The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-11-24

interests of the human race. such
union is pronounced by Christ ana Ills
Apostles to be impure, and the IatheIs
of this Republic so shaped their Iullua-
mental law as to make 1t wall Oh per-
feet partitiOn between them. without
sucb comnlete separation there can be
ma security for either civil liberty OF the
riohts of consciences in matters OF re-
Ii9inn. The worst form of this adul-
taTOus connection is not assumed When
a legal union is formed between Church
and State. It is when popular party
in a free government unuertakeS 10
mingle its coarse interests ana lIs vulgar
passions with the religious sentiments
of the people. That Is what poliutes
and falsiies both. The history Oh tIle
world, and especially that OF our own
country. has been written in vain IL TINS
be not the lesson it teaches.
These convictions not only dlsarm me
of the mower to repel Mr.. IngersOll's as
saults by political argument, but
force me to admit for the purposes OF
this case that he is right on all the
| points of that kind which he chooses TO
| lug in. can do that, argument gratla,
without affecting the real question IN
| controversy.
He ethought he was striking terrible
| blow at the Almighty when he showed
| that the Jewish Constitution contained
a provision which cOntlicted with the
| platform of the AbOlitiOnists. They
! had determined and resolved that under
all circumstances, and at all times, ana
| everywhere the liberation of slavery or
| servitude for life was crime. by TINS
and by other means not now to be de-
| scribed they got money, power and
/ Great personal consequences for them
selves and their fellows. Mr.. lngersoli
could trust them to unite with him III
bowling down Christianity or anything
| else that diminishe the profits of their
business. Directly before him he had
| the successful example of Demetrlns,
who raised a tremendous uprOar against
| the Gospel of Christ by simply below
| ing out: Great is Diana of the Ephe-
SLAMS" 'Sirs, ye know that by TINS
| craft we have our wealth..
IcOuld only protest that these Appeals
to the interests and passions of pOlit-
ical party we're Unfair. Diana OF the
Ephesians and AbOlitiOnism may both
| have been great, and they were great
in the sense of being popular, but that
does not prove that the Gospel of God IS
a perniciOus impOSture. The Jewish
Constitution, which tolerated the en-
slavement of savages in Judea, and the
resolve of the Abolition caucus, whlch
condemned it in America, might both
be right, since the two systems were
not to be Judged by one another; each
should be considered with proper refer
ence to circumstances widely different.
But the suggestion that the infalllble
God might be believed to have pro
ceeded on Just grl unds without inn
pugning the righteousness Of the Ah0-
litiOnists met with no favor. The
practiced demagOgue cannot fOreg0 The
tricks of his trade, and so ne makes the
! Nr,'r Of
eXcus. for casting contempt III the face
of his Maker and for insulting the faith
and reason of all who believe III Christ
The barest thought that the Judge Of
all the earth did right fills him with
rancOr. which he pOurs out over page
after page and then repeats II again
and again:
Uupnck his heart with words
Aud fails to cursing IKE very crab
| y sCulli IL
have said thus much about the
slavery point, not as gA answer to Mr.
+ IngersOll, but because J will not have il
understood if | can help it. that per
mltted or provoked the introduction q
, partisan politics into the discussion o.
I Il religious subject.
r These furious outbreaks of intemper
ate abuse upon God, his laws ana insti
, tutions, do not disturb any ones incl
- | ltClltl bHlltl tl at ltd0J NIllllllIHil Ll4'
, awful reverence which Christian fvelt
for the supreme object of his alteration
- Mr.. IngcrsOll thinks he is raising I
) storm on the ocean Of thOught;he is no
T. producing a ripple. He is merely dOing
- the part of a common ScOld, to WHOM
{ the idle listen for the sport of the thing
/ while others, taking counsel of thei
l., outraged feelings, Jhlnk him nul
= sance that ought to be abatec. This l.
= perhaps, not very easy to do. Awoman
5 for such an OffenSe, would be ducke,
e under the rule of an ancient law, bu
= when cOmmunis YlXatriX of the mai
:. gender veXes the peace of neighbOr
= hood in this way the remedy is Difficult
n and doubtful.
+ To learn how gratuitOus these anil
e ties are-hOw he scOlds for the mer
Il sake of scOlding-lOOk at his fanfarOu
n ade on pOlygamy. By the unaided il
4 fluence of the Church alone this vic
d has been eXtiTpated completely an
y perfectly. In Christian countries tn
n universal rule is that one man shall
a the husband of one wife and no more
O and it is neither the rule uOr the prat
n tice anywhere else on the face of tn
d globe. Now, person who has OrdinaT
l. sense must see that the moral merit {
IT Christ's Gospel in this respect is direc
Y ly prOpOrtiOned to the magnitude of til
10 evil from which it has relieved huma
n. society. But Mr.. IngersOll tries
n blacken the character of the Christia
o. religion by railing at the bad practit
he which it has opposed and destroyed.
to he had flung out at homogeneous ma
of riage, which Christianity uphOlds, h
ne act, though unjust, might have had a
of apparent object not altogether prepO
r ferrous. Indeed, mOnOgamy is as OPT
n to mere vulgar yituperatiOn as poly
m amy. When an unclean mind eXer
ne itself to imagine what may take pla
il it is as easy to talk about brutality al
te the animal degradation of woman
pt one case as another. To the beastly q
things are beastly. In point of fact t
at great body of unbelievers have d
er nOunced the Christian institution
ed marriage with especial bitterness.
ne tie one man and one woman tOgeth
ms by bond which nothing but death G
,e- dissolve is, in their opinion, not OIL
he unjust and immoral, but base a
brutal tyranny which imposes
Ir. grading restraint upon the natu1
We rights of men and women to love a
no cOhabit with whom they please. II
es is a prime and prominent part of
no atheistic theory, everywhere advOcat
ms by its organs and its greatest dlscipl
ra- In France, where their societies
|. | compact and powerful, they define th
AN 4 Il.