University of Oregon monthly., March 01, 1908, Image 12

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MONTHLY
Ridicule as a Moral W eapon
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REÆT achievements;, have been | wrought in this
• -world Ig-j^ one- kind <<5f^tmoveinent and another,
f -S'ometime&^a War, w ith a/wonderful leader at "its
head • is - necessary Jo effect the upheaval ; some­
times
is the- strenuous\work of such a man as
Luther
of -a little bandnof men. - Often, parlia“ •
"" ments and;. eouncife; aie convinced and brought to
aUtïOÙ ;by the-^elling argument»,¿f spm-e ¿member, a statesm an whose
name, goes, down in the hièWry of his nation as-one of the Great
Ajl->hve§êra-rç momentous influences/they have effected great.things
int the.‘past and undoubtedly-will in future, but there is.one- world
weapon which L have mot .mentioned,-a weapon more , subtle,, more
pêw^ffnl -in its sway than any -dithe others ; and that U/the weapon
of ridicule.
.;H© ’m atter-in what - age y o u , take 'i f n o matter., whether it-is*,
it» the-life of some one person/, o r in-that of a whole community, I
st,at#.4r" ëvea nation, ridicule/ is always. a compelling -forces./' In­
stinctively we shrink from being laughed at.6 j Perhaps^-we have
beèrî ^argued with, .the subject" Of discussion has been ¿-gone over
thoroughly but-w è blindly persist in our coupé#;?perhaps our friends
have pleàd with us, used the utmost powers of persuasion, yet stub­
bornly we refuse to be moved ; but let even a hint pL;iidieUle come
tô'ô-uf- ears, and an uneasy feeling of ■ g u ilt, creeps »lover , us,.1 we
turn this Way and that and finding no means of escape we quietly,
halil self-apologetically, begin to mend our ways. Such is/hum an
nature that even pleasant laughter is barely endured, much, less
that which carries with it the sting of sarcasm.
W hat is true of the individual iy tru e of the class and so we
find one of the great weapons-.^ history has been ridicule. Voltaire
lived in an age of fermentation ; the principles, the rule, the religion
of the Middle Ages were becoming irksome to modern France ;
buff there had aé yet -been-no agitation of any strength. Men were
afraid to say what they thought; the new knowledge or awakening
interest in new knowledge, was as yet suppressed when Voltaire
arose/and became the center of the uprising against old customs,