The Labor enquirer., 1885-01-10

4vVN 4A& HAsose &Sve4Sk eR<ASA AAV - e4>s
shsckle tho fnind with superstitious
fears Of any description y : foe 70 pro-
|stim1late the apatheiic Into learning
how toI think in this, industrial re-
formers and liberals agree. But large
class Of fiee-t thinkers seem to think that
getting lid Of church creeds and refusing
to support preachers is all there is Of
free-thought.
They are alike severe on those who
cling to the traditions Of their childhood
and on the "ranters" who, using their
dlsenthralled minds, are trying to make
the condition Of society better.
It isa pertinent question that of the
startled believer are you going
to put in the, place of religion :" 1t is
not enough to impale q lie; one must
point out truth. 1t is not enough to
show the fallacy of waiting for happiness
till we reach another world one must
demonstrate the possibility of being
HAPPY in this. 1t is useless and petty
work to nproot all old habits Of thought
hnd to destroy the idea of sacredness at
|tached by long custom to many things,
Pif there were not some better, loftier OBJ
|ject in view than that of mere destruc-
|tion. That there is something to put in
its place" should be our apology for 30
mercilessly attacking the dear old myths.
Mere infdelity is nothing there is no
life, no strength in liberalism untila pur-
pose is involved. Freedom of thought
is useless unless there is something
to think. When one comes to a stand
still after discovering orthodox creeds do
not contain the SUM and substance Of
morality, thinking he has gone as far as
Lit is worth while, he may as well have
remained the most bigoted religionist for
all the good he will do theworld.
Humanitarians only care to see the
knina freed from superstitions and errors,
that it may be more ready e zacsi-s1
kuseflif truths. J s-----.--.----
sT q ssproE gsuive christian is much better
material toward building new and just
civilization than bigoted inidel and
what can it matter whether man be-
lieve in Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, or no
God at all, if his heart is right toward
his fellow-creatures The capacity for
seeing the wrongs in the present organi-
zation of society and a willingness to
help form a better system are the most
important attributes, and if man has
these as "a Christian, why spend any
strength making an infdel ofhlm Free
thinkers we must have in order to pro-
gress, but one need not necessarily de-
nounc6 bibles and deny Gods to be free
thinker; one need only be iberalenough
to know what justice is and to long for
its reign and he can believe what he
likes tor all the harm he can do hui
manity. ..
NThose who think that to free minds
from superstitutlon is the hig hest work.
they can engage in and that all otheT
radical questions are mere ran'ing and
nonsense, are really doing no good, ex3
'cept as they are unconsciously turning
out material for social reformers.
It may be denied there are any such
people. The usual answer to the ques-
tion, "What shall we put in the place Of
religion ?" is, eve shall put Truth, Sci
ence, Reason in its place." But these are
in the abstract and few liberals specify
what trute or what science is needed to
make the world better. A prominent
liberal speaker and maUerialist lectured
some time ago on Radicals and Radio
alism." He went over the history of the
past and showed how radicals in all ages
had accomplished great things in the
march of progress, though they were all
denounced in their day. The speaker
was logical as well as eloquent until he
came to the proposed reforms of the pres.
ent day; he then severely condemned
every radical movement except in6del-
ity. Free land advocates were "ranters,"
labor agitators were" "discontented idlers,"
social reformers were .mischleyous
cranks," and woman suffragists, mild
Not one single advanced idea
met his approval, thought he had got hisa
mind cleared from old superstltions. He
may as well have been Calvinlst for
any element of true reform he possessed.
Most Of the free-thought papers have
no further object than that of killing
gods and ghosts; many liberals object
whenever "that ubiquitous labor ques-
tipn comes up" in their meetings, and
can see no logical reason why free
thought discussion should lead up. to
Socialism.
While we may be in sympathy with
liberal work as far as it goes, we should
consider it only as a means to an end,
and keep 1t in view that the end is the
work on hand.
II Why should we endeavor to take mems
binds from mystical Heaven somB
Where in the beyond, if it were not tol
dlace them on the great possibilities 6f
this world?
Why teach them not to depend on
some unseen being in the skies to bring