Blue-grass blade., 1891-11-07

parties last August.
In this city l suppose there are
about twenty churches, surprising
all of these persons who vote for
Prohibition to be church MEM
bers, there was an average of
three men i'm each church who
vote for Prohibition. All the
others voted to uphold crime SO
great that it is a notorious fact
that the Mahometans and other
heather are trying to prevent the
introduction of it, by Christians,
into their countries
What l mean to say then is
if every church in Lexington
were "wired out of existence, the
pure light of Christianity would
shine with undiminished luster."
There is just as good reason to
day why fire and birthstone should
rain on Lexington as there ever
was that it should fall on SodOm
an tomorrow.
The average church of Lexing-
ton is not one particle better than
the average saloon of Lexington,
and the average church member
of Lexington is not a particle
better than the average saloon
keeper of Lexington, and the
average saloon keeper of Lexing-
ton is an infinitely worse citizen
than the average thief ofLexing
ton.
l want the church hes of Lexing-
ton demolished, until there shall
not he left one stone upon another,
and / want this for the same rea-
son that l want the saloons and
the distilleries demolished. name
ly, because they are all equally
the enemies of Christianity.
"Christian" leaders of these
churches are putting "ChristiaL"
bar keepers in their saloons, and
honoring these bar-keepers by
giving them distinguished official
positions, for no reason on earth
except that they are bar keepers
Any man in the city knows that
the So called Christians in all the
churches in Lexington have voted
for saloon-keepers for state and
city officers who never would have
been thought of in connection
with those Offices if they had not
been saloon-keepers.
The only difference between the
average Lexington "Christian'
and the average Lexington sa-
loon-keeper is, that while the "a
loon keeper has the dare devil
termidity to ruin and damn men,
women and children to support
his worse than vagabond life, the
so-called "Christian" is a sneak
and a hyppocrite who has not the
courage to let it be known that he
is ''silent partner" with the sa-
loon keeper in this indiscriminate
robbery Of the innocent an | the
guilty.
The proverbial "bold bad man.
who comes out openly with his
saloon or distillery, has in him
something magnanimous as COM
pared with the man who marches
with dignifed mien down the cen
ther isle OF church with his Bible
and hymn book under one arm
and his wife and children under
the other, and with a sanctitiet
countenance joins in the prayel
and singing, or responses" in
tending, at the very time he j.
performing this farce, to vote with
the saloon-keeper against Prohi-
bition, and intavor of degrading
men and breaking the hearts Of
women and of starving children
At the ratesthe church in Lex
ington is now going it will soor
be the case that no real high toned
and honest man will acknowledge
himself member of the church
AS it is to-day, no converts art
made to these churches excepr
among unintelligent women ant
children. l do not know of &
single instance in twenty years il
which any fully matured and edu
Gated man has joined any churcf
in Lexington.
1 am an infidel and I,know how
they talk. They are nearly al
ways reading and thinking men
and they despise hypocrites
They may vote with these church
hypocrites, but l believe that they
recognize, just as much as they
do anyOther business proposition
that any man who is a churchmau
and votes against Prohibition, is
such and votes as he does, simply
for business advantage. l do not
believe there is an intidel in Fay
cite county who will not say that
consistency would compel every
Christian to vote for Prohibition.
Even if the church could over
come the theoretical objection OF
these men to the miracles in the
Christian religion, a still more
difficult thing would be to get
them to incur the suspicion OF
having some sinister motive in
joining the church.
And there is good ground for
this.
So common is it for people to
connect themselves with churches
for social and business advantage,
that l am satisfied that if | were
to join the church to morrow, all
the inidels and nine-tenths of the
Christians, would say that l did
so to boom the Blade, and the
remaining tenth that did not say
it would think it, and | know
that every newspaper in town
would insinuate it. So that if l
ever do join any church
again, unless there is some radical
turning TO the primitive simplicity