The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-01-15

AN UNBIASED srANDPoINf.


CIh4SOsE, n - Lee. IN, AOtO.
To the kind friends Of the ADVOCATE who
embrace ths views Of the above:
Dear Friends and Brethren: Since the
sanctity of the church has been ruthlessly
invaded, and religion dragged to the front
and made . pretext out OF which to manu-
facture political capital. trust you will
exonerate me from the charge Of sacrilege,
and grant me a candid hearing. whilst in
my feeble way endeavor to AnslyEe the
distinction between the apparently Antago-
nistic elements named at the head Of this
article. We will assume to have blundered
upon party (as we often do) who are dis
coursing upon the subject under consider
alton. Says the spokesman Z" am down
on sO-and-so, because they are red
mouths. 'What Is a red-mouth r. An
abominabls Catholic, is the reply. "And
what are you. may ask !" YES. sir; !
an an Episcopal Methodist. /" q Good, my
friend you and belong to the same de-
nomination, and | trust will get along
bravely in our discussion. Let us exam
inc our discipline and see how il reads.
Discipline il qualification indispensable
to one seeking admission to our society"
Il believe in the Holy Ghost and the
Holy Catholic Church, ETC., etc. "What,
my friend, then you and l are really Cath
olics, after ALI" 'Ah-ahem / never
n0ficod that h0fona h,A I -, -. D.
Catholic. Suppose you had been so
unfortunate as TO be born in Rome, you
would be a Roman Catholic, would you
not T. Allowing that kind of reasoning,
| suppose l should; but that would not
force it to follow that | should endorse the
Pagan doctrine Of the Pope" Who is
the Pope-or, rather, what is he n why,
the head Of their church, of course.
"And has our church head III "Of
course il has-God." "But has il yisi.
hle head n Yes, the bishops in coun-
Gil" Now, my friend, you jcer at the
absurdity Of the Church of Rome because
it affects to be positively the only true
church, whilst with the same breath you
are quite as positive that ours is the true
religion (for if you have not a religion
that you feel positive upon I advise you to
pray for our own enlargement of faith be-
fore you rest). Is this fair T. but they
burn candles, bow to s..nts, confess to
men, and other equally absurd things they
do" But we do not have TO pay for the
tallow they burn, and in regard 80 the
matter Of their devotion to dead saints (if
l am correctly informed), the figures Of
these departed saints are introduced to hx
the mind more fully upon the invisible
splits whose Interpolation they by this
manner implore. This, you say, smacks
Of idolatry, since there is but one media
tor. Here again you are inconsistent, for
how often have you listened to the honest
confessions of Christians in our church,
that they believed they we're indebted TO
the influence of . mothers or some other
dear friends prayers for their sslvation n
They did not question the efficacy of the
intercession of saints, but then they were
lipe saints. Is the distinction an unpar.
donable offence To sum the whole mat
ter up in a nutshell, the cardinal tenets Of
the Roman Catholic Church, like our own,
is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in the duty OF assimilsting their character
to his as a condition upon which they may
inherit eternal life, and bask in the sun
shine Of his companionship and favor
That the consequences OF our opposite
course OF conduct, if persisted in and un-
repented Of, will Danish them from his
presence and consign them to the everlast-
ing shades of misery. A pretence Of re-
form and repentance, not real, may de-
ceive q priest, and secure absolution at his
hands, or false priest may counsel wrong
doing and presume to grant absolution for
/ the same. Should the church be held
responsiblel II the entire church MEM
bership, Pope included, should wilfully
depart from those tenets designed To lead
men nearer TO God, the tenets would still
stand, an imperishable monument. My
friend, if you know a Roman Catholic who
is guilty of conduct unbecoming a Chris
tian, pray for him and persuade him, in
love, TO change his course. II, on the
contrary, he is living constantly in the
performance Of every Christian duty, and
obeying the injunction in the Roman
Catholic Bible to love the Lord God with
all his heart, &c, strive TO emulate him.
You need not change your church relation
ship 70 do it,
The other side Of this question consid-
cred next week