Blue-grass blade., 1895-08-25

argument about them, but, just like the
compionest specimen OF religious bigot,
he relies upon bold assertion for the ef-
feet Of his statements, because he knows
that the great ignorant and bigoted
masses of the people agree with him
anyway, and that it is not necessary to
gain heir support by any attempt at ar
gument, while such an attempt might
even to their commonplace understand
ings, betray the fact that there is no ev.
idence of that kind.
Below are the samples from the Icon
ocIast:
"Most of these anti-dancing dominies
make uncompromising war upon the so
called evil in all its forms, from the
stately ninuet to the Irish Jig; from the
stomach contortions of the Midway
Plaisance to the nervous clerks" of the
Methodist camp meeting; but the latest
preacher to declaim against the ball
room is not quite so bigoted as his cru
sading brethren. We gather from the
Galveston News that Rev. ]. w. Lowber
has been holding forth on the subject in
the Central Christian Church in that
city, and some of his pious observations
may be worth attention by this, the min
isterial organ of Texas. We approach
him with caution, however, for, by what
ever name they are known whether as
Christians, Disciples or Campbellites-
the members of that disorganized organ
ization are great "sputers," and relish
nothing so much as an interminable de-
bate, whether anent forms of baptism or
the shortcomings of other sects. Par
son I.owber is evidently harboring the
hall,.cination that when he has elimnat-
ed dancing, as now INDUCED in by the
sons and daughters of men, the world
will be redeemed and the millennium
due Like the Prohibitionist who ap-
proved of punch if the spirits we're left
out, he can tolerate dancing if each sex
will but indulge in terpsichorean exer-
else by itself. He has ascertained, in
some mysterious manner which he does
not divulge, that when Miriam, the sis
ter Of Moses, tripped the light fantastic
she had no partner to caress her patent
health corset, and that David, the son of
Jesse, INDUCED in the stag-dance. That
wouM appear to most people as about as
unsatisfactory as single-handed game
of baseball or boxing bout with ones
own shadow-pre-eminently stale, flat
and Improbable
perhaps the most aggressive fraud
that infests the earth is the professional
atheist-the man whose chief mental
stock In trade consists in doubt and de-
nial. Of revealed religion, so called.
About the time a youngster first feels
an irresistible impulse to make fool of
him1elf every time female smiles up
or I'm; when he reaches that critical
k in life's journey when he imagines
he bows much more than his father he
begins to doubt the religion of his moth
er; shrewdly asks his Sunday School
teacher who made God; demonstrates by
the aid of natural history diagrams, that
a large whale could in no wise swallow
a small prophet-that if it did succeed
in relegating it to its internal economy,
it were impossible for him to slosh
around in the gastric juices for three
DAYS and nights without the worse for
wear. He undertakes to rip religion up
| by the roots and reform the world while
| YOU watt but soon learns that he's got
government contract on his hands; that
| the man who can drive the Deity out of
the hearts and homes Of this land can
make fortune turning artesian wells
inside out and selling 'em for telegraph
poles. An atheist once solemnly assured
me that he couldn't possibly believe any
thing he couldn't prove but when ask
ed him what led him to take such live
ly interest in the welfare of his wife's
children he became almost as angry as a
Calvinist whose Confession of Faith had
been called in question. Figure up how
many things you can prove of those you
believe and you'll find that you have got
to do a credit business or 60 into intel
lectual bankruptcy.
But the man who denies the existence
of the Deity because he cannot compre-
hend his origin is even a less humbug
than the one who knows all about him
who devotes his life to the defense OF
some poor little guesswork interpreta-
ton of the mysterious plans of Him
who brings forth Mazzaroth in his sea-
son and guides Arcturus and his sons.
Dogmatism is the fecund mother of
Doubt, manacle on the human mind a
brake on the golden wheel of Christian
progress; and every dogmatizer, whether
in science, philosophy or religion, is
consciously or unconsciously humbug.
That's what ails Talmage the turgid.
He sneers at the higher criticism and
brands every man as an "iniidel" who
would bring his reason to bear on the
Bible, no matter how reverent his man
ner. Talmage insists that he knows
every word and sentence in the Bible to
be inspired, therefore literally true. |
am trhe curious to know who told
him. The man in whose mighty intel
lect was stored the worlds wisdom;
whose words have come down to us from
from the distant past as oracles. DER
shadowing even Solomon and Shakes
peare, wasn't quite sure of his own ex-
istence. Talmage and many other dog
matizers have yet to learn that the wis
est is he who knows only that he knows
nothing. Almighty God only knows.
We-you and I-are only troubled with
little ideas, sired by circumstances and
damned by folly. We don't even know
how the Democracy stands on the silver
question, or why Miss Rebecca Merlindy
Johnson wears pants.