Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-10-06
Modern Atheism

IN FORMER times, When ATHEISM waS vague
and siammerIng, incomplete and morgan
lied II Wa CO 6em1ed. and sup press ii with
horror. anger ana Indignation. Its ap gstes
wee execsated as monsters doomed 10 eter-
nal torments. The world cast them out, and
the church burned them. But now that aLhe-
ism Is complete and organized, without con-
ceslment and without shame, its name 10
not even term OF MILD reproach. Ga the
contrary, its most notorious professors are
honor, aud looked up to by The world I'm
general, and are Ii tened 10 with u respectful
patience by even their prOfeSsed opponents.
Deans avowsd friend hip for men cbmpared
with whom Noltaire is or hodox. and cardi
nails with sucn men gravely discuss beliefs
which Volfaire would have thought il hor-
rible TO have questioned. The reason OF this
Is obvious. Atheism has come for y Ard
under changed conditions. 1t is based upon
new foundations; IL is animated with n neS
temper. For the first time IL rests itself not
on the private sreculations of a rebellious
intellect; not on tue rawlings of q vile Paris
ian pOpulace drunk with the wine of politics
and suffering from political del rum tre-
mems, but on the deep and broad founda-
lions OF research, experiment and proof.
III has thus lost all that fnsoleuce of private
passion and of privat- judgment which used
TO make 1t Is offensive 10 men, practical In
st1ncts as II was hostile to their theoretical
convictions. Our modern atheists in probes
sion. and TO a great measure in fact, are ell
tirely free OF the old personal bravado; they
claim TO teach with authority, because they
have been content to learn with humility.
For they, too, have their CHURCH, their infil-
ltble teacher, TO whom they profess an i'm.
plicit and devout Obedieuce Aud this teach
er is undou btedly an august one. III is nooe
other Than nature herself, as our powerful
science cOmpels her Al swers from HERNIA
ture, in the widest sense of the word includ-
lpg the story of the universe ana the his
tory OF the human race, and the laws in ODE
dience 10 which this history has developed
itself. Here, we are told, is our one source OF
know ledge here we learn the truth and tn,
whole truth Nature bears witness about
every conceivable subject; there Is no IA
uonal question which, If we do but ask IL
properly, she will not answer. She will re-
Quire no faith from US: she will ask us
TO take nothing on trust. Everything that
she teaches us she will prove and verify, and
there is TO variableness in her, nor any
shadow of turning. Come then"-this is
the appeal that our modern atheists make 10
us-"aDd let us learn of nature; LET us listen
to the voice of truth! And what does truth
tell us? Among many things truth tells us
two, which are of prime importance, ana
which are universally Ineligible to the hui
man race. There is no God, and there is no
future life. The notion of the first is I'M
necessary, and that of the second is ridicu-
lOus. In the name of truth then, let us cast
these lies away from us. however painfully
for the moment we may feel their loss, how
ever closely they may be bound up for us
with memories of the past. But we are not
left with this exhortation only. Something
more is added TO sustain and stimulate US.
These lies, we are told, II we will but look
them boldly in the face, instead of blinking
at them out of Difference to their supposed
divinity, we shall see TO be not lies only, but
profoundly immoral lies 1t is, there ore in
The name not Of selfish indu gence, not OF
license and free living, but of sacred truth
and all the severest principles, that we are
invited TO accept the creed of atheism and
to cast out religion. Thus the atheism OF
TO day, though theoretically destructive, is
practically conservative. 1t no longer as
sails society rs II is, or any of those rules
that sustain il, or the chastened affections
that are supposed TO make 1t worth sustain.
ing. 1t is associated no longer with any dis
solute wit, with any cruel aud brilliant Gym
icism, or with the destinations of lawless
love. On the contrary, il is on the whole
somewhat dull, and, to say the least OF IL, IL
is eminently respectable. 1t is the atheism
OF the vigil, not OF the orgy; and its character
when developed is solemn, almost purtani-
cal. Study the language, the conduct, even
the faces of its most eminent exponents, and
signs will be apparent every where of CRAWL
~ and severe earnestnesS. These are IN IN,
we See ia a glance, who hold life a serious
thing thing not TO be trified away In idl e-
hess, however harmless, or in lic.ntiOls self
indulgence, however refined or graceful.
What is really of value On life, what men
should really strive for, are things TO be
reached only by self-denial ana la Dor and a
vlgiiant rIgor in the guld tnce and control of
our passions. Those who pay no need 10 the
better part, but who saunter. vino lounge,
who smile, who sneer through life, are con
demned by the atheists even more grimly
fhan by the believers.-t The Nineteenth Cen