The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1884-03-25

here to be burned, whose only crime
wss to love him. What are such
gods worth? Let us be honest with
ourselves. | simply say | don't know.
Is there i'm the heavens an iuhnlte
lover of Justice? Then why is there
upon earth such country as Siberia,
when men, women and children al
most languish in exile, simply because
they have and express a hope that
man may he free ? If there was God
in olden times, why did the inqulsl-
ton exist? Why were men allowed
t. torture and torment each other
WHY were men taken from their
families and burned to ashes? WY
were whole districts and countries land
waste bv the sword of religious per-
secution? Have we not as many evil
dences of the existence Of a devil as
We have of the existence of a God !!
Let us be honest. They say there Is
a God. don't know. Whole races
of men have been doomed to slavery
century after century, little children
sold from their agonized mothers.
What did their gods do? Nothing.
There nav he, but am honest about
it; | don't know. For my part L
have no evidences of it. The next
thing they say is, if there is this God,
of course he would make his will
known to man. Why? An infinite
being has no wants. An infinite
being cannot be made any happier,
neither can he he made any less happy.
An infinite being exists without con-
ditions. You can only change hapPI-
ness to misery or misery to happiness
by changing conditions, and if God Is
, conditionIess, then nothing man can
do can effect his happiness. Then he
, wants nothing of man; we can DO him
, 10 good. Consequently the only
possible religion is to do good tc
2 each other.
2 Third-They say He has made
r known his will.
y Fourth-You will find that will ex-
+ pressed, of course, in the Bible, why o
: course.
: Why? Simply because it is bOol
t we have got, that is all. You go Il
), India and You will find lis laws IL
4 their sacred books. But what is tn
, next thing that God did Why III
e established church of course. Wha
d church ? Why the church | belon
If To a man will say, my church, c
e course he did. And he will wind u
?, by saving, am the representative
IN that church. So you see the creed
d complete. Go to savage in Centra
Dt Africa, where they worship a stufe
= snake, and he will prove his dOctrin
v in the same way. Of course there
tie God. Of course he has commun
n, Gated his will to us. He couldn't te
~ it to everybody. He appointed priest
E. and am one of the priests, and whe
st YOU do as / say, then you shall hav
lie rain and sunshine, you shall have goo
es crops but when you fail to do as
hi say, then come famine, pestilence an
rs death. OF course We are the me
at that God has told these things TO. II
Ne, never tod that other tribe over ii
go mountains, which We have whipped
ST. hundred times. nor the tribe Of Il
We river that used to steal our horses al
cattle. We are the chosen peopl
., There has always been this Ignorant
- and superstition in the world.
Id Now | have the same objection
of the Old Testament. They say tn
| the book is inspired. don't ca
lst whether it is or not ; the question
he is it true? That is the main questio
Tx If it is not true, inspiration will do
ct. no good, and if it is true, it doesr
to need inspiration. God himself ca
N. not help fact, neither can God hi
in self, If there be one, change fact,
ms the only question is, is that book tru
,as Who wrote it? Nobody know
ne When was it written q? Nobody knO
all and probably never will. Is it
of good? No. Is it all bad? No the
lot are some good lessons and some fool
he lessons some truth and some fsl
e. cies and then if it is inspired. W
he inspired it While live shall NJ
Is. er believe In the inspiration OF a
nit book that upholds the system OF
v? man slavery. And no minister,
Az honest. will deny that the Old les
will ment upholds human slavery. l
mt them be honest : let them speak
NV whether it does or whether 1t does
e a and then let them be candid enou
ere to say whether that institution can
in upheld in an inspired work any be
ing that upholds slavery is infamous. n
nan don't let these ministers dodge
in question let them walk right uI
in the rack and say honestly whet
Il u u