The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-03-19
AFTER BOB INGERsOLL

The st. Louis Globe-Democrat gives
its reasons below for publishing the no
torious Ingersoll's infidel lectures, and
proceeds to crilicise Bob severely but
justly:
lngersoll's mind is so bright his
method of thought is so original, his
style is so clear, and his language flows
with such force and volume and bril-
liancv, that his lectures make very good
reading Moreover, lie has deSerYedly
obtained prominence which gives i'm
pOrtancc to his uticrances, and we think
II is always we'll before TefutIng the ar
gumcnts of an infidel TO read them.
But while we have uniformly pub
lished Ingersoll's lectures as items OF
news, we should dislike exceedingly Ia
be considered as agreeing with him in
opinion. We are also far from subscrib-
ing To Ingerso!l's. opinion OF himself
Ii we had to choose between the intalli-
biiity OF Ingersull and the iutallIbil.iy
of the Pope we should prefer tile Pope.
For Mr.. lngers0ll is not mer,ly bump
tious and vulgar and sunerluna>iy 81
fenSive, but III addition To being anImit-
ed by that very narr0wness and h!gotry
which he denounces in others, hc is II
destroyer who does not rebuild; hc pro
poses TO tear down the ediiice of chris
tianity before he has provided anything
better, or even worse, us substitute, and
brilliant and riginal as he is, the world
would not be much better of after 1t had
exchanged its imperfect christianity for
the more perfect system of Ingersoliism
1t is, perhaps, merely y question of
taste as To Ingersoll's flippancy and vul-
garity, although an Intidcl might be no
less conscious if he had some respects
for the beliefs which have ennobled the
lives and sweetened the deaths of thOuS-
ands of Christians through sixty genera
tions. But Il more serious fault than the
lack of decency in manner is the lack OF
judgment and capacity which marks his
treatment of grave subjects 1t Is not
the fault of Christianity but the fault OF
curious distemper in Mr. IngersolPs
mind that in Christianity, in the religion
inspired by God, he sees only the errors
and imperfections of man. OF his own
absolute infallibllity and personal per
lection, Mr. IngersOll does not seem 10
entertain any doubts; it has not entered
into his mind TO study himself and
to inquire whether he was who'll
| ly free from the faults and err
rors of which he proposes to
| convict his neighb0rs. Such
vanity is not uncommon, and though in
his case it is pushed 10 a ludici0us eX
! tent, il is qnite harmless. But something
| which is not harmless, which is worse
| than his vanity, his tiippancy, his vulgar
| ity and his security in knocking at all the
| worlds best minds hold sacred, is his
utter unfitness, his mental Limitation and
! incapaciiy in treating the question he
! has chosen.
/ Because Christians, in direct and will
| ful dIsobediencc of the teachings o
! Christianity, haze prosecuted each other
because sectarians, through strained con
structiOns of the Bible, have supported
narrow and harsh opinions, MF. Inger
soil would abolish Christianity and re
pudiate the Bible. This is neither logic
or sense. In the grand history Of 1ha
religious belief which has done so mucl
to curb the fierce passions of our nature
to subjugatu the barbarism of th'
| European races, to raise the world from
the darkness of savagery, from the sway
of cruelty and rapine and lust tt
the pure light of civiliZa
ton. to the rule of gentleness and iustic,
and charity, Mr.. Ingersoll can see moth
ing but Saint Bartholomew massacre
here and Puritan blue law there
Picking these out, he holds them up I,
eXecration, and trinmphantly demands
"Is this your boosted Christianity 2
Really, this is too stupid. Give Mr. In
gersoll barge load of wheat, he woul,
diligently search in it for n handful o
chaif, and, having found il, would south
the barge and sink the wheat as Il worth
less mOckery. Give him the little Pitt,
burgh mine, he would essay the quart
and granite and forthwith order the min
10 be shut up. Yet wheat is gooI
though there is "a thankful of chaH in
bushel OF il, and the little Plttsbur
mine pays its owners thousands of do
lars day in pure gold and silver, an
the stupidity which sees only the chai
in cargo of wheat, and only waste an
refuse in rice gold mine, is not NOR
dense than the stupidity which sees onl
the droSs of human error and weakness
amid the pure gold, the boundless wealt
of christian religion.
To hold such argument needs only
little wit, and Il great deal Of malice.
does not demand either learning, or d.
cency, or honesty; on the contrary,
does better without them. j little hOT
esty would teach Mr.. Ingersoli that i
weighing religion in the balance its me
, its be taken account of as well rs ii
faults aud little learning would hay
taught him that his rejection of ii cree
which he neither appreciates or unde
stands. would seem no less honest if h
were free from the scurvy jest of til
clown and Inc speciOus claptrap Of th
/ ! demagOgue.