The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-01-28

| in giving the public your views on on,
of those other questions, while the on
you brought out most strongly at frs
still remains unanswered, leaves tn,
first question altogether in the open or
your side, and I must insist upon al
answer, a logical and convincing refu
| tation of my argument, or consider m,
case concluded and won.
Before I proceed I desire mos
earnestly to convince you that I an
not in harness against the Catholic
religion itself, any more SO than I an
against any other denomination. I an
possessed of fairly generous instinct:
and believe in absolute freedom of con-
science in religious matters. For this
very reason I am SO sincerely, SO We
hemently opposed to all dogmas, to al
coercion, to all constraint of conscience
from any source and in any form.
1t seems to me so altogether absurd
for any person to COMMAND any
other person to believe any given prop
Intelligence to accommodate itself
thereto. and just believe.
It can certainly not have been with
out SOul6 ucGp, lAOTOUSuty COSCUI dIlO
entirely rational purpose that God i'm
planted into our minds the high rea-
soning and investigating faculties
which He, in His wisdom. has endowed
US with. Can you or anybody else can
didly tell me that we must suppress
the highest faculties bestowed upon us.
that we must cast aside as something
Of no value, the glorious gift of REA-
SON, and just grope in the darkness
of a commanded belief, of trembling.
pitiable faith induced by intangible
superstitious terrors? That we shall
trample under foot and crush the Di-
vine Essence. that part of God Him.
self, which He. in His unreasonable
generosity, has permitted us to retain
after our fall from His presence, our
highest God-given and Godlike attrf,
butte, which can and shall redeem us
in the fullness of time? Never! For
it has been given us in order to seek
Him, AND FIND HIM. Seek Him
earnestly and in singleness of heart
and He shall meet you; but not on the
broad highway of orthodoxy. (which de-
MES you the use of your reason and
demands of you to follow blindly, un.
lItat 0CCltCh Aodo ~ w
where. What folly. what insanity, to
force a child to approach it's Father
with set speeches and studied gestures
seeking His favor! No. But seek Him.
seek Him ever, by the light Of your
God-given reason; seek Him in the
grandeur of His works; seek Him like
lost child seeking its father, with
yearning and tenderness, and He shall
meet you-for you are His own!
Seek, and We shall find
Christ says: IF thy right eye Of
fend THEE, pluck it out and cast 1t
from thee" But has reason offended
US? No, indeed no, and thousand
times No. Our reason, and that alone,
has raised the human race from the
depth of degradation OF
the middle ages, from abject slavery,
physical, moral, intellectual and relfg-
ious slavery, to the splendid, glorious
freedom of today. Has our reason Of
Tended us in overthrowing dogmas OF
past cults. decayed and forgotten, but
which each in turn claimed the same
origin, the same super
natural powers as are claimed by the
cults of today? Has it offended us in
effecting the stupendous achievements
Of science and discovery, creeping with
slow but certain steps into the very
heart and fountain of nature, seeking
and finding it's innermost secrets?
And yet we are told to pluck out our
reason and cast it from us! But God
has not permitted this desecration to
De wrought, and will never, never per-
nit it's accomplishment.
But I am growing enthusiastic, a
very serious fault, I admit, and must
.eturn to the questions at issue, and
again request your refutation of my
article of January %. Later on, as I
IAN not now devote my time freely to
his subject, shall, with permission of
he Editor, in my turn endeavor to
place the inquisition, in all its hideous-
less. in all it's sin. it's shame, it's UNI
;peakable corruption and cruelty, be- |
ore the public, not from any preju- |
iiced source. but, as far as practicable, |
rom the fountain of this sea Of iniq- |
Iity, from the writings and commands |
# the popes themselves, as preserved |
n the various historical museums of |
he European continent, and give ex-
racts, referring to the originals.
Until then, and thanking you again /
or your courtesy in this controversy, |
remain, very truly yours.
c. A. MOBERG.
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