The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-05-25

doctrinal codes bcqueathed from less enlight-
enad ages not bein- held sufficient to disprove
deductions made b. science with mathemati-
cal precision and certainty. In such q con-
tlict, tradition or doctrine is either modified
Or rejected. If it be asked who in matters of
religious thought are rationalists, the answer
is that that category embraces within its far
reaching scope all who venture in such matters
to think forthemselves. He who FORMS his own
opinion on any point of conflict or supposed
conflict between religion and science is ration
alist, as opposed to the orthodox believer who
has recourse to his creed to find a doctrlnal
explanation of the difficulty instead of exer-
cising his reason in its solution. Measured
by this standard, what fraction shall we make
use of to represent the ratio borne by the
rationalists TO the orthodox in the population
of the United States? Will nine-tenths,
will ninety-nine hundredths fairly represent
it? We think a still larger must be selected.
Men may call themselves Catholics, or Pres
byterians, or members of any other denomi-
nation and may be sincere in their claim of
being devout believers, but for all that they
are quick to resent any interference with the
right of private judgment, with their privilege
of thinking for themselves on any and all
subjects and as soon as they claim this right
of doing their own thinking, they proclaim
themselves ratioaalists. 1t by 10 means fol-
lows, though. that a nationalist must necessa-
rily be an unbeliever, or doubter, or even
that he cannot be the most sincere of devout
believers. If a man sreasons out his own
conclusions III adopting his belief, he is of
course a nationalist. Then, if his reason
shapes his belief into strict parallelism with
the doctrines of his church, he is as truly an
orthodox churchman so both characters may
be, and often are, united in one and the same
person. But that a parallelIsm of this nature
is not generally the result of Independent Or
rationalistic thought is evident from the
strongly modifying influence exerted by
rationalism upon orthodoxy, All influence at
once 50 quickly operating and so palpable as
to have come plainly within the personal ex-
p~erisnce of men not yet we'll entered Upon
middle age. He whose memory extends 10
further back than twenty-five years will not
hesitate Ill aCklOW leuSlHy tlaG oplLllOuS pro-
nounced orthodox to-day, would have fallen
considerably short of that standard even at a
period so slightly removed into the past as
the date mentioned.
With exception of one brief interval in tie
twilight age of colonial times, when religious
persecution was attempted, America has
always been the HON of rationalism. The
larger life OF the new world tended material
ly to free the minds of men from the benumb.
ing influence ofhoary traditions, time-honored
errors accepted without query in the old, and
liberty of thought as well as freedom of speech
has ever been the birthright claimed by the
true American. But the privilege claimed
for himself he willingly accords others, and
hence the broad liberality, the wide tolerance
in matters Of religious belief which has ever
prevented the appearance of anything re-
sembling religious prescription in this coun.
try. 1t will be a long time before priest OF
parson, Jesuit or Dervisl, Mandarin or Rab.
bi will be banished from the United
States for the crime of having inculcated doc,
trines ''inimical to the welfare # the state