The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1869-11-16
Dailp argus.
tuesday Evening, November 40, 80
THE INFIDELs IN CONVENTION

Eypn the lnnutIs nun
- ,, at philadelphia, and after the
.or IS religious and political conVen'
,;,,. have compared notes rs TO the status
orulrse thought" throughout the county
Tho New York World publishes q iul!repoFt
Of the proceedings Of this handful OF men
.,h, rrof,ss TO find religious faith and prsc'
,;co Inconsistent with human happiness, ana
makes the following editorial comments;
Var for,v wears or more little knot OF
,,.,f,.sad inidels IN the United States have
r.Sared hard and spent their money ireey |
,sr.i.,ant efforts to disseminate Their
~ n;ons They have kept alive a weekly
wspaper--the Investigator, puoI'Sneu
RosI5n aud edited by Mr. Abner hoeelahu
they have printed and circulated Doohs "hu
,racts, they have formed clubs ana soeieues
and established libraries; and now "hen
thew call a convention TO see Whal can "
dome 10 prevent an "entire cessation OF pun
liz demonstratiou" Of what they term 'tne
liberal cause" the appeal is answered py
.sayenteeu persons including one iaay, anu
49, nn;,a IN giving the most dolelul ac'
cunts of 1.-THE feeble condition oil the
80 One of the speakers said that ne
'I md no one in Phlladelph who knew
that sucb Il convention was to De he'u' anu
L. fal, when he saw that only seventeen
narsons had come to attend 1t, that ne ui'gn,
soy .lhe dead have come to bury the ueau'
TIa secretary of the central com mlttee
ronortod that for "pamphletss during N'e
,,ar only Eve dollars had been received, ana
Ia, tho most that could be said OF the IaOofS
nc ,ne committee was that they "haa not
l,on nntirely useless Another speaker
s.,j ,ba, DESPITE all the efforts to the con
,a,r, tLern vas "rnghtful increase OF Su'
per,ttion = that "the clerical power was y"
Tho increase Il and that "a gentleman VIM
IA As radical an atheist Rs the sPeA"cr n,n"
sa,f "i- building church at cost OF SOV,
OoD " and would laugh at any one VINO "sH'
cd him for $50 for "the liberal cause !"
sbor, the story was that atheism and mn
doIi,v were on their last legs, and oil th"'
,ba convention could do in the hope OF re
icing them WAS TO agree to make desPe
rate effort to raise 81 600 to pay lecturer
for year. .,.. Tho
Now the moral Of all this is patent. Inc
atheists and iuhdels have failed because
thew have attempted to tear everything down
and TO build nothing up. They @o"r -,
tainted themselves with negauou anu h"'o
,srrNined from affirmation. They have pro
r,sej to take everything away aud 10 give
no,hing in return. They ask men to give
M Their bibIe, to abandon the faith OF their
cb;Idhood. to forget the lessons learned at
a mothers knee and intertwIned WIN TIC
swee,qs, and holiest Of associations and Fo
n.nbrauces, aud in exchange to conten'
hargelves with a string Of cold and barren
upgst.ons. "Whst we ask you to resign are
e3,.r-t,,.ona said the Rtheslst5; 'they my
ba an. Iut even superstition IA better than
nothing. was the reply OF almost every one
Of courst, there may be much higher Ir7
son than this for the miserable failure 70
which the infdels confess; 1t may De SAY
tina, Heaven frowned upon them ami ina
Providence brought their schemes to nauEh
hint the failure 10 sufficiently accounted ID
hv the reason We have assigned. A GIN
mering Of this truth seems to nave lorce'
It's wav into the minds OF some OF the HoIoF
ous seventeen. "Somo think we should g
t, work and build up q scientific poaiu''
tystem y sad one OF the speakers' Aho'n'
sneaker said that he believed that the miI
which gathered up scientific facts ana con
municated taem to the people was ca'c'
lated TO do ten times more good, than u
mind that wanted to tear down the suPerst
tons faiths encumberIng the world; but VI
result Of the discussion was that IT was be
ter to still labor at "clearlDg away the ru
b:sh Well, even rubbish is better this
nothing. If you ask man u rnsign his b
lief in the immortality OF hIs soul, IN "h''
theoIoyians understand that phrase, y
must ofar him something IN exchange
taat belief or he will refuse to part vi
what be may confess may be an illusion
which ia still a pleasing and comfort
thought.
While atheism and infdelity have tn
been whitening away, all over Christendo
constant, palpable, and eyerincreasl
progress has been made by those schools
thought which take affirmation instead
negaton for their ba,is and, wnile pIsc
no limit to the range Of scientific and pc
tive truth nor denying the possibility Of
existence Of truths which cannot yet
demonstrated, ask for belief in moth
which cannot be positively proved, and
mand implicit faith for whateesr !
be de onstrated TO be positively true. +
the pu}pit ever and anon comes voice
complaint and warning concerning the
crease of scepticism in the land; but,
Philadelphia convention itself being
witness, atheism and infdeIity, so far Fl
increasing, have scarcely q loothoId in
country, having a name to live but be
dead. The truth seems to be that, betW
tho religion Of the churches on one h
and the religion Of free science on the OF
there is no room left for the inhdelty Of
eighteenth centurY-hRrsh, cruel, cold,
barren negation Of everything and atii
ton Of nothing. What may he the rell
Of the future-whether it may be that O.
mother of all the churches as she nov
and as she always has BEEN or that Of
church transformed or developed into
mony with modern ideas or that of
estantism, with its now conflicting and
ring sects fused into one harmonious b
or the religion Of science, denying not
that NAV yet remain in tho unknow
but holding fast and practising upor
that can be proved to be within the kn
what is to rule tho minds and the
of the men of the future, cannot yt
proqnosticatcd; but that it will not be
religion OF denial and of negation, the
deity of Yoltaire, Paine, and the Phi
phia convention Of seventeen, may b
down as certain.