The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-05-09
CHICAGO. SATURDAY. MAY ., 1858
CHRISTIANITY A FAILTRE-

NV ANAOAA MVNemeuti IN Wnlch me writer
asserts that Christianity has proven a la
mentable failure, and that the evils which at
present aflict humanity are, in great meas
ure, attributable to its baneful teachings.
He says:
lnhdelity has not failed 1t Is the young giant
yet painting from the exertion Of freeing himself
from letters ecclesiastical and letters monarch.
zeal. Inhdelity has not had a show in the world
yet, but the time is coming when il is to have
one. Did Infdelity do nothing when Voltaire
prepared France to become the centre of science
and liberty And if France is in letters to day,
who or what is to blame Infdelity or the
priests II Christians know anything, they
know very we'll that the despotisms of Europe
could not exist day but for the accursed power
OF the priesthood, Protestant and Catholic.
Did lnhdelity do nothing for the worlds veal
when Paine stood forth the champion of Amer
can Independence What 10 InfidelitVY II ia
thinking what our rulers and masters forbid us
TO think Paine's Infdelity was political as well
as theological, but had he submitted to the Bible
be never could have maintained bis doctrines Oh
rebellion for the rights Of man. Il
Christianity promises to take the believer tol
Heaven but il has no plan for making Heaven
q TINS earth We look in vain in the New Tes1
lament tor evidences of the ability or intentionl
Of its heroes to deal with the secular needs oil
the masses.
el
Christianity assuredly can do nothing of the
SORT Tor rs theory is essentially that the wo.ldl
! pad place, 70 be gotten out of a. quickly as
Gods grace may permit
Although, as cur readers well know, the
Advocate takes no part in religious or sec
tional discussions, when such blasphemy
a. the above is palmed off as the legitimate
logic of the labor retoTmer, we feel in duty
bound to enter an earnest demurrer. And
when man, stepped in social and moral Dol.
luton, Is held up as the representative and
model Of a system which is to reyolutiouise
soeiety-by the substitution Of skeptism for
the teachings of the Christian faith-we are
tempted to ask Uhy his philosophy proved
such lamentable failure in the hour Of
needf Why, when pressing on the confines
OF the grave, the remofse and grief which
shook hisframe was Of such character that
his attendant fed in terror from the scene,
declaring that no pecuniary reward would
ever induce her to again attend the death
bed Of an infdel.
Such was the estimation in which be WAS
held in the city Lof Philadelphia, where he
was best known, that courtezan with whom
he had agreed to spend the night, on hear
ing the name Ct her companion, refused to
nave him stay under her roof under any cir
eumstAnces, declaring that depraved as she
was, she bad some hope Of redemption, but
that hope would be extinguished were she to
have anything to do with such man as Tom
Paine. At bis deathIthe last rites were per-
formed by the hands OF strangsrs-his
nelghbors and associates refusing even to at
Tend bis remains to the grave. We mention
these facts for the purpose of showing the
moral character Of that man, who it is claim
ed provided plan for making heaven Of
earth, and regenerating humanity.
The Li6erG! is equally unfortunate in its |
reference to Voltaire, and tAe effects of his
writings. Despite all assertions to the con-
trary, France is today, to all intents and
purposes, the center Of Infdelity, and if the
liberty there enjoyed is, as it is claimed, the
legitimate fruits of this champions teach
ings, God grant i may never become the lib
erty Of the American people. Like his illus
trlous successor, We End his death-bed a |
scene never to be forgotten, while he ex-
PRED despairing, invoking the aid of q
Savior whose divine attributes be had 50
persistently denied aud derided. Even
Hume, the sceptc's pride, passed from time
into eternity, enacting the role Of the clown,
with the ominous expression on his lips that
the future was dark and doubtful.
But from men to principles. We are COM
placenty told the. christianity has proved !
failure, while Infdelity has not though
the writer falls to tell US what it has accom- |
Plishea. We are also told that while Chris
uanity promises to take the believer 20
Heaven i has no plan for making heaven
OF earth, and that its followers have proven
themselves to be men Of contracted ideas
unable to deal with the secular masses Of the
people while on the other hand distinguish
Cd heretics GnfdelsJ have been al ways noted
Tor their enlarged ideas, and their devotion
70 those sciences which improve the worlds
condition, and the study Of social economy.
Wen, let US see how these assertions will
stand the test Of the cracible Of truth. Sir
Isaac Newton, whose science was truth, and
the foundation Of VII = knowledge or it was
philosophy, had the misfortune to be a
Christian. Mr.. Boy'a, one of the greatest
anAtomists Of his time, "Who looked into
the organic structure of all matter, even to
me brute inanimate substance which the
1901 tread' on" and who may be supposed
70 have been equally qualified with Mr.. |
Paine to ''loOk through nature I'D to Ma
lures God,' was a firm believer in the
authenticity Of the scriptures and the doc.
trnes, which the in6del pigmies Of the pres
ent day reject Mr.. Locke, the profOundest
0i logi7ians; Sir Matthew Hale, the greatest
OF English Jurists, and the immortal Milton.
who Justified the ways of God to man"
have each left their testimony in behalf Of
the Christian faith. Tins we have the
wisest and the greatest men, men too, Of
moral purity and worth, those whose minds
were gifted beyond ordinary nature, though
separated by ages, joining as it were in
sublime chorus % celebrate Its glorious
truths.
Did space permit we SHOULD like to answer
the question 20 pompously propounded I:
s'What Is InhdelitYr' but for the present pass