The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-12-03
EMBLEM ADULATIoN AND Po-
LHrICAL DEGREDATIoN.

IN GFA00 OF MOSdIC AaA So@AS"' -~O
Idolstry worshipped a spiritual mys-
terv. symbolizsd by some material
thing Finally and generally, with
both Pharisaism aud Pagauism, adu
Iation of names, ceremonies and sym
bols, displaced morship of the spirit
which the symbols and the ceremonies
sprefgured. Names and symbols were
dragged into the service of any spirit
to which the good or the vicious were
devoted.
Tt was thus that the moral and
religious sense of q people was
degraded to the acceptance of the
mysteries ard myths of Paganism. 1t
was thus that heather Mythology was
evolved from the original worship of
one Spiritual Diety, a diety which was
assumed to possess all the attributes of
human nature and the almighty powers
of the Creator of the Universe. Upon
such foundation was built a religion of
superstitious faith and moral de
pravity.
Designing men separated the various
and opposing attributes of such a dlety
from their unity in one Godhead, gave
to each attribute the name and char
acter Of a spirit, and submitted to It's
devotees it's material symbol visible
picture, which usually exhibits at least
some of the characteristics peculiar to
the attribute which it symbolized.
Here. also, originated the "Order of
the Craft of Priests "-priests Of a di-
vided and sub divided God.
Among a simple people who have
been schooled to unq Iestioning conf
dence in superior classes" (the cul-
tured, wealthy and powerfully the way
of the despoiler of the innocent was an
easy neon which history proves
was employed to the SCOTLAND material
profit of the superior classes"
These priests of the gods, took ad-
vantage of the imaginative and poetic
instincts of the people who trusted
them-a people prepared to accept
without question the conclusions Of the
educated and powerful class-r ather
than to reason out their own conclu
sions from their own experiences and
the logic of visible facts.
Thus. itcame to pass in Egypt, more
than three thousand years ago, that the
people accepted and .w]orshipped so un-
godlike a god, as the God of D:unken
Revelry; worshipped also a god de
voted to human slaughter, the God of
War; a god of unbridled animal lust,
miscalled the ''God of Love" A God
of Victory, devoted to the victory of
ITS devotees over other persons or
nations, be they either evil or righteous.
Thousands of petty gods, for anybody
and everybody, devoted to the spirit
and purpose of each individual devo
tee, be his purpose good or bad, benif
cent or malevolent.
And thus it comes about that the
number of gods became as great as the
number of the people-aven greater,
for then, as now, each individual had,
of good and bad, a graat many pur,
poses, and vas a blinded devotee to
each one of his own desires and pur,
poses. And each individual, then as
now, was ready to make sacrifices and
pay tribute to the officiating priests OF
his Individual purposes; and then, as
now, he bowed in adulation before the
material symbol or image of his own
desires.
Modern collectivism, if applied to the
Egyptian host of deities, would re,
solve their thousand gods into one god
the god of sel6shness-a god whom
all the people worship, but among
whose devotees at that time, or in this,
only the strongest and most unscrupu
Aous could accompli hsocialo or material
~success(D and that only by taking ad
vantage Of the honorable and Cypress
ing the weak.
Distinguishing emblems, in State and
In religious government, have nearly
always been perverted to selfish and
evil use, so soon as a sentiment of de-
votive adulation Of the symbol, the
visible fgure-the Idol-has been so
sufficiently promoted as to have become
general, among a trusting people. Adu
lation Of a name and asymbol has been
the t~ouchstone Of successful TYRANNY.
Within such hollow and lifeles3 Fl cures.
such symbols, has hidden the cunning
of kings, while subjects sacrificed
themselves to the spirit which they
-blindly ''believe" it ~symbolized, and
with mad zeal vociferAted their love
for the emblem.
The French people, with their eye