The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-21
ohioan Accused by Roosevelt of Foully slandering His Coun- try Asks Pertinent
 Questions,
ABOUT TAFT'S RELIGION
Thinks His Denial of Deity of Christ Near Blasphcmy, and Expects to Find No Unitarlans in
 Heaven.
Dayton. Ohio. Dec. 20. 1908

TO Ills llNcellencS Theodore Roose-
 volt President of the United states, Washington, n e.
 Dear Sir Now Mir President the public Is already familiar with tho more extended reply which you saw fl to make under date of November stn The statements of that letter seem to mo to demand some further recognition Allow mo, therefore. to call your attention to the following, in answer Co your accusation of slander and bigotry: also to your assertion, Taft's religion ia purely nis own priv ate concern, matter between him and his Maker, a matter for his own conscience Let us sec about this
 Where say, 'It Is being circulated and constantly urged as the reason for not voting for Taft that he Is an inf del;" and after the word infdel you choose to supply the word Unitarian in parenthess, which makes lt In ap position with the word lnndel (mesn ing the same thngl Tt Is misleading to the general public and misrepre senting what I actually wrote.
 About Taft's religion, you gay he is Unitarian quoting from a pamphlet Issued by l. c Capehart of Noreantown. w. Va. CT have much proof 10 support his assertlon) Edw Everett Hale says the Unitarian church denies the deity of Jesus Christ; tue Unitarian church denies Jesus Christ was with God In the ere stion denies God the father promis- ed him as the messiah; denies he was horn of the Virgin Mary; denies he was not the son of Joseph or bast- ard denies he was very God of very God manifest in flesh; denies he did the miracles recorded of him; denies hIs blood atones for the sins Of the world. denies he arose from the tomb; denies he ascended Into heaven; de nies he Ia to he worshlped as God jointly with the Father; denies he Ia coming again to judge the world; de- lies tNe Bible Is the word Of God.
 Now, MT. President. did not the in consistency of your characterization of few years ago of Thos Paine as a filthy little ath eist," who was then as Mir Tart now is. a Unitarian, have ,rnuch 10 do with your position on this eubject9 Let that be as lt may, there are many who believe Thos. Paine made t possible for a Unitarian to ha elected president of the United State, in this year of our Lord, 1908, and that he did more for civil and rellg- Ious liberty than any man of his time. Look at the services he rendered dur ing the Revolutonary period, al which time lt, ar he himself expressed it. tried mems souls" His "Rignts of Men" wss an epoch making produc- ton. known and acknowledged by his compeers and his compatriots. Now air, it wifi be claimed your defending Mir Taffs right 10 hold tho religious belief of Thos Paine is worthy of the present exalted state of education and civilization
 Now. Mir. President. before proceed ing further In answer to your asser- tlons. I desire to call your attention tc a few quotaionE
 'I believe in one God and no more The world is my country and to ic good is my religion. The creation wc behold Is the ever-existing God. have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his opinion however different that opinion mIgat be to mine He who denies to another this right makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he pre- cludos himself tho right of changing lt. The most formidable weapon against errors of avery kind is reason
 have never used any other, and trust l never shall"
 The above are the u'teranceF oi Thos Paine Of whom in the "Life oi Gouveneur Morris" written by your self. on page 2S9 is the statement that Thos. Paine was a filthy little athe- ist. This was written in 1896, and in the last edition Of the hook printed In 1906, the charge still remains the game which charge is untrue as the foregoing quotations clearly prove II proves further that his religion was tho very same aq that which Mir. w
 Fl Taft. the president-elect, now en- tertalns and which you are SO strenu- ously defending. To say that a candi- date for tne highest office in the gift of the people is privileged to make his religious belief or disbelief a mat ter between himself and hls Maker, a matter for his own conscience and purely his own private concern, only appeals to mo of little force it is evI- dencc of moral cowardice, and fol. lowed 10 it's logical conclusion would fastify every citizen In the land doIne tho same Public confession Of Christ would be useless and the doors of every church might be closed
 Finally, MT President, for informa
 tinn [ wish to ask about the first principles of our government which guarantees complete religious liberty pnd the right to each man to act as hie rous-ie0oe dictates Why not have polrgany for the corner -stone in oar great republic? It's the dld time religion tt is a matter between a man and his Maker, its a matter for his own ronscionee, fife purely his own private c0nnarn The cathoHc church doos not deny the dtvihity of Jesus rhrist and tho Unitarian ohureh das, NoT sir I want to ask vop lteh here edo not dodge the 3ssuo1. R1i, h do you think the least ohiac
 1Continuad a, sar,t,a tsz--