Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-06-02
Speaking DisrespeciiveIy Of the
Equator.


/ We heard n sermon recently on the
subject of irrational reverence. II was
suggestive and stimml,tjnp II recalled
to ms the fact flat one of tbe nrincinai
| objects of American reverence is the
Devil There are multitudes who are
sLocteJ to hear his name mentioned
licLtlv, and who esteem such mention
nrofa1,tv we heIieve We do M inius-
tice tn miil;ons of American neople in
saying that they have a cenuine reyer-
enee far the being whom they believe
to I've tbe Grand sourre and supreme
imnersonation of ali evil. OF c0urse
this resnectful feeling has grown out
of The association of this being with
reI;g;on and is strong inst in the nro
nortion that the religion is irrational
or sunerstitious. Nav we confess TO n
I,cL of rnsnect for the heinD who
| tr;ct nm the Garden and has always
Ieen the enemy of the Luman race and
we have nersistently endeayoret to
brino him into confemnt. IL Is harm
fui to the soni to entertain reverence
for any heinD. real or imiglnary. who
| is recoonizeJ Ia I've wboIly had That
attitude of the man which defies.
rather than denrecates. is n healthy
one IF we have an incorripible devil.
who is not III t,, live i'm the society of
nnre heinos- let's hate him. and do what
We can To rnin his Influence. Let ms
,t Last do away with all irrational
reverence fnr him and his name.
There is a good deal of Irrational
reverence for the Bible. There are
men who carry n Bible with them
wherever they 90. as sort of protec-
tion TO them. There are men who read
il daily. not because they are truth
seekers. but because they are favor
seekers. To read it is a part of their
duty. To neglect to read it would be
to court adyersity, There are men
who omen il at random to see what spe-
cial message God has for them through
tbc ministry of chance or miracle.
There are men who hold il as a sort of
FETCH. and hear II abOut with them as
If il we're an idol. There are men who
see Cod in il and see Him nowhere
else The wonderfnl words printed
unon the starry heavens: the music of
Tho ministry that comes to them in
winds and waves and the songs of
birds the muIt;nIieI forms of beauty
tL,f sm;Ie unon tLem from streams and
Ho,yers and l,Les and landscapes. tbe
great scheme of heneticent service by
which thev receive their daily bread
and their clorbiny and sheiter.-all
thesa ar. unohseryed ar fail to be rec
oonized as divine In short. there is to
them M exnressiop of God except what
they find in a hook. And this book is
so sacred that even the form of Ian
suope info which il has been imperfectly
transI.teJ ;s s,crad They woujd not
navn q word changed They would
frown unon any atfemnt To Examine
critically into The. sources of the hook.
foroett;1g th,t they are rational beings
and that ane of the nses of their rational
foculties il to know whereof they M
firm and to Give a reason for the hone
and faith that are in them.
The ,rrat;onal reverence for things
tLat are old i standing all the time i'm |
the natb of nrogress Old forms that
ar,. amtI;vaJ oII b,h;ts that new cir
..,,n, stanceS have ontiawed' old creeds |
which cannot nossibly contain the |
the nrasent life and tbonpbt and opin- |
,on nld iJeas whose vitality has long
hcen exnended- these are stumbling |
bIorks in the way of the world. vet they
are cherished and adhered to with a |
reyerentiaI tenderness that is due only |
Ia I;od a worn ont creed is good for |
notbino Int historical Durposes. and |
"a hen rhose are answered. il ougbt 10 |
tbincs which are bebipd. the wise man
will constantly reach toward those that |
are hefore' The mast is small; the fu-
ture ;s large. We travel toward the
dawn. and eyery man who reverences
the mast simpIy because il is the past.
worships toward the setting sun, and
will find himself in darkness before he
i aware or ali tbe bondage that this
world knows. there is none so chilling
or So killing as that which ties us to
the mast and tbe old. We wear out our
coats and drop them we wear out our
creeds and I,ol,l to them. elorying in
our ,attars
There is even an irrational reverence
for The Almighty Father of MS all. We
can. and many of MS do, place Him SO
far away from us i'm His inaccessible