standard. Furthermore they resent conformity to the established good at- tributes of family conduct. Many prefer a religion which does not interfere with their taking fully out of life its passing pleas- ures of body and mind. They wish to indulge the senses during the week and then coat over with a semblance of sanctimony the affairs of the week by a formal saintliness on Sunday. Much as they bathe the body of its accumulated excreta so they desire to spiritually and morally bathe themselves. A religion which does not impose restraints on appetite, on lust, and on the social indulgences appeals to them. How vain it is! A religion which does not go down to bed rock in the primitive personal qualities is a religion of evasion. Christ spoke clearly on many subjects and on none more strongly than this. The formal saintliness of the Pharisee he abhorred. The man or woman who embodied faith, charity, or brotherly love he sanctified. "They draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me," expressed his opinion of those who were not inwardly clean. How impossible it is to make of re- ligion a candy diet. Its principles exact a personal, bodily and mental allegiance, or they are worthless. Christ was crucified because he embodied righteousness and he denounced evil. The world today is little improved in many things over the world of 1900 years ago. Christ would be a very unwelcome visitor to the earth today. His doctrine would be resented and he would be crucified again, because he would not condone evil. He would denounce hypocrites and he would impose right living upon those who would prefer only to profess righteousness. He would interfere with the comforts of men and women and they would drive him out, because, stijl 1116 IMPROVEMENT ERA. much as do swine, we wallow in the swill and filth of mere physi- cal and mental indulgence. Take from us these indulgences and we growl as do animals. To do right fully is not possible for humans. To try to do right is the opportunity of every one. To cease to try to do right is to surrender to evil. To do wrong deliberately and con- stantly without attempt at restraint is to serve hell. To love to do evil constantly is to be an acknowledged worker against Christ. It is a valiant act to take upon us the obligation to continually try to do works of righteousness. To serve the Master is the task difficult beyond all else. We shall be judged, I presume, not upon the possibility of a perfect achievement but upon the consistency of our effort. Too many believe that righteousness is a sickly, sentimental thing with its own particular garment of solemnity and sadness. Too many believe that Christ, and those who try to follow him, are anaemic, sallow, mournful. Quite the contrary, righteous- ness is robust, virtue is strong. Cheerfulness is an outstanding attribute of Christianity. To be sure it is a joyousness based upon refinement rather than upon coarseness. It is the pleasure which comes from exquisite violin music, as opposed to the vul- garity of jazz. It does not include mere bestial pleasure, al- though a higher physical enjoyment it does include. It is a long and hard road to travel from the enjoyment of the man who makes of his body and mind a mere receptacle for easy filth, whether of food or thought, to the satisfaction based upon refinement of body and mind. To put the lash on one's back and go along this road constantly is to court the only real and lasting satisfaction of life. To have achieved in this is to have been exalted to the degree of achievement. Our satisfaction is commensurate with our effort. Nothing else in life is worth while. How pitiful the spectacle of the young or old who sur- render to the easy ways of living. To the man who refuses to give up in the world-fight for supremacy over indulgence, the real joys of life are always at hand. Here is the essence of religion. If we can but cleanse our- selves and strengthen the fibre of which we are made we become at once fit instruments for the action of every agency of good. Then begins upward our greater battle of achievement. After accomplishing inward cleanliness and moral strength we go on to the great conquest which awaits us in the realm of the spirit of man. Logan, Utah