The daily comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1850-1856, 1855-06-12
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mankind, would be under lastinQ
obligations to you for an explanation
Of the exact idea IF there is one) i'm.
bodied in the hrase that heads this
article. 1t is one which you uttered
with contumacious disdain and con-
tempt. on a late Sabbath evening in
Rev. Mr.. Castleton's pulpit, and clcr.
gymen universally do the same. A
Rational Man, I think, is the noblest
work Of God. Man is the Flower If
creation, and his chief superiority to
the lower animals is his towering In
tellect, his Reasoning Powers. Now
when you disparage and speak de.
tractively and opprob,iouslv Of Heav-
ems Master piece-s Reasoning mind
you virtually impeach the Wisdom
and Goodness Of God. Clereymen are
professional condemners of Man and
the works Of Deity. They speak as
reprrhensibIy Of the free use Of our
noblest faculties as they could of the
grossest immortality. They try to fix
in the mind. the idea that The un-
trammeled action Of the rational prin.
ciple is dangerous.
But perhaps you mean that "unre-
gen. rated reason is net correct in
its deductions, not pure reasonings.
not logical, not true. If you mean
that, then you call it by the wrong
name. fr s0rong reasoning is not true
reasoning. but sophistry. You do
wrong to denounce "humau reason"
just because the faculty can be misdi.
rected, for every faculty man possesses
can be abused. II you mean bv ere
generated" reason. that the ,atiocina-
tive principle is properly and logical
y exercised; that it is educated and
disciplined in the rigid analysis and
synthsis of Thoughts, principles and
propositions, then admit such rcgen-
GRAFTON to be desideratum most de.
voutly to be wished" But if you
mean that Reason can be thus unfold
ed by any sudden mental, psychology
cal or emotional impulse, such as the
popular religious idea Of regeneration,
then l respectfully demand the evil
dence Of such a fact. Point to the
fruits Of regenerated reason. DO
yon refer unregenerated reasoners
to Christian Theology as monument
Of the regenerated mind? If you
do. all sane minds must stand agbast |
at the spectacle. and be struck with |
the conviction that the god-l;ke attri
butte Of Reason has most pitiably de-
generated. Yea, has been entombed.
The fact is, if a person cannot rea.
son correctly, il is not because he
needs regenerating, but because be has
not the proper mental structure or de
velopment, and the only "regenara-
tor" such persons requires, is men.
tai discipline, cultivation, develope.
ment. by enlightening the mind with
every species Of idea, by studying the
relation of fact to fact and thought to
thought, Of causes to effects and effects
10 causes.
But instead Of finding in the " Study
Of Divinity" the logical analysis and
philosophical research which radiate
80 beautifully from the brow of Sci
snce-the true Basis of all WISDOM
We find heterogeneous mass of disor-
Ter and confusion. In place of phil
'sophy we find foolisbDess, and in
'tead of Science, only senseless dog
mas. Instead Of analytical reasoning
We hear only fanatical railing against
human and unregenerated rea-
IoD. ~
None but Man, are made in the
: Image and Likeness of God, and
Mans distinguishing quality is his
PRINCIPLE, therefore "Hu-
nan Reason" Is Of all created things,
're-eminenHy GoD-LIKE and SACRED.
This position l hold to be invulDera-
lie.
Reason is essentially THE human
acuIty. and the highest expression of
)"ity in Mankind or in Nature. 1t
lone can reveal the existence of God,
order, Design. Immortality. ,
1t is certainly most unbecoming and {
ensurable for clergymen-noisy cav
|ers and calumniators of the perfect
andiwork of the Supe,nal Mind-to