The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-10

IRE says uItdt the statement
is one more testimony added to a
very long list which proves the weak
+ ness of atheism. l am interested to
know what the long list consists Of
Does poverty prove the fallacy of any
cause? Christians, if we believe their
own gospels, once were very poor, nc
money and no churches, but l am not
aware that any Christian regards that
poverty as anything against their re-
ligion; i'm fact it is generally gloried in,
yet it surely is as true in one case as
the other. Imagine in the early days a
fiaring poster announcing that in con-
sequence of the apostles having neither
scrip nor purse, and having had bad
luck, they had been obliged to aban-
don their hall in Hegesfppus alley and
that the goddess Diana could be wor-
shipped in the hall formerly occupied
by the Christians. But seriously, the
explanation is very simple Through
circumstances which it is easy to eX-
plain, the hall was lost to the society,
and as no one knows the value of an
advertisement better than the old fox
! at the head of the Salvation army. it
was probably snapped up by him for
purposes of advertisement. Why it
would be worth thousands to him.
| The fact of the matter is like this
Shortly after Bradlaugh's death, secu-
for hall, but getting into a law suit
over possession they lost both money
and hall and Booth, knowing it's pos
session would be a great incentive to
the piouS old leaders of both sexes to
subscribe, Immediately snapped it up.
AS a matter of fact, the secular soci-
ETY. rents halls all over London as well
| as the provinces. One fact should be
remembered, that The Herald writer
icrNC Of hot ~
the whole matter and that is, that sec
uIar societies have no legal existence in
England. They cannot hold title deeds
to property; they cannot receive lega-
cles, and if not the case now, it is only
few years ago since a Christian could
break a written contract and the secu-
lar society had no remedy More than
once, not many years ago, either, lega-
cies to the cause We're confiscated and
Christians were quite capable of taunt-
ing secular societies with their poverty
after robbing them Of their possessions.
so much for the text, now for the SER
mon.
The writer says that atheism is pure
negation only and that it fails utterly
to build a structure to take the place
OF the one it destroys and therefore
men turn to the old structure, the
church, for the consolation atheism
conception of atheism. Christians, when
they pose a God, a Savior and a di-
vine church, and a certain man, an
atheist, diSSentS from their conclusion
think his dissents from his atheism: or
in other words, if they had not stated
their belief, an atheist, as such, could
not exist. But an atheist could exist
II he had never heard of your belief,
Tor your religious question is only a
part to him very small part, of the
questions affecting his mind Let me
Illustrate. Suppose a man thoughtful
~ walking along a peaceful lane,
thinking over the problems of better
ing the world; of how man shall be
made better being-nobler in idea.
truer in conduct; how, in short, shall
we make the child a good man and the
man good citizen. He has never
heard OF religion or belief and is con-
cerned only with the things of this
world, and is therefore an atheist or
secularist. While thus meditating. a
person appears and tells him of God,
a Savior, divine book, and church.
Inc unbel1ever listens, aud after hear
ing the evidence says to his visitor:
You have not proved your statements:
your evidence is insufficient. But as
we both admit there are many and
great evils in this world, let US work
together to abolish them, and we can
do good work in secular matters sun
posing we differ in what YOU cali re-
Hgion. The Christian calls his answer
pure negation,' when, in fact, the pos
ltlVe principles of conduct were in ex-
lStence before the church was heard
Of ana the Christians in negating sec
ular principles are as pure negationists
as unbelievers
Inc writer then goes on: "Say what
you will, man is a religious animal and
though the cold philosophisiner of his
mind may incline him to atheism his
heart drives him to faith, and he seeks
refuge In the arms of religion" It is
good to know that when a man in
cllnes to atheism it is the cold mill
osophising of his mind that takes him
there and that it is his heart that in
chnes him to faith; but I doubt if in
tellectual Christians will thank him for
the statement. Man is a religious
animal That is. away back in the far
PAST we read of man prostrating him
SELF before and worshipping the pow
ers OF the universe, but that religion
was always concurrent with the most
hofrlble savagery and hideous SUPER
sutton, and Christians are welcome ITO
the fact. L admit it. But what Christ
lans must admit in return is that never
before In the history of the world has
man developed the faculties of the
present day. Never before has man so
cared Tor the helpless and wounded in
MES battle; never before has man so !
cared for the widow and orphan: in
snort, never before has the brother--I
ho9d OF man been so nearly realized;
and this, the grandest period in human
history, is the most skeptical.
me writer talks trash When he saws
Illat Voftafre, Thomas Paine, Gibbon. |
David Hume, Montaigne. r. D. owen |
ana Bradlaugh all thought they could |
aesurcy the Christian religion They |
knew better. I doubt if he can find q
single statement in all their writings
combined that they could destroy the /
Chllstlan religion. They knew it was
beyond the power of any one man to
destroy that religion; they knew that
as rellglon grew, so must it fafl-slow
~, men by inch. But as to their "sie
nalAy falling the men he names dealt
religion such blows that when that re-
liSfon oles, centuries from now will be
seen the effect of their efforts He saws
that many of the above sought to in
vent social systems to take the place
OF religious institutions, and all have
lalIed Who are the many? 7 am
aware of one, and his ideas come
nearer. [ believe, the final solution of
social questions than many that are
1u4oglzed at the present day. The
original writer or telegraphist to the
New York Sun says that ON the death
of Bradladgh atheistic : socialistic
stock went down to Zero RIM he
1oe5n't say why socialistic stock sbou1d
80 down on the death of the staunch-
EST opponent socialism ever had. They
should have kept that reporter on the
suicide and accident department: he is
tut OF his depth when he writes about