Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1894-06-07
A Third Open Letter to steno.

! lou DeLu your last article TO tn
Herald, 'Rel II to Young Ke.''; in tn,
article you FAY, Il cannot argue viii
any one who is creed bound and afraie
of truth. and you express your anxi
| ETY. ITO go on with reasonable ouie
controversy" You seem to fancy tina
you have been engaged in a conirover
sy. i presume that it is a very pleas
ing Illusion, and slice it is a source o
so much qualification to you, it woulC
seem almost cruel TO remove IL. You
efforts at discussion remind me of tn,
knigbt-errautry OF Don Quixote. You
are nineteenth century quixot;c pala
/ din of ettete and cast-Uff materIalistit
| and atheistic theories OF the universe
Your chivalry is enlisted in a splendid
enterpriseil No, SteLo. discussion with
you is impossible. / have attempts d
nothing but to point out TO Won yonl
logical fallacies with the hope thar with
such aid you might be able 10 get upon
your feet where You could begin a dis.
cussion. You have ventured upon
themes which require for their discus
sion familiarity with philosophical
conceptions and an acquaintance with
the laws of logic, in both of which pre-
requisites you are totally deficient.
/ willcall your attention to some
more of your blunders and will venture
to entertain the hope that you will yet
learn s ,mething by experience l take
a passage first, not from your last, but
from a forme-, article.
"All matter axis s, ISIS it not Just as
plain that it (matter) embraces all ex-
istence? IL (the latter proposition) re-
quires no proof (STENo)
Every one will agree to the first pro-
position, AL matter EXISTS, as soon as
they know the meaning of the language
But the second proposition, AH existence
IS matter, will be assented to by only a
very small minority, t. which minority
yon belong
Now J suppose, you want to be taken
seriously, you would resent the impu-
tation of dishonesty. You ask to be
judged in the light of what YOU have
slid. The judgment must necessarily
be harsh one The mind that does
not detect difference BIT tween these
two propositions and asserts that one
is as plain as the other, Is ignorant of
the very first principles of reasoning;
he does not know the difference between
n proposition and its converse. 1t
would b. ludicrous presumption for q
man who is color-b blind to s,tampt to
instruct others in regard to colors. Ii
is similar presumption for man who
does not kI ow the difference between
propositions. to try TO carry on ''rea-
sonable quiet controversy"
In your last article YOU make a con-
cession and then forthwith fall into the
pit of logical contradic ion. Note the
following
well we will have it. that Space
does exist. Take from it all matter
and atoms that occupy it; nothing re-
mains, and anyone knows that space
is nothing" (STENo)
Space exists. is your first proposition.
Space is nothing, is your second pro-
position. Nothing means no-existence.
Hence you. are guilty OF making the
absurd assertion that space can exist
and not exist at the same time Have
Von not yet become acquainted nth
the axiom that "A thug cannot eaist
and not exist at the same timer
Nov do your theologians pretend to
describe their GodP Does he not me-
cessitale brain, eyes and ears?n
(STEHo)
only quote this as an example of
the ridiculous erndeness of sn ignorant
matsrialism. Human attributes ale
never ascribed 70 God except by n
figure OF speech known as anthropt.
morphism
But forbear to make any more quo
tsiious. ! venture another suggestion.
II you want to discuss something, do
not talk about the Bible, and God, and
evolution, and what some one said in
Chicago, and theories of the universe,
all in one brief article. Confine your.
self to narrow limits. Prove for exam
pie, that there is no snch existence as
the human soul Explain sensation
and consciousness and reasoning and
free will on your msterialistic hypothe-
sis. To aid on in making start on
this problem, 1 will say that that which
we call color is, when out in space.
mole OF motion; it strikes sensory
nerve and traverses that as a mode of
motion. Presently it ceases as mode
of motion and reappears in conscious
ness as a color, and consciousness does
not know any thing about the motion.
The same is true of sound. Explain how
that change is brought about. Now If
YOU can explain satisfactorily all social ed
psychic phenomena on your material
istic hypothesis, you viii gain world
wide reputation in philosophical! circles
You can then also proceed with
much more confidence TO the elimina
ton of God from the universe. This
latter task accomplished. there follows
Of necessity the destruction o. the di
vine auth ority OF the Billie. You have
destroyed the Bible with nj touching ii;
YOU have destroyed is divine authority
by showing that there IS 10 djcinitH To
have authority 1t will not b. six
months until you wit see ministers de-
sorting their puipits and gangs of la
boring men tearing dog:a church build.
ings or remodelDg them for other
uses; no b.lls will disturb the atmos,
phere on Sunday mornings Christ
a