The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-06-27
The Funny Christian.


the Christian Advocate. Its very name is q
broad joke, as it advocates the most anti
Christian doctrines and has peculiar aver
sion to the truth in questions of fact. In
it's issue of last Thursday, for instance, it
has an article entitled Emissions in Catholic
Countries" wherein are wonderfully com
bined these two gifts of broad humor and
broad divergence FROM truth. OF the latter,
we limit ourselves to two instances.
lst. 1t says: "The Catholic people in
this country Quilted States), are more
completely hedged about and
isolated from evangelical influences than in
almost any other country in the world"
What will be thought of this when we
re fleet that by "evangelical is meant Pro
olic countries there are scarcely any Pro
testant influences whatever, while here they
pervade the very atmosphere, as it were,
and infect the whole social system of the
landi Is such a statement intended for q
joke or a fraudi
. Jesuitical intermeddling with
national affairs," etc.
One would suppose that this stale old
joke was played thread bare by this time,
and that paper which sets up to rival the
London Punch would not risk its nascent
reputation by repeating it We have a
Jesuit foundation in this city, and there is
as much ground for suspectiDg the members
of that Order here of political intrigue as
there is for suspecting them elsewhere
that is, absolutely none at all.
But to come to some of the less eQuivocal
jokes of our neighbor. We quote:
The first reaction from Romanism is TO in
and inhdeEty. Ignorant of the B BILE
q nd of ev angelical truth the uptions errors
and suPerstitions of Rome naturally lead -
skepticisn and the rejection of all religion.
This is the fact in Italy, Spain, and especially
in Mexico. Protestantism finds the people in
these countries drifting into atheism, material
ism aud ratIonallstic views
1t must be admitted that, if we are jast
the first reaction from Roman
ism" in Europe after more than eighteen
Of activity on its part on that
arena, it is queer that the same reaction
should appear SO much more speedily in
Mexico, and equally queer that, if it exists
in Mexico, there are no symptoms of it
here.
Then as to the facts does Professionalism
6ud the people in any Catholic country
whatever drifting into atheism" etc
more universally than they were in France
in the days of Voltaire If the Robespierre
revolution was a reaction based on Roman
superstition, how did the French people
come to relapse 30 utterly as they did after.
wards into the same Roman blindness and
superstirion Does our neighbor mean to
say that atheism and infdelity among peo-
pie are always due to the dogmatic errors of
their dominant religion 7 OF course not,
because the Jews themselves several times
fell into almost universal infdelity. We
M ust, then, take the above cited paragraph
as a stupendous though awkward Joke.
Again:
The time has fully come to give the gospel |
TO Mexico and to Brazil, and TO organize and |
strengthen Protestant Missions in all the Gem |
trail and south American States. AS Catholic |
ism is losing its hold. pare evangelism must |
be supplied before there is a return toward |
Rome, or the final abandonment of Christianity
altogether. 1t is the set time, the opportune |
hour to move vigorously southwark ana TO
ninion of the papal hierarchy.
Catholicism is " losing i:s hold y and has
lost it, indeed, on certain number of Free
Mason leaders in Catholic countries, srd if
our jesting neigbbor really wants to give
the gospel" to those gentlemen, We make
no objection to its trying it As to the
" tide that is rising" we feel that there is
an optical or intellectual delusion about it
on the part of our neighbor, uDless that
neighbor is laughing al it own facrtiousness.
The tide that it sees is tide of love for
lodges and grips and secret societies; it ia
equally a tide of utmost contempt for
anxious seats, religious contortions and
shouting camp meetings. But how late in
the day to talk of an opening through athe-
Ism to Protestantize fallen Catholics : Whv
was not the far more tempting chance of
he French Revolution taken advantage off
Why not evangelize the twenty eight mil
ions of infidels in the United States i-and
r.