The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-26
NAS MOI IN ATHEIST.
IngersOIl Never Declared That
There Was No God.
BEING But AN AGN0STIC
He Simply Said He Didn't
KnoW-Points of Belief.

not say that there was no God. but that
the God OF the sChristians was mada In
the image Of men. who were fallible. He
std:
1.-THE wise man Is thoughtful and mod
est. Beyond his intellectual horisn he
does not pretend to see. He does not mis-
take hope for evidence or desire to demon
strate. He is honest. He decelves neither
himself or others.
1.-THE theologian arrives at the unthink-
able, the inconceivable. and he calls this
God The scientist arrives at the unthlnk-
able, the inconceiveable and. and calls It
the unknown.
The theologian insists that his incon-
ceivable governs the world, that It, or he.
or they. can be influenced by prayers or
ceremonies; that it. or he. or they. pun
ishes or rewards; that il, or he. or they.
has priests and temples.
1.-The scientists insists that the unknown
Is not changed so far as he knows by
prayers of people or priests. He admits
that he does not know whether the IN
known Is good or bad whether he, or it.
wants-or whether he; or 1t. is worthy of
worship. He does not say that the I'M
known is God. That 1t created substance
and force, life and thought. He simply
says that Of the unknown he knows moth
ing.
why should Christians insist that a
God Of infinite wisdom. goodness and
power governs the world?
why did he allow millions Of his chill
-
millions OF mothers to be robbed Of their
babes? Why has he allowed Injustice to
triumph? Why has he permitted the in
nocent to be imprisoned and the good TO
be burned? Why has he withheld his
rain and starved millions of his children?
Why has he allowed the volcanoes to de-
stroy. the earthquakes to devour. and the
tempest to wreck and rem?
Ingersoll did net say that immortality
was a false hope. He wrote:
"'Oh,' but they say to me, you take
away Immortality I Go not. II we are
immortal 1t is fact in nature and we are
not indebted to priests for 1t. nor to Bibles
for 1t. and 1t cannot be destroyed by Iabe-
lief, and when the one dies whom we love.
we will say: oh that we could meet
again.. and whether we do or not II viii
not be the work OF theology. It will be
fact In nature.
az would not for my life destroy one
star of human hope but want IL so that
when a poor woman rocks the cradle and
sings lullaby to the dimpled darling. she
will not be compelled to believe tnat nine
ty-nlne chances in a huidred she is Isis-
ing kindling wood for hell.
"I have a thousand times. and I say
again, that the fdea of mortality. that.
like a sea. has ebbed and flowed IN the hu-
man heart. with its countless waves of
hope and fear beating against the shores
and rocks OF time and fate, was not born
OF any book, nor of any creed. nor Of any
religion. It was born Of human affection.
and It will continue to ebb and flow be-
meath the mists and clouds OF doubts and
darkness as long as love kisses the lips
OF DEATH"
In practice he was an advocate of tenn
perance. He said In the Mum trial. in
Chicago, in 1875:
81 believe, gentlemen. that alcohol, to
a certain degree. demoralies those who
make It, those who sell 1t. and those who
drink IT. I believe from the time It Issues
from the coiled and poisonous worm OF
the distillery until It empties into the he'll
Of crime. death. and dishonor, 1t democrat
les everybody that tuoches 1t. do not
believe that anybody can CONTEMPLATE the
subject without becoming prejudice1
against the liquid crime.
IAN you have to do gentlemen, is to
think Of the wrecks upon either bank OF
this stream of death-of the suicides. OF
the insanity. of the poverty. Of the isnor
ance, Of the distress, Of the little dill
dren tugging at the faded dress OF weep
ing and despalring wives. asking for
bread; Of the men Of genius that Il has
wrecked; Of the millions who have Strug-
Eled with imaginary serpents produced by
thols develish thing. And when you think
OF thejails. Of the slmhouses. OF the prts-
ons. and OF the scafolds upon ietheF bank
4 don not wonder that every thoughtful
man Il prejudIced against the stun called
alcohol"
But he was not a prohibitionist To his
son-in-law. Brown. who was iii, the poet
wrote the following letter:
''I send you some OF the most wonderful
whiskey that ever drove the skeleton
from a feast OF painted landscapes In the
brain of man. II Is the mingled sodis Of
wheat and corn. In Il you viii ind the
sunshine and the shadow that chased
each other over the bollowy fields the
breath Of June: the carol Of the lark; the
dews OF night; the wealth Of summer and
auturn's rich content all golden with i'm
prisoned light
Drink Il and. you will hear the voices
Of men ard maidens singing the Harvest
Home mingled with the laughter II Chil-
dren. Drink Il and you viii feel withis
your blood the star-iit dawns. the dreamy.
tawny dust Of many perfect days For
forty years this liquid Joy has been within
the happy slaves Of oak. longing 20 touch
the lips OF men"
He wrote Of tobacco leaves:
These leaves make friends and eeie- |
brate with gentle rights the VOWS %
peace. They have given consolation % /
the world They are the conDanions %
the Ionsiy-she friends OF the trsDri@oaed !
of the exiie-oE workers IN rnines-of fel- /
lers Of forests-og sailors On the deep ssaF !
They ara the Efvers q strength and calm ]
to TIE vexed and wearie5 minds OF those i
who bald with thoughts and brain the 1
temples % the soul.
They tell OF hope and rest They 4
smooth the wrinkl@d bro~s % care-csfve
fear AMI strange. niEzhzpGn breads from
out the mind. and ffiI the heart With rest
and peace. Within their marie warp naa
woog some potent. gracious sPeu fusTEss-
oned lies that. whsn released ~ IRE. dots 1
softly steal within the fortress al ths
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