CHAPTER XII
THE NECKS OF THE WICKED
A letter lies before me, one out of many others asking me how the author of "The Shadow Christ," which is a study of the religious values in suffering and self-sacrifice in this world, takes the low ground that honesty is the best policy.
I know two kinds of men who believe that honesty is the best policy.
These two men use exactly the same words "Honesty is the best policy."
One man says it.
The other man sings it.
One man is honest because it pays.
The other man is honest because he likes it.
"Honesty is the best policy" as a motive cannot be called religious, but "Honesty is the best policy" as a Te Deum, as something a man sings in his heart every day about God, something he sings about human nature is religious, and believing it the way some men believe it, is an act of worship.