Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1853-07-27
For the Grant County Herald.
A. 81
No. 2.

l
the last two weeks delay. In your paper of
Iane 20, | find communication again from
"LENo.o
lie says he ssdid not write for discussionn
ha ntimates that he had rather give me and
others advice. supposed as much for the
giving of advice seems to be part of his
trade; therefore he has the article to SELL
Bat there are men as old to take advice, as he
is TO give II; when asked for will be time for
him. But he is paid Tor the article, and there
fore vends it.
LENo denies the image held up to his view.
dc not wonder at ii; for strip his religion of
the dress and gew-gaw of ceremony, show and
distractions, and it viii not be expected that
he vii! own the bantlipg of mythology and Ju-
i daism.
He says, "can Il be that your readers are so
ignorant, as not TO see that he (Warner) at
tributes TO Christianity, what Christianity OPP
poses and utterly forbids ?''
Why sir, placed before you Just such acts
| and commands, as are positively ordered. justi-
fed and commsnded in the book you say was
! written by Divine order. | cited you to lust
the very acts authorized and approved by the
Jewish God and the Christian church. Do
you then deny the order, or the act? Stick to
! yonr religion, sir, and acknowledge your bar
barous and inhuman Gcd, and defend his acts,
OF else drop yonr system, like an honest man,
and pursue an honorable calling.
! You wish ssdistinction made between the
Catholic priest and the Puritan priest.n The
distinction then is--the Catholic is the parent.
and your sect the child Both have abused
power when within their reach, and been op
pressors; both are but re'igio-poitico ms
/ chine TO Cypress the ignorant and unotfending.
| when they can and keep in afIiuence the ma
bob priests. The fear Of he'll is the whip TO
drive the heard, and about which you, / or anv
one else know nothing: it is but chimera-a
| phantom Of a diseased mind and the disease
perpetuated by education.
LENo wishes me TO read Watson's Reply to
Paine.-Why, sir, have the work, and have
loaned and sod more Of Watson's Reply than
you have seen in the country Nav be, too.
| you think never saw such works as Pa'ey,s
| Evidence, and a host OF others 7 could mem
ton. |, sir, became an avowed inidel to your
religion, by reading the Bibe and observing
4
the most confirmed sceptics, made SO by read
ing your Christian commentators.
! LENo laboTs hard 10 show Dr. FRAEKLIY Il
! protested Christian. Look at his letter to Pre-
sident Sites of Yale College, dated March 9.
| 1890. just thirty-nine days before his death
He says he ''does not believe in the Divinity Of
Jesus OF Nazareth, aud that the most accepta-
bic service to God is, TO- dc.good to his ether
chidren." He evidently was deist Yo,r
might nave as much troub e to make Franklin
| a Christian as Bachelor did to make Wash
ington church-member.
| Antiquity, sir viii net make your system,
pass for truth, Wi ttgout evidence of the fact
! No,Y ''the book of books''-the Eibe. as yo,
| call it,-you cannot tell by whom it was writ.
ten, where it was written, and for what DIR
| pose it was written. You have NO evidence
that Moses wrote the first five books Of the Old
! Testament; b3t there is gool evidence that he
did not write them. YotC.o not even know by
whom, when Or where the Gospels OF Mat,
thew, Mark, Luke or John Were written
The first distinct account you have Of such
writings by such persons is by Irenass 1875
years after the beginning of this era OF Christ;
and then all that makes them Divine is the or
der in the Council OF Nice and Lao,licea, of a
| majority vote dec airing them canon law and
therefore DjUime; and yet you declare the.
church composing this Council no: Ctristjen-
You sci aside reason and evidence. and sub
stitoe blind faith, and mere forced beliaf
as the rule OF salvation. Mark g: "I{e that
| beleVeth and is baptized, shall be saved. and
he that believeih not, shall be damnei'' Now.
| sir, You must be aware that belief is not a yo-
luntaly act, but the result Of evidence-pairr
! conclusive proof of the truth will insure belief
Belief, therefore, is not virtue neither is
! disbe ief a crime Therefore dalnilation cam
not be the result it is unreasonab in the We
ny inception Of the idea. God, wise and good,
Cannot be the author of such project. II you
were born and reared in Arabia, would YOU
not be likely to be believer in Mahomedan-
ism? If were reared from childhood in Hin
dostan, would be likely to be a believer in
Christianity? Most assuredly not. Then be-
lief seems to be matter of education; and
eternal happiness misery mere matter of
geography, for [ cannot help or control as to
the colntry should be born in, or even my
early education therefore men mostly believe
as they are taught Then misery or happiness,
and that eterna y (by your system) is made to
depend on what co ntry one is educated in
Oh, boosted system of Divine Justice
Over 1900 years have TRANSFERRED and yet AL
mighty power cannot persuade men to believe
this simple thing, namely, NThat Jesus was the
Jewish Messiah Yet you ask me to believe
in the divinity of this book and its commands
Why, sir, it viii be time enough for me when
you and others can agree on what is essen ia
and necessary to do, and what to believe. The
4UUi StCtS anu VIII nave 10 SCttie Tue
hash, before | know what is right in this mat
ter. You quarrel, dispute, wrangle and for
ever contend about what this book does mean;
and more as if it were the work Of Devil
than wise God.
1t seems 10 be a book, where all can Get IL
cense for whatever act they may wish to per-
petrate. |, sir, can take the book, and plainly
make out worse character for your Jewish
God, than you can from the same book for your
imaginary Devil.
1t plainly shows Itself to be the product Of !,
sitious, villainous and bad men just such men !
as one might suppose, would like to live at the F
expense of Others. That there are many good 3
wise and true rnaxims in that book, ready s
to acknowledge; and am ready to adopt and 5
practice them, whether found there or in an
cd almanac. Many wise and good moral PHI
iosophers have written hundreds of years be-
fore the founding of your religion, and if you
have many Of their sayings that are good, all E
!, well.
, Look to the practical effect on the believers
IN the Christian religion. Are your churcn b