Darrow Forums

Lawyer Clarence Darrow, professional agnostic, has appeared in some 30 forums on religion throughout the U. S. this year, all of them under the management of his old friend George G. Whitehead of Columbus, Ohio, a former lyceum promoter. Lawyer Darrow's standard theses are Tolerance, Good Will, Better Understanding. Dr. Bruce S. Wright, Christian Century's Buffalo correspondent, was one of Lawyer Darrow's opponents in Buffalo and Erie, Pa. In last fortnight's Christian Century he described the workings of the Darrow forums as follows: Promoter Whitehead, himself a good Methodist. goes to a city, hires a hall, selects a prominent Protestant, Jew and Roman Catholic. Agnostic Darrow is the fourth man and the chief drawing card. He likes to do it, it is said, because lately it has paid better than his other activities. Profits are generally divided equally, but sometimes fees are paid the three Believers and the Agnostic. In Buffalo, 3,000 persons paid from 75-c- to $2 to attend such a forum. Dr. Wright, admitting he looked upon its commercial aspect with no unfriendly eye, asked Christian Century's readers: "What does the forum accomplish?" Answered he: "Little or nothing."

Last week the Christian Century made further comment. The impression on the audience "is that of trains passing each other at high speed in opposite directions on parallel tracks. The real issues are not joined at all between Catholic and Protestant, between Christian and Jew, or between believer and agnostic. The topics are phrased so as to enclose each speech in a separate compartment, completely insulated from the others. . . .

"For many years he [Agnostic Darrow] has worn the late Robert Ingersoll's mantle as the exponent of infidelity and doubt before the American public. . . . He is therefore made the hero of the play, given the final place on the program, presented with effusive words in praise of his career of service to humanity, and received with great applause in which the most Christian persons present heartily join and usually lead.

". . . He is a poor speaker. . . . Mr. Darrow's stock in trade . . . consists chiefly of attacks on an old system of theology. . . . His intelligence on religious matters was formed in the period of the conflict of religion and-science which was being waged more than a generation ago. . . . He cannot--or will not--meet the defender of religion on modern ground. He prefers to impute to his opponent a belief in hellfire, an infallible Bible, a Calvinistic monarchial God, and the most primitive conception of blood atonement. Naturally, it is more fun to slay this straw man. . . .

"At Mr. Darrow's feet the audience lays its climacteric offering of magnanimity. In doing so, it feels that it is paying a tribute to its own tolerance more than to Mr. Darrow. . . " This is not usually done for the Catholic, the Protestant or the Jew. . Mr. Darrow derives his significance from the existence of this body of tolerance which so sharply distinguishes our time from that of Mr. Ingersoll."

To the strictures of the Christian Century, Promoter Whitehead last week promised full rebuttal, contented himself meanwhile with saying that his forums drew crowds and favorable press comment, especially in large cities, while church attendances were diminishing. Said he: "My motive in the forums is the same as the minister in his pulpit or the Century editor in his sanctum--to make a living in a work I enjoy, and which I am convinced is making at least a small contribution toward universal brotherhood."

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