Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1875-12-21
DEFINES HIS POSITION,
Interesting Lecture Be-
fore the Liberal Society
OF Virginia City.
WHAT Is =?


Is RELIGION?
The question Answered BY Rev.
Thomas n. MeGrath.
The following lecture was delivefeo
Nv Raw. T. II. McGrath. before the
Liberal Society OF Virginia City. at their
hall ON @ street. last Sunday evening.
Tho lecture. as no stated. was called
forth by tho receip, Of numerous nnony'
NOUS communications, asking why no
did not preach religion. Mr.. McGra'h
said:
The Liberal Religious Society OF Viz
oinia has been in existence two ysars
and four months. We have labored
long enough and have talked plainly
enough to be understood, and yet We
are not. The pastor Of this society re-
ceives-throueh the Postofice-anony-
nous letters nearly every week, inquir-
ing why We do not preach religion. In
the gossip OF religions circles In the
city. We are constantly represented ~ q
society that does not preach religion.
In reply 10 all this, We simply ask,
WHAT IN RELIaIoSf
Do any two agreo ON a definition OF
this most mysterious word? IN there
any definite, uniform. or general mean-
ing attached TO II? Unless our critics
can define the word. what right have
they to charge US with not preaching 70.
iigion2 Now. the fact il. that mankind
has no universal standard. There aro
more than ivs hundred different relig.
ions In the world. and the professors oil
most Of them stand ready to prove that
no nan can be saved except through
their particular church; the church being
the paramount consideration, while 70.
ligion or christianity. II you will. occu.
pies the position Of an insigniheant
''baek-action."
Some may say, "You profess to DO
Christians. and therefore should teach
the Christian religion" But granting
that to bs true. we are perplsIed again,
and ask, "what Is the Christian rsli.
gion7" To our earnest question We get
. different answer from each church. de-
nomination, sect, or individual. Now,
why are w charged with not preaching
Christianity, while Christians them
selves differ vastly a. to what Christi
anity isl Have VIC not a. much right to
our opinion a. any other church or soci.
ETY. Who gave any authority over usI
Who appointed you judges over us9
and to whom are irresponsible for our
~opinionsy We may not credit the d.
vine inspiration Of the Bible, and yet
We may interpret the teachings Of that
book as correctly rs those who
CALL us ISYrpELs.
II to discredit the story that tho
world IL but 6 1000 years old is infdslity,
then are We infdels. II TO disbslievs
that all born into the world were DOOM
cd to eternal psrdition because a woman
ats an apple; II to disbelieve that Moses
was authorized by the Almighty to wage
q guerrilla warfare on defsncsless wo-
men and children; II to disbslicye that
the Israslites walked dry-shod through
the Red Sea, with the water standing
like walls on each side; II to d,sbelisvc
the story about q people wandering for
forty years In q strip Of desert which a
man on muls-back could cross in n day.
and after their long ramble coming out
with the same shoes on their feet with
which they started; II TO disbelieve
these and similar tales is infdelity, then
are we infdsls. for we cannot credit
them.
We think that infidels-men and wo.
men who use their reason -are the
trusst believers, because they are the
most rational. The words, Hereto,
Unbelisvsr and Inidel. have lost their
former force and significance. A per-
son may bs an inadel a. to SO called
Orthodoxy. and DO the better Christian
for Ii. Our religion Is not an empty
creed. Il is Q spring OF action. q ra-
tional life. an abiding, constant dstermi-
nation TO think for ourselves and main-
tain the Golden Rule. "whatever 20
would that others should do unto you,
do 70 even 30 unto Them" We differ
greatly - to minor points OF belief. but
a. regards the tenor OF life and duty, we
are in perfect harmony.
The general drift OF our conceptions
In dimly outlined in the lecture which l
have prepared for this evening. based
ON q passage selected from the fifth
chaptsr OF Isaiah, which reads:
what could have been done more
to my vineyard that ! have not done in
III Wherefore. when l looked that II
should bring forth grapes, brought IL
forth wild grapes"
This passage announces two important
facts: Fint-God. at the beginning.
endowed mankind with ample eapabili-
| ties Of improvement. That was all that
could have been done. We have no
rood reason for expecting that more can
b done now or In the future. Second
Since mankind found ample powers
ready al hand, good fruit ought to have
been produced; but instead OF grapes.
We have wild grapes.
VIII Is THIs7
A tree transplantsd in foreign soil 10
not apt 10 thrive. We have been dug
out Of Eden and planted In sterile soil.
Our religious teachers have reversed the
order Of our going. How can men grow
after the elements Of growth have been
taken way from thsmf Our ideas OF
religion and Of life have been mythical.
and not practical. A strange and mystic
meaning runs through half Of all We
think, feel or do In religion. We have
been living on ~lifelsss faith-feeding our
feelings at the cost OF our strength