The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-09-19

man, Just as good, prefers by gestlcu!a-
| ton and exclamation to express MS
devotional aspirations. Oae man IS
| lust as good as the other. "EVeryman
full, persuaded in his own mind"
George Whitefeld was going over
| Quaker rather roughly for sCme OF his
religious sentiments and the Quaker
gsid: George, I am as thou art. l
am for bringing al men to the hope OF
the gospel. Therefore, if thou will not
quarrel with NE about my broad br!m, l
will not quarrel with thee about thy
black gown. George, give my thy hand"
In tracing out the zion OF sectarlan-
| ism or bigotry l fud that great deal
of it comes from wrong education IN the
home circle. There arc parents who do
not think it wrong to Carlcature and Jear
the peculiar forms CT religion IN the
world and Genounce other sects and other
denominations. 1t IS very often The case
that that kind of educat ton acts lust op.
posite to what was expected, and the
children grow up and after awhile go and
see for themselves, and looking In those
churches and fi9dipg that the people are
good there, and they love God and keep
his commandments, by natural reaction
they 60 and jsin those very churches. L
could mention the names of prominent
ministers of the gospel who spent their
whole life bombardipg other denomlna
tons and who lived to see their children
preach the gospel in those very d3nomi'
nations. Bat it is often the case that
bIgotry starts in household, and that
the subject of it never RECEIVERS. There
are ten thousands of bigots 10 years old.
think sectarianism and bigotry also
rise from too great prominence OF any
one denomination in community. All
the other denominations are wrong,
aud his denomination is right because
his denomination is the most wealthy,
or the most popular, or the most infueu.
tisl and it is ''our" church, and ''our"
religious organization, and "our" choir,
and "our' minister, and the man tosses
his head and wants other denominations
to know their places.
It great deal better in any COM
muuity when the great denominations
of Christians are about equal in power,
marching side by side for the worlds
conquest. Mere outside prosperity,
mere worldly power, is no evidence that
the church is acceptable to God. Better
barn with Christ in the manger than
cathedral with magnificent harmonles
rolling through the long drawn aisle and
an angel from heaven in the pulpit II
there be no Christ in the chancel and no
Christ in the robes. Bigotry IS often the
child of ignorance.
You seldom fud man with large
intellect who is bigot. It is the man
who thinks be knows great deal, but
does not. That man Is almost always a
blgot. The whole tendency of education
and civilization is to brings a man out OF
that kind Of state of mind and heart.
There was in the far east great obellsk
and one side of the obelisk was white,
another side of the obelisk was green,
another side OF the obelisk was blue,
and travellers went and looked ct that
obelisk, but they did not walk around it.
| One man looked at one side, another at
another side, and they came home, each
one looking at only one side, and they
happened to meet, the story says, and
they get into rank quarrel about the
color of that obelisk. One man said 1t
vas white, another man said it was green
another man said it was blue, and when
they we're in the very heat of the contro-
Yersy moro intelligent traveller came
and said: ''Gentlemen, have seen
that obelisk, and you are all right, and
you are all wrong. Why didn't you walk
all around the obelisk?"
Look out for the man who sees only
one side of a religious truth. Look out
Tor the man who never walks around
about these great theories of God and
eteruinty and the dead. He will be a BIZ
got inevitably--the man who only sees
one side. There is no man more to be
pitie6 than he who has III his head just
one idea-no more, no less. More light
less sectarianism. There is nothing that
will 80 soon kill bigotry as sunshine
| Gods sunshine.
SoI have set before you what I con-
slider to be the causes of bigotry. I have
set before you the origin Of this great
evil. What are some of the baleful ef.
fects? First of all. it cripplss lnvestiga-
tion. You are wrong, and l am right,
and that ends it. No taste for explora-
ton, no spirit of Investigation.
From the glorious realm of Gods truth,
over which an archangel night fly from
eternity to eternity and not reach the
| limit, the man shuts himself out and dies
a blind mole under corn shock. 1t stops
all Investigation.
Another great damage done by the
sectarianism and bigotry Of the church
is that it disgusts people with the Chris.
tian religion. Now, my friends, the
church of God was never intended for a
war barrack. People are afraid Of riot.
You 90 down the street, and you zee an
excitement and missiles flying through
The air, and you hear the shock OF fire.
arms. Do you, the peaceful and indus.
trious citizen, 60 through that street:
Oh, no, you will say; "I'l 60 around
| the block" Now, men come and look
upon this narrow path to heaven and
sometimes see the ecclesiastical brick
bats flying every whittier, and they say:
"Well, l guess I'll take the broad road
There IS 80 much sharpshooting on the
narrow road I guess III try the broad
roadm
Francis so hated the Lutherans that
he said that if he thought thee was one
drop of Lutheran blood in his veins he
would puncture them and let that drop
out. Just as long as there IS 80 much
hostility between denomination, and
denomination or between one
professed Christian and another, or
between one church and another, Sc
, long men will he disguised with the
Christian religion and say, "If that is re-
igion, l want none Of it,"
Again, blgotry and sectarianism do
great damage in the fact that they him
der The triumph Of the gospel. Oh, how
much wasted ammunition, how many
; men'of splendid intellect have given their
whole life to controversial disputes when
if they had given their life to something
, practical, they might have been vastly