The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1888-05-24
ATHEISM AS A TRAGEDY.
PICTURES THE ENTIRPA-
TION OF CHRISTIANITY.

what Examples May be Found--HOrrors
of the Old World--rhe Awful End.
Tho Rev. DIR. TalmaQe preached Sun
day morning upon "Obscuration" taking
the text from Acts H., 20: "IIe shall be
turned into darkness" He said:
"What the destruction of the sun in
the natural heavens would be to our
physical earth, the destruction Of Chris
tianity would bo to tho moral world.
Tho sun turned Into darkness. Intidelity
IN our time is considered great joke.
There are people who rejoice to hear
Christianity caricaturcd. and to hear
Christ assailod with quibblo and quirk
and misrepresentation and badinago
and harlequinadc
81 propose this morning to tako ill.,
fidelity and atheism out of the realm OF
jocularity into ono of tradcdy, and show
you what they propose and what, if
they arc successful, they will accomplish.
There are those in all our communities
who would like to see the Christian re-
llglon OvcrthrOwn, and who say the
world would be better without it. j want
to show you what is the end OF this
road, and what is the terminus of this
crusade, and what this world will be
when atheism and intidelity have tr-
umphcd over it, if they can.
"ln the first place, it will be the com
plete and unutterable degradation Of
womanhood. L will prove it 10y facts
and arguments which no honest man
will dispute. In all communities and
cities and States and nations where the
Christian religion has been dominant,
woman condition has been ameliorated
and improved, and she is deferred to
and honorcd in n thousand things, and
every gcntl man takes of his hat before
her.
"Now compare this with woman's
condition in lands whcro Christianity
has made little or no advanco--in China,
in Barbary, in Bornco, in Tartary, in
Egypt, III Bindoostan. The Burmese
sell their wives and daughters like so
many sheep. The Hinaoo Bible makes
it disgraccfnl and an outrage for wo-
man to listen to music, or to look out Of
the window in the absence Of her hus-
baud, aud gives as IL lawful ground for
divorce woman's beginning to cat De.
|
| What mean those white bundles on the
ponds and rivors in China in the morn
| ing? Infanticide following infanticide.
Female children destroyed because they
are female. Woman harnessed to II
| plOw as IN OK. Woman Veiled and bar
ricaded, aud III all styles of cruel seclu-
sion. Her birth misfortune. Her life
a turturc. Her death Il horror.
"Ihe missionary Of the cross to-day
In heather lands breaches generally to
two grOupS.-a group Of men do as they
| please and sit where they please; the
other group, women, hidden and care
| fully secluded in aside apartment, where
they may hear the voice of the preacher
but may not be seen. No refinement
No liberty. No hope for this life. No
| hope for tho life to come. Hinged nose.
| Cramped foot. Dlstigurcd face. En-
| bruted soul. Now compare those two
conditions. How far toward this latter
condition that | speak of would woman
go If Christian influence were withdrawn
and Christianity We're destroyed. 1t il
only question of dynamics. If on OBJ
ject be lifted to II certain point ana not
fastened there, and the lifting power be
withdraw, how long before that object
will fall down to the point from which it
started? 1T will down, and it will go
still further than the point from which
1t started. Christianity has lifted woman
up from the very depths OF degradation
almost to the skies. If that lifting pow
er be withdrawn she falls clear back to
the depth from which she was rcsllr-
rccted.
of iniidelity triumph and Christianity
be overthrown, it means tho dcmoraIiZl-
tiOn of society. The one iden in the
Bible that atheists and intidcls most hate
ls the idea of rCtribution. Take away
the idea OF rctribution and punishment
from society and it will begin very soon
to disintcgrate, and take away from the
minds Of men the fear Of hell and there
are great many Of them who would
very sGon turn this world into hell.
| The maj Drlty Of those who arc indignant
against tho Bible because of punishment
are men whose lives arc bad or whose
hearts arc impure, and who hate the
Bible because CT the idea Of future pun
lshment for the same reason TINT crimi-
nails hate the pcnitcntiary. Oh, | have
heard this brave talk about people fear
ing nothing Of the consequences Of sin
| III the next world, and ] have mado up
my mind 1T ls merely cOWard's whist
| ling to keep his courage up. | have seen
men Haunt their immOralities in the
face Of the community, and | have heard
them defy the Judgment day and SCOT at
| the idea Of any future consequence of
their sin; but when they came to die
they shrickcd until you cOuld hear them
for nearly two I'locks, and III the sum
mcr night the neighbors got up to put
the windows down because they could
not endure the horros.
"l would not want to see a rail way train
with 800 Christian people on board go
down through a drawbridgc into IL
watery grave. ! would not want to see
800 Christian people go into such dis.
astcr, but tell you plainly that could
moro easily see that than | could for any
prOtractod time stand and see an inlidcl
die, though his pillow wcro Of elder
down and undor q canopy Of vormillion.
/ havo never been able to brace up my
nerves for such spectacle.
"The mightie8t restraints to-day
against theft, against immortality, against
hbertinism, against crime of all sorts
tho mightiGSt restraints are the retribu-
tions of eternity. Men know that they
can escape the law, but down in tho
Offenders soul there is the realizati IN of
the fact that they oanuot escape God.
HEOrWar0, march VIC great army of