Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-05-29
RELf8fOS -. ANARCHY.
The UnbeIief OF 1hose who uniuri and March
rshind the Rcd Flag

The UnheIief OF 1hose who uninri and March
B.hind the Red Flag
Prom the syracuse Standard,
Two cia-ses Of persons reject roligion, be.
sides the very few from whose mental con-
stitution the ideas and emotions of the re-
ngious nature are omitted. The ma jority OF
those who profess atheism or agnosticism
ere either the ignorant and degraded or the
superncially cultivated and sgolstic. The
former are ruined by misfortune the
latter are spoiled Ivy good fortune. Tho for
iner have hal desolate experience, through
which they are hardly able TO discern a
benevolent Creator or Prov vIdence the latter
have come through uninterrupted prosperity
and n one sided culture to the opinion that
there II no mind superior TO their own In the
universe.
when scholars and "gentlemen" desplse
religion, they dissent in private or in club.
houses, or, at the most, In magazine essays.
Bot the proletariat does not rest content with
this mild, negative protest: 1t makes posi-
tive ulterance of itsiidolity--assails establish.
nents OF worship In hlssphemous TRADES,
takes irreigious sentiments for its mottoes,
and attacks the institutions over which the
church stands guard. Attention is directed,
Of late, to the legends inscribed on the ban.
ners oi Chicago Anarchists and many arc
found OF the sort represented by this inscrip-
ton awe want no God, no religion aud
no masters" The men who paraded under
that banner also march bohind the red flag,
inv.igh against property, Al o the foes of mar
riage plot treason and murder, and put their
plans IN execution, They do not stop W ith
The civlI cayil, the polite sneer, the material
istic argument Ii may make no sseming If
ference To the polished skeptic smiling at
Christian faith over his wine, whether there
he an all wise, all.loving governor OF the
world. lie has little In a worldly way Of
which To complains; but to the man
with whom fate and society have not
dealt 50 indGlgently the difference Is inn
mense. IL there be no benevolent purpose
behind the inequalities OF social conditions,
no power that works Tor righteousness that
aids the noble cndeavor, confounds the evil
and rebukes the selfish, why should he bear
with AN uncomfortable lot or trust moral
agencies To make the world more tolerable
Tor him and his posterityH II he be already
allied To the ba-er orders OF society, his un-
belief keeps him at his original level II he
have not Yet descended TO the grade Of those
who hope nothing from this life or the life TO
come, the despair Of his creedless estate
usually reduces him to their com pan ionship.
those depths alliance In crime IL the bond
Of comradeshp. lrreligion may be private
matter when iops or literati profess 1t; 1t is a
public concern when accepted by tho broth
erhood Of poverty or crime
Perhaps many who had boasted their in
sonsihiity To devout impressions, seeing
their doctrines in the horrid glare OF nihil-
istic war, will learn sobriety, and tax in
whispers Tor while, or admit the practical
value OF churches and piOus convictions
Like worldly.wise old Major PoDdennis
they may even attend divine services itself
for the influence of their pattern, paying all
The deforence involved In the doctrine that
religion Is the mainstay Of governments,
guardian Of public peace and inspirer of the
domestic virtues.