The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-02-01
THE RELIGION OF INGERsOLL

| note your editorial in the Island
or of the 18th wherein you class Col.
Robert &. Ingersoll as an infidel /
beg to take issue with you on that
point. l knew Col. Ingersolf in
1870, when was running q train out
of Peoria. ILL.,, and before he became
noted as speaker. Col. Ingersoll's
fight Was .on the Mosaic God-the
cruel, revengeful, jealous, personal
God. / never heard him say aught
against Christ's conception of God.
In fact l believe he was more in ac-
cord with Christ 8 conception of the
God of love than many so-called
Christians are, for Love was the colo
nsi's key to about all that was good.
I never knew of any one who knew
Col. Ingersoll we'll that did not love
him. He loved such men as Henry
Ward Beecher. for they were intimate
friends and understood each other.
In his room at the Pacific Hotel. Chi
cago, and think just after he bad de
livered his lecture on "The Mistakes
Of Noses" comrade related to him
what minister had said-viz.. that
IngersolI had said "there is no God. !"
His reply was. 81 never said that.
The most that ever said on that
point was that / did not know that
there was God, and that did not
know of any one that did know. -
The comrade asked h;ui Why he did
not denounce the minister for misrep-
resenting him. "These dear ministers
do my advertising and should not be
disturbed in their good cork ''said he.
| think the colonel's lecture on
"The Mistakes of Moses MAS the
most Instructive. especially since it
has been discovered that the so called
Mosaic laws we're proclaimed almost
word for word by Persian king six
hundred years before the time of
Noses.
Col. Ingersoll did not like the term
Good" very we'll as the Creator and
RULER of all things. To his idea the
term Mind was much more compre-
hensive. Mind is all in all. Where
ever one sees life we see Mind mani
fest-the Infinite Mind. In Cot. In
gersoll's active days, the quality of
che mind of man was scarcely known
In fact. but very small per cent of
our people realize that they possess
two minds. of which my favorite term
is, the brain mind and the soul mind,
although they have manN names. i
think Christ understood the duality
of the mind, for l believe no man
ever understood the ScieL ce of the
Soul as He, our Master Healer Paul
refers to bis carnaI mind, Indicating
that be- understood that he possessed
two minds. While Paul referred to
his brain mind. Christ used the term
of Holy Spirit for the soul mind. or
God within.
It has taken all these years to learn
and partly understand this dynamic
healing power within Man. It is such
men as Col. Ingersoll. with bright
minds and loving souls. that have
lent hand in the re-discovery of
Christ's Science of the Soul, and to
day Col. Ingersoll would feel very
much at home in many of the pulpits
of the land, such as the New Thought
Church, recently dedicated in De-
troit, Mich with Rev. Margaret g.
LAGRANGE. as pastor.
Col. Ingersoll's criticism of the or
thodox Christians was that they were
sailing under false colors. To illus
trate his position: Take Bible and
stand it On end. then open between
the Old and New Testament. You
will notice that about four-flfths of
the Bible is Mosaic teaching white
but one-flfth Is Christ's teaching.
Ingersoll claimed that the great ma
jority of orthodox Chr istians pretend
to believe every word of the Bible
from cover to cover. Hence they
were in their belief four f1fths Jew
and but one fifth Christian. and were
sailing under false colors. He had
more respect for the Jew that stood
by his colors. The colonel was in
cilned to believe in Ella Wheeler
Wilcox words:
so many gods, 80 many creeds.
So many paths that wind and wind.
while just the act Of being kind,
is all the sad world needs. -
think If any one will read the
little book entitled ssIngersoll's
Gems, that he will understand his
sonl better, and perhaps be able to
discover some good religion between
the lines. It is notorious fact
that where Ohrist's science of healing
has been studied out and put in prac-
tlce the so-called orthodox Christians
-. che, - nSra